Just found the Labrador Forum by chance as since I lost both of my girls during the last three years I believe its time to look ahead again and start walking again, if you know what I mean. Its been quite a while since I bought a Lab and as such I would be interested from UK Forum members any recommended breeders that I should consider. Regards Mick
Hi Mick, I'm afraid I can't help you on the breeders issue myself, just wanted to give you a warm welcome to the forum Jac and Lilly x
Hi Mick, welcome from me and my choccy girl Ella in Melbourne, Australia. Sorry, I can't help with breeder recommendations but just wanted to say hi. Sorry to hear you lost your girls, I'm assuming they are the gorgeous black labs in your avatar? Do you have a preference for a puppy? Boy/girl, colour?
Hi Emily, Yes they were my girls, the one on the left Tia died at the age of just 9 years old from a poisoning issue which was unexplained and the one on the right Sasha died just under a year ago aged 12 from liver failure although two years prior had a pace maker fitted so overall it was quite an emotional rollacoster and I said I couldn't go through that again but here we are again. I am looking for a puppy girl and Black again but only one this time. Regards Mick
Welcome from Holly and me in Monmouth. There are a few good articles on the forums website about choosing puppies. We started by looking at the Kennel Club website. They have a list of breeders and you can sign up for notification about new litters. Good luck!
Hi Hollysdad, Did you obtain your lab via that route in the end as nowadays its my belief you have to do quite a bit of homework now given the potential problems that you can get. Thanks Mick
Hello there, and a warm welcome. The kennel club lists are a good starting point - the assured breeder scheme points you towards a set of breeders that are at least sticking to some standards, but then you have to start filtering out and narrowing down depending on your requirement for health tests and so on. If you are looking for something specific - working ability, or show ring success, then start by looking up the breeder names that appear in the winners for Field Trials and the Show Ring but again, then start narrowing down depending on what you want in terms of looks/ability/health tests.
We used the KC to find breeders and litters. After that it was a matter of phoning around breeders to see if they had what we wanted ( yellow bitch, working line, good hips, eyes, elbows). After a couple of months we found the rights one about 100 miles away. It was worth the effort!
Hello and welcome to the forum. I can't help you, I'm afraid, because I went about it all wrong and ended up with my two on a bit of a whim after I helped whelp them! I haven't lived to regret it, thankfully, and the parents have reasonable scores (although not the best), but next time, it would be a very different matter and I would do all my research as Julie and Phil have mentioned. Good luck with your search and please keep us updated
Hi and welcome good luck with your search. I used Champdogs site for one and word of mouth for two. All have been great dogs, I also went to a few local shows and talked to people i knew who had labs i liked
Hi and welcome, I think word of mouth and personal recommendations is a great way to go. The main thing is, dont buy off the internet, dont buy without researching carefully, and dont go and see the puppies until you are convinced the health scores of the father and mother are great and until you are pretty much sure that the breeder is reputable and reliable. Good luck! I'm sure you'll find the right puppy.
Hi and welcome from me and Pongo in south Wales! It took us some time to find Pongo. We particularly wanted a yellow boy. I can share what we did in case it is of interest / use to you! We went to the KC website and took a list of all the breeders within a fair radius of where we live. That meant Wales and the West Country - there were about 50 breeders on our list with email addresses. We emailed all of them to ask if they had any litters due that were likely to include yellow labs. About half of them replied, and of those just three said that they might have yellow pups available in the next few months. We were surprised how few there were! But we got some good advice from friendly breeders, and some recommendations for other routes - for example, we found out that there was a Labrador Club of Wales, and we contacted them and got helpful advice (see below). We did follow up with two breeders, and had arranged to have a pup from one of them....but it then turned out to be a false pregnancy. Disappointing! But in the meantime, we'd been advised (by the Labrador Club) to look at the Champdogs website. They have a very good listing of litters available and due. They also have rigorous quality standards (for example, minimum age of the mother etc) which are in fact more stringent than the Kennel Club's own. We saw a listing on Champdogs for a new litter near Newbury - further than we'd meant to travel, but the breeder sounded very good and we liked their website. We went down to visit when the pups were about 4 weeks old, and although at first I was surprised to see how many dogs they had (I think I had an image of just one or two dogs curled up in a basket, and in fact it was an operation with at least a dozen breeding dogs) it was obvious after five minutes how very, very well cared for they all were, how devoted the owner / breeder was, and how scrupulous she was about where her pups went (we were "interviewed" pretty carefully to make sure we knew what we were doing and that we would offer a suitable home for her pup!). She rejected point-blank a suggestion that we might take Pongo at less than eight weeks - she preferred to wait for nine or ten weeks. She had detailed information about hip, elbow and eye scores at her fingertips and would refuse to let any pup go to a new home in the few weeks before Christmas. All her dogs looked immensely healthy and very happy. We met not only the bitch and her litter of six pups, but also the father and close relations that were still with the breeder. We had a chance to play with the father and others and loved their temperament. She left us to spend as much time as we wanted with the mother and litter (having given us strict instructions about how to pick a pup up properly!) and we got to know them. She also gave us a strong steer about which pup she thought would suit us best (she steered us away from a yappy, hyperactive one towards a steadier, quiet one - recognising that we don't have kids and that the yappy chappie would want an active family environment to keep him entertained). So that was it - we picked out Pongo, visited one more time when he was 7 weeks old and picked him up a couple of weeks later. He is a stunning boy, beautiful (I think!) and very calm and loving - now that he has got through the crocopup stage, during which I can thank this forum for saving my sanity! This post is way too long! But I thought you might find our experience useful. In summary, I'd say - use the KC website but also go to Champdogs; be prepared to wait to find the right pup for you; meet the breeder and expect them to quiz you about your suitability for their dog (that's a great sign!); make sure you can see hip scores, elbow scores and eye tests (you can check these for yourself on the KC website if you know the sire and dam's "proper" KC names). And if you have any doubts once you've met the breeder, walk away. Have fun - it is a great adventure! And let us know how you get on. Rosie (and Pongo)
Hi Karen thanks for your comments and I wont buy on the internet as before my previous girls were KC registered but given what I consider they both had inherent health problems from around 7 years old and at least £14,000 in vet fees over the years although mostly insured my homework this time is key. Regards Mick
Hi Boogie, Thanks for the direction regarding Champ Dogs as other have also commented on. Regards Mick
