Originally Posted by
dxboon
The OP wants a healthy puppy who will be a more adept hunting companion than his current Lab. He asked about pricing. People responded honestly about pricing and what they see as red flags. We also provided reasoning why a breeder who is potentially producing a dog for themselves to compete in the show ring and or obedience/hunt tests, etc. is also most likely to produce a PET that looks, and acts like a Labrador should, with a verifiable lineage of health tested dogs behind the puppy on both the sire and dam’s side.
Why is it so hard for you to understand that the kind of breeder those of us are, or are touting, i.e. one who wants to preserve a Labs’ looks, friendly temperament, and natural hunting ability, and spends the time, effort, money to prove their dogs are friendly, look like Labs, and have the Labs’ desire to work as a retriever should, will most likely produce the dog most able to fulfill what the OP is looking for in terms of health, temperament, and ability?
And yes, I’ve spent the same money on my last three Labs as I advised the OP to budget. Nobody is telling the OP they need to go to a specialist if that’s what you are misreading. Those are things the breeder should be doing in their program to verify their dogs are not passing on genetic abnormalities to their puppies, some of which will be in pet homes. Why is that a bad thing?
Frankly, being a show dog and a pet are not mutually exclusive. My dogs are pets first and foremost, and every breeder on this board will likely tell you they produce dogs that are great pets before anything else because they live with these dogs in their houses, around their children, and take them all over the place with them, so they need to be great pets as well as show dogs, obedience champions, agility competitors, hunt test titled, etc.
If you don’t care about any of this then fine, that’s your prerogative. And it’s the OP’s prerogative to buy whatever they want, take or ignore any advice. But for those of us who love the breed and care about supporting the best match between puppy buyer and dog, as well as supporting the kind of breeder who strives to produce healthy, friendly, able Labradors, we are going to give anybody that comes on this board the kind of honest advice and insight that they might not have access to. For a popular breed like Labradors there are lots of sources of puppies to wade through, which can make finding a reputable one more difficult. Maybe not for you, since finding a reputable breeder is “just common sense,” but others may appreciate being armed with the information being provided.