Top Questions to Ask a Labrador Retriever Breeder

There are a number of questions you should be asking a Labrador retriever breeder if you are going to consider buying a puppy from them, and you are well within your rights to do so. If they are rude or cagey then you should be suspicious and consider not bothering to buy from them.

Before you even go and see the puppies chat on the phone with the breeder. The first thing to get over is the price. Dog breeders can charge what they like for their puppies. However, if you look around you will see that most breeds are in and around a similar amount, so this is what you should be expecting to hear. A breeder is unlikely to haggle with you. You either want the puppy or not, and saying that this is a pet only rather than a show dog isn't really a fair argument. This does not change the amount of money or the level of care a good breeder will have lavished on each puppy, so really what purpose the puppy will serve its new owner is largely irrelevant. You need to be happy that you will hand over the amount of money that the breeder is asking if you decide you want one of their puppies. It has been known that some breeders will reduce the price slightly if they do not file the paperwork for your pup at the kennel clubs; however, you should wait for this to be offered as most don't.

Secondly, you want to know the health tests that were carried out on both the mother and the father of the puppies, and what you are looking for is that they have had their eyes checked, their hips scored and ideally their thyroid tests done. This should all be evidenced in paperwork when you actually go and see them. There are some breeders that will nod and smile and say yes when actually they haven't done these things, so seeing the paperwork does add weight to the reputable breeder score. The problems that can occur in pedigree dogs are because they are pedigree, and are always bred from generation to generation with pure breed dogs. This can be an excellent thing, but in order to prevent issues such as bad hips a dog shouldn't be put to stud unless it has been checked.

Before you get on to the questions that you should ask about the litter itself, ask the breeder to tell you a bit about themselves as breeders, how long have they been breeding dogs for, what experience have they had etc. There are lots of very good breeders that are new to the field but they should be able to leave you feeling confident that they are dog people who have their animals' best interests at heart and only want the puppies to go to the best loving homes they can find, rather than just be concerned with making the money.

Tim Williams is a labrador retriever enthusiast. He owns and maintains Labrador Retriever Answers, a resource for all labrador retriever lovers and where you can find more important questions to ask labrador retriever breeders and other great lab advice.

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