Does anybody have experience getting a dog from an AKC registered breeder? Specifically, this would be a 6 year old female English Lab breeding for a well established business. I have had 2 great labs for over 10 years each and they are great dogs. We are looking for a house pet, not for breeding or hunting.

Do you have concerns? AFAIK, the actual certification of the dog is more important than the breeder... and they can look at family history for disease illnesses and dysplasia with extra certs.

If they chose to bred her she was probably a good dog... 

 

I saw an AKC certificate going back 4 generations. They all have fancy names so it must be real. It sure seems like a good breeder but it's my first experience with show and competition dogs. I bet they are their own breed- the people involved as well as the dogs. 

My last 3 labs came from a registered AKC breeder. They are all English Labs. This is the only way I would buy a dog.  One big point is that you can track the number of litters a female has, to see if they are just a puppy mill. The other thing to check out is the record keeping. My breeder kept specific notes on what dog was breeding with what other dog, so she could track any issues. Ask to see if they have records.

Also, what does the breeder sell puppies for? A good quality breeder will get top dollar for the pups. If they are off loading them cheap, that would be a red flag.

Another point, quality breeders breed dogs for temperament, many times to make them family dogs. The breeder should be able to tell you what they were doing. My breeder actually bred both family labs and hunting labs, and when you saw both, the hunting labs were absolutely hyper and crazy.

My current dude ended up with the best temperament and personality of any Lab I've every been around, and I've seen and played with many.

2 hours ago, rifleman said:

It sure seems like a good breeder but it's my first experience with show and competition dogs. I bet they are their own breed- the people involved as well as the dogs. 

If they are known and are involved in show and competition, I would bet they are really high quality dogs. These breeders are usually really focused on their dogs, so it's probably a very well mannered dog. Why are they getting rid of a 6 year old dog?

10 hours ago, Sniper said:

 Why are they getting rid of a 6 year old dog?

He said it was a 6 year old female.  I don't know for sure, but my experience leads me to believe this is a female that has been bred multiple times and is being "retired" to be replaced with a younger dog.      

This seems like a very knowledgeable and responsible business enterprise. They bred her a limited amount of times and time for retirement. They have a 6 females and rotate them for a reasonable supply of pups. They are very expensive. They also recommend a specific food. They don't sell it. We are getting much more comfortable with this arrangement, the more we find out about this cottage industry.

I know how to break clays but nothing about breeding dogs. Although, sometimes I forget about the clay thing! Why would I shoot in front of one?  

Another sign of a good, reputable breeder is that the contract will state that you may not breed her again and that the breeder has the first option to take the dog back for any reason that you cannot keep her with no time limit.

6 hours ago, rifleman said:

This seems like a very knowledgeable and responsible business enterprise. They bred her a limited amount of times and time for retirement. They have a 6 females and rotate them for a reasonable supply of pups. They are very expensive. They also recommend a specific food. They don't sell it. We are getting much more comfortable with this arrangement, the more we find out about this cottage industry.

Based on that, I would take her in a heartbeat.