Top Questions to Ask a Labrador Retriever Breeder

There are a number of questions you should ask a Labrador Retriever breeder if you are considering buying a puppy from them, and you have every right to do so. If they are rude or cautious, he should be suspicious and consider not bothering to buy from them.

Before even going to see the puppies, talk to the breeder on the phone. The first thing to overcome is the price. Dog breeders can charge whatever they want for their puppies. However, if you look around you’ll see that most races have a similar amount, so this is what you should expect to hear. A breeder is unlikely to haggle with you. You either want the pup or you don’t, and saying that he’s just a pet rather than a show dog isn’t really a fair argument. This doesn’t change the amount of money or level of care a good breeder will have given each puppy, so really what purpose the puppy will serve its new owner is largely irrelevant. He must be happy that he will give the amount of money the breeder asks if he decides that he wants one of his puppies. It has been known that some breeders will lower the price a little if they do not present the paperwork of your puppy in the kennel clubs; however, you must wait for this to be offered as most do not.

Second, you want to know the health tests that were done on both the mother and father of the puppies, and you want to have their eyes checked, hips checked, and ideally tested of thyroid. All of this should be evidenced on paperwork when you go to see them. There are some breeders who will nod, smile and say yes when they haven’t actually done these things, so seeing the paperwork adds weight to the reputable breeder’s score. Problems that can occur in pedigree dogs are because they are pedigrees, and are always bred from generation to generation with purebred dogs. This can be a great thing, but to avoid problems like bad hips, a dog should not be put into stud unless he has been checked.

Before moving on to the questions to ask about the litter itself, ask the breeder to tell you a bit about themselves as breeders, how long they have been breeding dogs, what experience they have had, etc. There are many very good breeders who are new to the field, but they should be able to leave you with the confidence that they are dog lovers who have their animals’ best interests at heart and only want the puppies to go to the best loving homes. can find, instead of just worrying about making the money.

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