where to get a puppy from in the cambs/beds borders?

[amizzymummy]

We are looking to get a puppy and have done lots of searches etc but i'm not very keen using the web as not too sure.

We definatly want a puppy and are thinking of retriever/lab.

We have thought long and hard and have the space and time to devote to our new family member.

So having read threads about finding pups its said to ask around and let people know you are interested in getting a pup.

So my question is does anyone know anyone whose dog is having puppies and if so could they put me in touch please? We live 30 mins from cambridge and about 15 mins from bedford.

I really don't know how else to go about finding out.

have you tried looking on the kennel club site thats a good place to start and please check that your not buying from puppy farms you could end up with a lot of heart ache if you do

Or look for the official breed website - that is likely to have links to proper breeders.

Hi there amizzymummy, have a look over at Exchange and Mart as there are often lots of dogs there plus lots of pet supplies that you will need if you getting a dog. Good luck with it all and let us know how you get on! Also, if this is your first puppy, I would definitely recommend you attend a few puppy classes when you do get him or her, especially as labs tend to be very high energy and socialising them well from a young age will make your life a lot easier in the long run! :-)

We got a brown lab puppy 4 weeks ago, and we found her through the Labrador Club of Scotland (because that's where we live). They had a puppy coordinator, who put together people with litters of lab puppies and people wanting lab puppies. This wasn't people for whom breeding was a business though - it was private people who'd decided to let their dog have a litter or two.

I presume that there will be an English Labrador club, or similar, and I'd hope they'd do the same thing too.

I hope you do find a puppy - this is the first time that I have had a dog, and I am loving it - she's funny and clever and mischievous and loving - and she's going to be good company.

I've done a quick search and found this set of links to various labrador clubs - that should give you somewhere to start, amizzymummy.

Oh - and you need to ask about the hip scores and the eye scores for lab puppies. They can have congenital hip and eye problems (hip dysplasia, and not sure what the eye condition is off the top of my head) but the parents of the puppy should be checked by a vet for these conditions and, for example, each hip is given a score between 0 and 54 - the lower the score the healthier the hips. This adds up to a score out of 108, and breeders shouldn't breed from dogs with a high score - in fact, I believe they aren't supposed to breed from a dog with a hip score over 20.

You should be able to see the hip and eye scores from both parents - it's not a cast-iron guarantee that the puppy won't get these problems, but they are far less likely to have them.

A friend of mine's chocolate lab had puppies last year, I just left her a message asking if she is planning to breed again. We're just north of Huntingdon.

Got a reply already! She said she's planning to breed again when her bitch comes into season next spring and then the puppies will be ready late summer (I think, I'm no expert!) if you can wait that long. She also gave me a link for the stud dogs she uses and said that if you speak to Amanda and Phillip they should be able to help you out. They're based in Newark which isn't too far I don't think, straight up the A1 and across a bit www.fallowfen.com/

HTH!