Puppy buying advice needed please.

[NorthCountryMam]

Hi, dh and I have decided that we would like to buy a puppy. We've done a lot of research into breeds and have come to the decision that a labrador would fit into our family of 5 best.
We found a breeder on the Kennel Club find a breeder page so sent them a message and went to view the 2 available pups today. They are local authority registered. Dh thinks I'm being overly picky with these concerns that I raised on the way home.

1. We couldn't go into the house that we met the owner at, we could only see the 2 available puppies with their mum in the garden. The blinds were pulled down on all the windows so couldn't see inside to see if there was any evidence of the dogs actually living there.
2. Despite the mum being nearly 4 she didn't have any hip scores done, the dad does and his are average though no other screening was mentioned.
3. The breeder didn't have any paperwork with him, we didn't ask to see it but I would have thought he'd be more forthcoming with it.
4. The pups were interacting well with their mum and they were drinking from her but would have liked to have seen them with all of their litter mates.
5. He didn't ask for a deposit straightaway but did apply subtle pressure by telling us that someone else was visiting tomorrow to look at the pups.

They are KC registered though the breeder isn't an assured breeder. Dh thinks I'm just trying to find fault, he may be right as I am a very cautious person and struggle to buy so much as a pillow without worrying whether I'm making the right choice but it's point 1 which is the biggest concern to me.
I know it's not AIBU but am I or is dh?

[Clymene]

@DeathByPuppy - have you done the maths? To have 3 or more litters a year, every year, how many bitches do you think a breeder needs? A bitch cannot have more than 3 litters in a lifetime to be KC registered so that isn't kind, it's just to be registered. And she keeps all of ex breeding bitches? She must have at least 6 bitches giving birth every 2 years to need a licence. And then another 6 bitches after a couple more years.

She must have bloody hundreds of dogs

[DeathByPuppy]

Bitches can have 4 litters in a lifetime under KC rules, if vaginal whelpings.

She doesn’t have 3 or more litters a year. She has a max of two. Some years she only has 1.

Yes, she keeps her retired girls.

She has numerous dogs, yes. Not hundreds.

[Wolfiefan]

Sounds like a commercial breeder. Not what I would be looking for.

[DeathByPuppy]

*Not in a lifetime, between 12mo and 8yrs old. Apologies.

[DeathByPuppy]

That’s fine, @Wolfiefan

She is a professional breeder who does it as her full time job but she is not a ‘commercial breeder’ in the style of JimJoy et al. Barns of dogs bred to the minimum licensed council standard, never see the inside of a home.

[Wolfiefan]

A commercial breeder is one who does it as a business @DeathByPuppy.
They don’t have to be living in squalid barns to count as such.
Breeding each bitch the maximum number of times? What a miserable existence.

[Merrz]

I'm a Veterinary Nurse, worked in Veterinary practice for 15 years, please do not buy a Labrador puppy if mum isn't hip scored. Very suspicious that this man is not genuine!

[DeathByPuppy]

No. She doesn’t breed them the maximum number of times. KC rules say they can be bred up to FOUR times if no complications. She chooses to breed hers THREE times.

I have said that a few times now.

[Wolfiefan]

It’s all about the ££££.

[Clymene]

She's a commercial/professional breeder. There's nothing intrinsically wrong with that but her dogs aren't pets, they're livestock.

My dog is a pedigree but I wouldn't buy another dog knowing what I do now. I'd only ever get a rescue.

[NorthCountryMam]

Thanks again for your helpful advice. Definitely not going to use this breeder, I've found the local breed club so will be emailing the waiting list secretary to be added to the list.
I don't normally put my foot down with dh but I definitely felt justified on this occasion!

[NorthCountryMam]

We looked at a lot of rescue centres, Dog's Trust, Blue Cross, local centres etc but they seem to be very hesitant(and probably rightly so) about letting a dog be adopted by a family with young children.

[GrumpyMiddleAgedWoman]

It's conceivable that a breeder has got a council licence as they have bred 3 litters in a single year once or twice. This one sounds dodgy though. As PP have said, look on ChampDogs as well.

Also consider if you want a show-line or a working-line Lab. The workers have a lot more drive.