We’ve been thinking about getting a dog for a few years and now our youngest DC is 6, we feel it’s time to actually get one. We’d thought we would go down the rescue route rather than get a puppy. However , via friends, we’ve just found a potential opportunity to get an ex-breeding lab from a gun-dog trainer/breeder. I hadn’t heard of this route into dog ownership until now but a little bit of research seems to indicate it’s not that unusual but not that common either.
The deal is you get a bitch on loan until she’s had her final litter (fourth litter). We’d need to get her spayed after that. I’ve already spoken to the breeder that my friends got their lovely lab from and he has another bitch available in about 8 weeks time once her new puppies have been weaned.
For us we would get a ready trained dog, fully registered, all health checked & tested. She is used to living in kennels normally but lives in the house with her pups. Only needing returning for mating & final litter, it seems a bit too good to be true. What are the catches?
We would have to sign a contract, which reassures me somewhat but haven’t seen it yet.
The breeder is 5star licensed, whatever that means, and trains gun-dogs, it’s his business. I don’t think it’s a puppy farm but obviously he needs to make money from it, so it is a somewhat commercial operation. I think that’s the thing I’m most concerned about. Four litters sounds quite a lot for one bitch, although he waits at least one year in between each litter. I don’t know enough about dogs or breeding to know if that’s okay or too much for the dog.
My family had labs when I was a child but this would be our first dog so we feel quite conscious not to rush into this, and want to be responsible dog-owners.
We weren’t particularly looking for a Labrador just a good family dog but I do know how fabulous they are. We will be getting a new hoover if we get a lab though. 
My question is Is this a responsible way of getting a dog? Has anyone heard of this? Got any experience? What should I be looking out for?
We’re going to visit next week to meet the breeder and see the dog before making any decisions.