I want a puppy. I found a litter. Where do I start?

[MyVIsForVendetta]

I’ve owned dogs before but for the first time I want a puppy.

I have not owned a puppy before, previous have been rescues.

I have found a reputable person with both parents seen in excellent condition and ticks lots of boxes.

I will take the dog to puppy training classes and read lots of books as I did before when I got my very first dog.

There is someone home 24 hours a day.

I know I will need to toilet train it as well and I’m also aware that it’s harder than looking after a newborn for the first few months.

please can I have any further advice, any good books (it’s likely to be a Labrador)

and no judgement on the fact that I am this time choosing to go for a puppy over a rescue.

The first ‘review’ I have seen states:

“I can very highly recommend Lynsted Labs. I brought my two puppies home two days ago….”

Hahaha. Yeah. No.
In any case, I’ve heard of them, am local, and I wouldn’t touch them with yours. Yes, as PP said, check comments on Labrador Forums…

And then maybe ask advice from Landsharksanonymous on what you should be looking for in a good breeder or where you can find good advice at least.

No one has mentioned yorkies or boxers. Their licence is for labs and jack russells. 🤷‍♀️
If you read the comments on the labrador forum, they are selling unregistered puppies. So looking at what is listed on the KC website does not give the whole picture.
Three available litters, five members of staff - that is not a 2 bitch, 1 dog business.

Gosh that’s a lot of revealing information.

Thank you so much for helping me.

The person who replied said they only have yellow labs at the moment.

Sorry to answer about question the puppy is £2000 which I thought sounded about right.

Am I wrong with that?

and that's why the business supports 5 members of staff :)

as I haven't bought a puppy for goodness knows how long, I guess that is around the right price for a puppy these days tho I wouldn't be surprised if a ' good ' one is even more.

Where should I be looking for safe and well cared for puppies?

Hi OP - you’ve been given great advice here to steer clear from that breeder!

But if it’s still a Lab you want (and you can find a reputable breeder) am happy to share my experiences with mine. He’s my first ever dog, got him at 8 weeks (he is 16 weeks now) and is a black working-line Lab.

I have no base for comparison, obviously, but the things I thought would be difficult (toilet training for example) actually were relatively easy. In fact, the whole process of raising a puppy so far has been easier than I thought it would be (hope nobody wants to throttle me for saying that 😂)

They can mouth a lot but it only took a week or so to figure out what would trigger it (either boredom or being overtired/stimulated) so I was able to mitigate largely by training in short sessions several times a day to keep his brain occupied which would tire him out and was pretty fastidious on making sure he slept enough. Once he could go out for walks, this made it even easier and I have to say, the biting is pretty rare now and has been for a while - even though he has no adult teeth yet. He tends to chew on the things he is supposed to chew on! I’d say once every few days I might get a little bitey attack but I usually always know what has triggered it. I also taught my 7yo DS to spot these signs and tell him what to do if he starts.

Also agree with @LandSharksAnonymous on being prepared to sleep in the same room for a while. I slept on the sofa for 7 weeks 😂

He is a very clever little pup (in my humble opinion!) and I think he is the best decision I ever made. Good luck with your search for a good breeder and keep us updated.

I realise this is a different breed.

Im simply putting this here as an example.

But looking at the information, (puppies KC registered and insured etc)

is this the kind of thing I need to look out for??

www.puppies.co.uk/sale/golden-retriever/hendon-greater-london/amazing-cream-golden-retrievers

@MyVIsForVendetta Kennel Club Website. Use their 'Find a Puppy' function. Then cross-check with 'ChampDogs' if you wish. But the find a puppy function will allow you to see litters currently available, and the health tests of the parents/grandparents of those dogs.

Please do not use random kennels' website or pets4homes or any other pet website. Very often they are used by puppy farmers. No reputable breeders will use them - they will goto ChampDogs or Kennel Club.

Labs typically tend to be cheaper than other retrievers (like Goldies). But I would have thought between £1500 - £1800, based off the Labrador breeders I have met. That would be for a puppy from fully health tested parents (which the kennel you were considering is not offering).

Personally, on the litter you have linked - yes that is the sort of thing you should look out for. It sounds good on paper, but really it's not. The mother ('Dam') is not fully health tested and the scores she has leave a lot (in my opinion) to be desired. I would not have bred from her, if she was my dog. And that is why the puppies are so cheap (£1950, for those not wanting to click) compared to the breed average c. £2,500

You should not be looking at any breeder that is posting ads.

Good breeders have waiting lists, and they're choosy about who they put on them. Anyone posting internet ads is about 99.9% likely to be a backyard breeder or a puppy farm.

Talk to the breed association for labs, get the names of some actual quality breeders, and talk to them about going on their waiting lists.

Look at nicholberrygoldens on insta if you want to know what a good breeder looks like. They have a lot of material on how to find a reputable breeder.

You have all been so so helpful.

Thank you.

I will no doubt be returning in a few minutes with more questions 🤦‍♀️😁

@ChandrilanDiscoDroid it's interesting you consider that particular breeder to be good, when they're quite clearly pretty awful...

Multiple breeding bitches. No girls kept after they've been bred from. Absolutely awful health scores. A dog breeding that is over six years old (which is a hard 'no' for Golden breeders). Their puppies are also overpriced; $5K for a Golden puppy is insane. They also, according to various forums, have multiple litters at once.

So yeah. I would take any 'puppy' advice or 'finding a good breeder' advice they provided with a huge pinch of salt.

I paid £1500 for mine so that sounds about right 😊

It's a minefield OP, could you get a puppy from a rescue?

What is a good health score.

I see some 6, 8, 9??

No zeros??

you are getting lots of good advice,

one point I would make is
' BVA/KC Hip Dysplasia: Left score: 9, Right score: 3, Total score: 12 '

I would be looking for ' perfection ' which may be unreasonable of me, but I wouldn't buy a puppy with these hip scores because
a. I want 0-0, and
b. they are uneven and
c. a big dog which a Lab will become is more likely in my opinion only to have hip problems than say a beagle - happy to be proven wrong.

Please just check out the breeders on the Kennel Club and if poss cross ref with Champ dogs.

https://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/litter-adverts/published-litter-advert/

how about these little gorgeous pups?

I’ve looked and looked and I know the score isn’t ideal?
but any other thoughts?

Health test wise for our lab I looked for

• elbows 0
• hips less than 12 and even-ish, i.e. 5/5 better than 10/0
• coi of litter <5%

DNA tests clear for - CMD, pra,hnpk,sd2,eic (I think there are some additional now recommended)

BVA/KC/ISDS Eye Scheme unaffected

For elbows - 0 it only goes to 3 there’s no need to go higher than 0 unless it’s a really really rare breed.

Hips - it’s out of 53 per hip so 106 total, it’s basically the lower the better but it varies by breed over what is acceptable because it goes by breed average

Your best bet of finding a good breeder btw is - decide which breed you definitely want, and if you’re looking at retrievers then whether you want working or show lines and then looking up breed clubs, they have websites they usually have either listings of breeders or expected litters

I would be looking for ' perfection ' which may be unreasonable of me, but I wouldn't buy a puppy with these hip scores because
a. I want 0-0

I trawled through hundreds of adverts for my pup, I don't think I ever saw a 0/0 hip score

@CyberStrider

and that's fine, I have said it's been many years since I bought a puppy, also said I'd be looking for ' perfection ' :) and as someone has advised now that I know it's out of 53 each side then I could ' cope ' with less than 10 ?

but I am not looking for a puppy, the Op is.

and I am content with my little pack of mutts as one way or another that's what I now have.

There’s nothing wrong with looking at adverts for puppies. If it’s a lab you want I would go for a working line and get one from someone who is breeding to retain their line. Working labs shouldn’t be mad, they should be calm, willing to please and fairly easy to train.
£2k is too much for a lab £1000-£1500 max.

I see, ok this is so so helpful. Again - thank you.

@LandSharksAnonymous
I echo what this knowledgeable breeder says!

The easy least book was really helpful. We didn't crate train though- just our choice. Ours slept with us in bed as babies and now sleep downstairs on the sofas with occasional sleepovers in our bed!

I have 2 Labradors at the moment. One from
A puppy and one rescue girl, both are fabulous, gentle and loving dogs who we absolutely love sharing our lives with.
I have also had two other Labs. We lost one pup very suddenly and sadly at 5 months to an undiagnosed heart condition. She was extremely mouthy, my husband still has scars from her 🤣 she would literally hang off our clothes and pounce at us at every opportunity. She did struggle with toilet training and it was slow going even with us doing everything we possibly could and following guidance from our trainer . She was awesome though, we adored her and I'm sure she would have settled down as she grew up. We were devastated to lose her.
We now have 2 yellow girls, one who is 4 and we have had her since a pup, we got her soon after losing our other one as things felt so empty without a dog. She was totally different. She has never mouthed, never chewed a thing, has great recall, practically toilet trained herself and is just an all round angel. Our rescue is feral ha ha! But soft as butter and the sweetest girl, she's still learning about being a dog after a horrible start.

Invest in training, lint rollers, and enjoy!!