Hi all.

First time posting here so apologies if I’ve put in the wrong place.

Please see below which describes my situation in short, I’m really stuck with how to proceed but my gut feeling is not good.

We have been in contact with a breeder since the beginning of April who was due to have pups end of April due date 30th. She sent me images of the scans and confirmed 6+ puppies. The puppies are top end of the current prices I have been looking at. Money isn’t our concern and we are focused on having a happy, healthy, well bred dog

I have seen images of the mum and dad and also some kennel club paperwork, I have been able to trace on the KC website but not confirm the dogs belong to her or are the ones in the pictures.

Fast forward to 30th April on the dot the puppies are born (only 5), images sent over and she confirmed I had a black Labrador dog reserved. She advised on this day all the puppies were spoken for and reserved. I have been receiving updates/pictures for a week now. When the pups were 3 days old one of the girls passed away, she then advised me she would not be taking any deposits until 4 weeks when we could meet in person.

Today I have received a message from her claiming that one of the other buyers has said they cannot afford the full amount for the puppies so she was thinking of not registering them with the kennel club and changing the price to 1k less than advertised! I’ve read that the pups should have been registered from early on with kennel club so I will be calling them tomorrow.

Politely I’ve said if they are not KC registered we won’t be proceeding. At this point she back tracked and said that they will now be KC registering them on Friday but she now wanted the deposit from me tonight. Completely back tracking on what she said only a few days ago regarding not taking a deposit until the 4 week point.

I have done some further investigating and can see that she is still  actively advertising the puppies saying she has 2 girls available, when before she has said they were all reserved.

Multiple red flags with the situation, and I know it sounds silly but I have become attached to the puppy I’ve been receiving updates and pictures of for a week and a half. But I will not be going ahead with something if I am not certain.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thank you!!

Others will be along with more advice and better knowledge but as the cost of KC registration is somewhere about £20 per puppy the £1k reduction is total rubbish, I wouldn't just walk away I would run as fast as possible.

I agree . There is something underhand going on and u would be better to leave well alone.
With all of this I would question what else may not be right.  Eg health tests ?

I also agree.  None of this makes sense.  There will be other puppies - contact the relevant Breed Club for names of, hopefully, reputable breeders.   As BCs have Codes of Ethics, you should at least avoid hooking up with a BYB.   As for being able to afford this puppy - paying a lot (today's asking prices are ridiculous) does not guarantee you have a healthy carefully reared puppy.

Oh my goodness, run screaming away from this as fast as you can.

Plenty better litters of that very popular breed out there and no need to be going anywhere near this with a barge pole.

Registering puppies with the KC is very cheap and not something you need to add another £1K on top for.

And why would  u drop 1k for everyone because someone cant afford the cost. All very odd. Run !

Run. Their constant story changes sounds very dodgy.
I wonder if the 1k price drop if not registered is to make people pay the deposit now and not ask questions  as they will feel grateful for the discount.
It could also be that they can't kc register them so the discount is to persuade people to not want kc reg.
Of course it could be they can't get as much for them as they thought they were going to get and now want to lock people in after some pulled out due to the price to make sure they sell them.

Either way now restrictions allow travel and visiting never pay a deposit without seeing the puppy first.

run.  this is all bad.   I expect these puppies- if they even exist?- are not able to be registered and won't have any of their health tests.

I'd look for another breeder.
As you said labs are a sort after breed. so the price drop on 1 person pulling out doesn't make sense. if it were me and my pups were all reserved. then lost one. the first thing I'd do is contact the person who was to have the one that sadly died to see if they were interested in the one that was now available. (That's if i knew the pups were in good health)
Which it sounds as they might not be if the breeder has dropped the price by 1k just because 1 person pulled out. People pull out it happens.
Also never pay a deposit until viewing as more often than not its none refundable.
Some people prefer to pay it for various reasons i'd had people tell me:
I'll spend it if i don't
I want to make sure i get one.
I always try and advise against it. and i personally would never pay a deposit without seeing the pup and then still want some sort of signed contract saying if something were to happen that wasn't down to me I'd get it back.

Thank you all for your advice, it’s very much appreciated. I messaged the breeder today explaining my concerns and for that reason we wouldn’t be proceeding. She honestly couldn’t have cared any less and didn’t make any effort to disprove the claims I had made. This to me screams even more that something was a miss.

Onwards and upwards, we are in no means going to rush to find another breeder because we want to ensure we are finding the right one this time!