My husband is retiring as Headmaster of a school in December 2005 when he will be 60. He has always wanted a dog and now is the right time for us to have one.
His staff will make a presentation to him and I want his grandson to lead a Black Labrador puppy into the Common Room.
I want a puppy rather than an adult and I am fully prepared to put the time into its care and training.We shall move to an ideal house for a dog in October 2005.
I know there are hundreds of places I could go to buy a black labrador but I want the best.
I remember someone telling me about a breeder in Norfolk ( Brancaster area?)
Advice / help from members would be gratefully received.
I assume I shall need to organise the purchase so that the puppy is about 8 weeks in December.

Its a bit daunting for an 8 week old pup to be led into a room full of noisey people at 8 weeks of age. Very few if any pups will have worn a collar and lead, so i think carrying would be better. I must admit though i would prefer to pick my own dog if it were me.

Just an idea, why not meet a breeder with a litter, ask him/her if you can come back and choose a puppy, then film the puppies all together and give your husband the tape to watch, that way he gets to pick his own pup, which is half the excitement of getting a puppy, plus the puppy can come home to the place it is to live, and settle in straight away.

Another thing to think about is the fact the puppy at this stage may not have it's vacinations and you might therefore be putting it at risk, taking it into the school. Also the puppy might find it stressful going from the breeder, kept somewhere out of sight then taken to the school and finally to your home, which would not be the best start for the puppy. Another point you might like to consider is that by filming the litter you will have a nice keepsake of your puppy from the time she was in the nest with her mum and litter mates.

As to breeders try contacting the labrador clubs and KC. Have you also looked on here at the breeders listed here? Do remember to ask the breeder to show you the eye test certificates for the sire and dam of the pups and the hip and elbow scores. Your vet should be able to tell you what the average score is for hips and elbows in labs.