Around how much should I expect to pay for a black labrador bitch puppy? We will definately be getting a KC registered pup whos parents have both been hip scored and eye tested. I was told by one breeder £550 and another £400, so I am a little confused about the price I should really pay. We live right on the West Sussex/Surrey border does anyone knows what price range we should be looking at in this area? many thanks in advance.

Puppies are not factory produced and different breeders can afford to subsidise to a different extent. Those breeding very little and may be so they can keep one themselves may well charge less than others. If I were looking for a pup I would be more interested in buying the dog produced by a breeder who's stock I admired and liked, think I am saying you pays your money and you take your choice. Neither price are out of the norm, one being at the lower end the other near the top.

Jackie H's advice is sound. The price is one of the worst indicators of quality of a puppy - certainly labradors the breed I am most familiar with.

Society has become so used to being encouraged to 'shop-around' to get the cheapest price for virtually every commodity from cars to electricity, that it is really hard to pursuade people that there are far more important considerations when buying a puppy.

From glancing around the internet many of the top-end price labs have very indifferent breeding and some of the cheaper ones very good.

As a rule-of-thumb you shouldnt need to pay much more than £550 for a black bitch unless you are looking for something special from a showing or working perspective. (However, the price wont guarantee that they are either!)

Sounds about right, the lower figure seems a tad low if all the right things have been done such as hip scores eye tests etc, but then again some breeders breed rarely enough to not be up with the going rate in their breed.

ahhh but saying that there are exceptions!! A few years back a neighbour asked me to find her a GSD...I located a litter that was bred from health tested stock (good results) and the mother was a champ show class winner and the sire was a champion here and in Ireland.
Due to personal circumstances she had to sell quickly (they were 11 weeks old) and was charging £150!!!!!They were absolutely beautiful.
The neighbour went against my advice and bought a pet bred GSD from down the road with no reg or health tests cos it was 8 weeks old and cute and fluffy!!...turned into a awful looking dog with bad hips and a foul temperament!
Archer