Quote Originally Posted by Crazy-Cat-Lover
Gee, I guess I should have kept my mouth shut. I have many reasons why I want a dog from a breeder.

1.) My local SPCA most likely WONT adopt a dog to me. I dont have a yard and I have a 2 year old daughter, according to the SPCA, most of their dogs wont tolerate small children. I did my practicum there, so I know how their adoption process works. I live in an apartment and the location doesnt help - the SPCA probably wouldnt adopt to me just because of that. They are more strict than any other shelter I have seen. Other rescues can be extremely strict, making adopting a dog harder than it seems.

2.) The avoidance of backyard breeders.

3.) My DH and I both want a Lab, we feel this is the best choice for our daughter. We already had a terrible experience with a Rottweiler, it scares the crap out of me - my daughter could be dead because I chose the wrong breed of dog for our lifestyle.

4.) Like I said, I feel that I CANNOT handle a dominant dog or aggressive dog.

5.) We are still keeping our eyes peeled at the shelters, but most labs are adopted VERY quickly.

There are people with purebred dogs, there are people with mixed breed dogs. Does it make me a bad person for wanting a purebred? I think not.

And it hasnt been a few weeks, it has been over 5 months that we have been looking.

To set it straight, I NEVER said anything against you buying from a breeder. NEVER. If you don't want opinions then quite possibly a message board isn't the place for you. People have the right to express their opinions anywhere, anytime.

I didn't mean literally a few weeks. It took us years to find Nala, the "perfect" puppy for our family. Not all dogs from shelters have problems with children or dominance/aggression issues. Nala is a Lab Mix shelter puppy, and she is one of the sweetest dogs I know and is very careful around children and has never lived with a child. But, when we have visiting children she is always making sure she doesn't run into them or knock them over.

You didn't ask for opinions but, again, I think I have the right to express them. I am very passionate about animals.

I may be reading it wrong but, it seems you are interested in getting a puppy rather than an adult dog. I think if you're worried about aggression/dominance/etc and you don't have a backyard - getting and adult would be the best route. Therefor you know what you're getting into with the dog and more than likely an adult dog would be happy without a fenced in yard, whereas I think a large breed puppy NEEDS a backyard. Generally rescues, shelters, etc have very good reasons for not adopting out a dog to a family without a yard. IMO, I think large breed breeders should consider that as well.

Again, this is just my opinion and I know you haven't asked for it. None of it was meant to be offensive but since you got a bit impetuous about my first post, please take a moment if you do the same with this one.


And to sweet little buttercup132, I DID read the whole post, thankyouverymuch.