I have to admit I've never understood going after the responsible to fix problems created by the irresponsible. It's this same type of reasoning that's moved us towards banning breeds.

That said, with your situation, apartment, no yard/fence and a 2 year old, I think it's going to be extremely hard to get a responsible breeder to sell you one of their puppies, especially an active breed like Labs. I think you'd have to have proven experience with dogs and a rock solid plan to be able to talk your way into a puppy from a responsible breeder.

With Oz, I had to prove I had a fence and yard, before the breeder would even consider giving me one of her pups. I also went over with her how I was going to handle integrating him into the pack, since I was upfront with her about Maddie and Murph's dog aggression.

Responsible breeders are going to be discerning about who gets their dog. If they're not, major red flag that they're not responsible breeders.

I have to agree with K9soul, that you shouldn't rule out an adult Lab too.

Par...