Jordan,

I admit to skimming your post, but I think I got the jist of it.

Personally, I look for a breeder who actively shows their dogs as well as works them. I *highly* prefer that a dog be finished before it is bred, but I also automatically ask how long, how many shows, etc did it take before he/she got her championship -- usually breeders will just out an out TELL you, but if they don't I ask, and usually it's bad news rather than good.

A lot of it comes down to knowing your breed well enough to know if it's going to be a good breeding or not, and then you're still flying on a wing and a prayer. If I -cannot- see the dogs in person and get my hands on them and watch them move, I usually just plain will not consider that breeder. The exception being a thorough lookthrough of the shows it has been to, under which judges, and how fast, under what kind of showing (EVERY weekend, or limited), it finished as well as how old it was when it finished. If I can't see the dogs in person, I would probably not consider getting a puppy from the breeder unless a) I know the dogs well or b) the dogs are finished AND live up to my expectations.

Of course, this is all just structure wise. There is so much more that comes into play when you're choosing a puppy.