looking for a lab pup

I am looking for a male white or black lab that was just born or will be born soon. I am wanting to take him home around the first part of May. Willing to spend tops of $400 due to that I am a college student. I would prefer that he is registered. if you have any or know of anyone who does i would appreciate it.

set your sights a little higher and make sure the pup comes from EIC cleared parents and hips, eyes checked...just a thought...

I know ur looking for a pup and ill share some of my experience with you. Between my old man and I we have had 4 labs growing up (I'm 28). 3 have all been top bloodlined from well established breeders and parents of 2 were national champ hunt test labs. The fourth who is my current companion is a pure bred choco lab named bo. He doesn't come from the greatest stock his dad is akc registered and he was a rehome lab and his mom was an akc lab but never turned out to be a great gun dog. Neither is what you could call impressive but several things I've learned with labs (I'm not an expert). The 2 labs my dad bought growing up we bought at 1.5 yrs they were already competing in hunt tests, these dogs were fantastic in the field but kinda robotic didn't act like my best friend. The third was mini who I bought as a pup ($1200) from a well know breeder in the hill country mini was the love of my life and a great field dog. Now to Bo, like I said he isn't from amazing pedigree but pure bred and at first I thought he was a dud, and should have ponied up $800+ for a new hunting lab. He's at 11 mos this week. At first he wasn't all they great and didn't pick up quickly then around month 6 he just turned into a machine, but I was working him 4-6 times a week. This week we started force fetching (some might say a lil late, but doesn't have all his adult teeth in) on Monday within 15 min he solidly understood and responded to hold. In fact I had him hold a canvas bumper for 2 min while sitting next to me. Tuesday, he solidly picked up on "fetch" from my hand, yesterday he was solid on fetching from the ground and on a 10 ft lead and frozen birds. Today ill introduce the ladder drill for force fetching. He was already retrieving doves at the end of the season this past year, but a true hunting lab isn't retrieving till he retrieves and will hold it till you take it out of his hand IMO. Long story short you don't need to spend $800 on a lab if all you want is a solid hunting dog. $400 is adequate. If you want a field trial or hunt test dog that's a different story. Needless to say I have a trainer I'm working with that is helping me get bo ready for a hunt test at some point this year. Point is if your willing to put in the time and effort and bear the frustration labs can put on you, a solid akc pup who is playful around you and not timid when you go look at the litter will probably serve you well. Also look at how they sit if its on their hip pass as this will inevitably lead to hip issues. Also if you can afford it get a health guarantee on hips as mentioned above.

Hope this helps.

P.s Bo is on the mike lardy total retriever program it's worth every penny.

Thanks that helped a lot. I have had plenty of people tell me that if I want a good dog I have to spend a lot of money. But a few years ago I picked up a lab from the pound and he is a great dog. So that is one reason that I am not planning on spending a lot, the other being that I don't have a lot to spend at the moment.

I live in the East Texas area but wouldnt mind at all to come on over to DFW to pick one up.

Are you looking for a dog to hunt or to have as a pet?

You can find pups that come from"cleared" parents and not spend 800.esp when they are the last to go and they want to get rid of a litter......EIC is real and out there ALOT...even if he isnt looking for a hunt test/field trial it sucks when you are playing fetch and your dog goes into "seizure like" symptoms from throwing a tennis ball for them....do your homework and get a dog with clearances...p.s. just cause he is registered doesnt mean he has health clearances...

I am looking for a dog that can serve both purposes.

Dog has been found. Please delete.

Post pictures of them.