We just bought a black lab puppy to serve as my husbands companion---hubby has alzheimers'. Our puppy is Maverick and he is 8 weeks old and has already become the center of our household. My hubby absolutely adores him and is the most animated I have seen him in a long time. We found him through an ad in our local paper, also try Craigslist. Good luck------and plan on losing lots of sleep with a puppy----but, oh so worth it!!!!!!!!

Rescue or a shelter might be a good resource for you all .. LOVE my rescue dog, she is the delight of our eyes !! Right now she is in the bedroom snoring right next to her Da (He works nights as a truck driver!),so she crawls up there with him -after DH turns on the heating blanket which she dearly loves to sleep on !LOL (Nah..she's not spoiled or anything!LOL)

This is always my first thought too. And since there are a lot of purebreds in the shelters you never know you may find exactly what you want.

Research, research, research and be prepared to fall in love with that wonderful face that says take me home!! As per the lovely in my avatar, Peaches, when we were looking for a Boxer, LOL. I love the smushy face dogs!!!!

That is really a misconception especially now with the economy. I have had nothing but shelter dogs and none have I had any problems with and their health seems to be so much better than a lot of purebreds that I know. If you go through a breed rescue or a rescue that fosters most times when you get a dog it is housebroken and trained .
Not sure if this link will work but this is a foster working with a dog for a rescue I use to volunteer with. We always trained our dogs.
https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/246672357608/

go to petfinder.com, type in the breed you want and the area to where you are willing to travel. They offer rescues only. I recently located a chocolate lab purebreed from them. Sadly, he was the "stud" on a puppy mill and had been kept in a crate for likely all of his 6 years. When he arrived to teh rescue org. who saved him, his nails on all four feet were so long they grew over his paws and into the skin. He had ear infections too. Then, we discovered he also has epilepsy. Now, he is a wonderful, healthy, happy boy who loves us as much as we love him. There is no way I would go for a purebred puppy anymore unless I wanted to get into showing dogs. I don't! And, he is the third dog I rescued, all purebred labs. There is no other way to go IMHO. The dogs will show you more love than you ever knew existed, they want you to be as happy with them as they are with you. Give it a shot.

I don't know any breeder with those breeds but do know of a breeder who has some wonderful Borzoi pups available and she's in VT.

I agree. When I was ready to get another dachshund, I looked around and found a local doxie rescue group. Chip is a 3-year old purebred doxie. It's amazing how many purebreds are in shelters these days.

Worth checking out anyway. And a lot of them can help transport a dog if you find one that's not nearby.

I'm sorry you feel this way. In today's economy, so many pets are given up because their owners have lost everything and felt the animal was better off in a shelter. My rescue doxie wasn't placed there. It is believed he got loose from his yard and got lost, ending up at the shelter. Then, ultimately placed at a doxie rescue group. The vet was surprised how healthy he is. The group spayed him, microchiped and took excellent care of him. He's a wonderful dog. So, please give rescues a chance. I did and very pleased with my new buddy.

I volunteer to walk dogs at our local SPCA, and they are so grateful for the attention! So many have been given up because families have moved, can't afford to keep it ,or it was lost with no ID. Can you image how that dog's heart is breaking for a family that is no longer there? Please check your local chapter! I'm sure you can find a lab that will win your heart! Like someone said, you can tell them what you're looking for and they can call you when they get a dog you want. But I bet you'll fall in love with another one at the shelter before that happens! Good luck!