If you want a dog that's friendly, good looking, intelligent, good with kids, and a great hunting companion, you can't go wrong with a lab from a reputable breeder.
You will, however, have to spend a fair amount of time bonding and training it properly, or you may wish to have it trained by professional trainers.
We just purchased a yellow lab puppy from a top field trial breeder down in the US. and have spent the last 3 weeks bonding, house training and getting it to sleep through the night without crying. Believe me, it's like having a new baby in the house. However, the effort is worth it. It is very loveable, intelligent and great with kids (my 7 year old grand daughter carried it around for 3 days and the dog just loved all the attention). It follows you everywhere, has to be near you, and is either running around playing or sound asleep.
One of the best books to read on the subject is "Training Your Retreiver" by James Lamb Free. It would probably help you a great deal - especially if you are going to use it for hunting. It is particularly important to know who the parents and grand
parents are. It's good to have good working dogs in its lineage. Our dog's 3 year old half sister put up 100 pheasants last year.
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