My first concern would be the number of dogs these people are breeding. While it's somewhat 'normal' for some breeders to work with 2 breeds, the 'few others' makes me question if they are a responsible breeder or a puppy mill/byb. By excellent pedigrees, do you mean the parents of the puppies have titles, or if you look at a five generation pedigree great great grandpa on mom's side got a title?
What you should look for first is health testing. For goldens, that's hips, elbows, eyes and heart, PRA would be a good one to inquire about since it's in some lines, and PU, early cancer and so on. Labs would be hips and eyes for sure but not sure what else should be tested for with BOTH parents.
Labs are more of the working type dog, goldens tend to be more goofy, but with training both can be great and what you're looking for, other than the loyalty thing. My golden is loyal to me till she sees someone else tossing the ball, then she could really care less if I was there or not. But she's not going to eat anyone that comes into the house or yard either. I find the boys I've had to be more loyal in that aspect but any dog will run off if not trained, they're dogs. You can go back and forth with the sex really with pros and cons. I prefer boys because they are a bit more loyal usually, but it's pretty even either way. If you're not set on one or the other, the breeder should be able to find the right pup for you.
In either case you can go on k9data.com and look up the dog's pedigrees, health testing and longevity and so on, if they're a reasonably good breeder, their dogs will be on there....
What you should look for first is health testing. For goldens, that's hips, elbows, eyes and heart, PRA would be a good one to inquire about since it's in some lines, and PU, early cancer and so on. Labs would be hips and eyes for sure but not sure what else should be tested for with BOTH parents.
Labs are more of the working type dog, goldens tend to be more goofy, but with training both can be great and what you're looking for, other than the loyalty thing. My golden is loyal to me till she sees someone else tossing the ball, then she could really care less if I was there or not. But she's not going to eat anyone that comes into the house or yard either. I find the boys I've had to be more loyal in that aspect but any dog will run off if not trained, they're dogs. You can go back and forth with the sex really with pros and cons. I prefer boys because they are a bit more loyal usually, but it's pretty even either way. If you're not set on one or the other, the breeder should be able to find the right pup for you.
In either case you can go on k9data.com and look up the dog's pedigrees, health testing and longevity and so on, if they're a reasonably good breeder, their dogs will be on there....