I agree with those above. $500 would get you a decent backyard dog 30 years ago, but things are different now. All of the problems listed are true things for labs and a $500 breeder is probably not going to have that all checked out. In fact, you could make the case that a $500 breeder should not be selling dogs. That is one reason why we have the problems we do today. I have seen all of those problems in other's dogs and it sucks, especially something like Exercise Induced Collapse. Carrying a dog out of the field and dealing with it is not fun. And bad hips can be avoided with good breeding and is not good. And I would hope that you are good owner or else I wouldn't want you to get one of my dogs. In fact, many breeders research the buyers before they sell. I got a new lab 3 years ago, a real hard charger, probably best dog I have had and I have had some good ones, and the breeder did his homework on me before selling. I Paid $2000 plus another $1800 to start her for 3 months of training at 1 year of age. And I would pay twice that if I knew beforhand the kind of dog I was going to end up with. Great family dog and she is calm in house and a good traveller. But when hunting a switch comes on and she hunts like a machine...the terminator!! I also agree with training your dog to be in a crate. You will be glad anytime that dog needs to be kenneled or transported. I sometimes ride my dog in back of truck, along with other dogs when there are 3 or more of us hunting and traveling and no room for crates, but other than that she is in a crate. At the house they prefer the crate and if I don't have one out for them they will often get underneath the coffee tables or other places with overhead cover and sides. I have seen dogs that were not crate trained break out of trucks trying to get to a blind where we were shooting waterfowl. That is a real PITA and the dog risks getting hurt or even killed by getting trapped in the topper door or side windows. And when the dog is a complete muddy mess do you really want it on the front seat with you and friends/SO/kids? You don't always have to use the crate, but it is good to train them to use it.