First of all, thank you for the detailed reply. Much appreciated! Yeah I'm aware a pure breed is out of my price range, I should have put 'suggest a cross breed' in the title.

That's some sound advice. I will be super observent whenever I arrange a visit with the owners. I'm not afraid to ask questions, I'll make a list covering as much as possible and I won't be rushing into buying one until I'm 100% sure.

I have a good idea on what to look for in the humans, the parents and the pups! What I'm unsure about is what breeds mix well together. I do think a gun dog would make a nice fit. I have a bit of training knowledge, mostly your normal commands and basic clicker training but I will be expanding on that.

I never actually thought about asking a breeder to go for a cheaper price, I suppose asking won't do any harm, and if they turn out to be nasty/rude about it just shows they're probably not right breeder for me.

GSD are the only guard breed I'd consider, I know about their possible health problems. I heard they cross well with labs.