What is your opinion on dog breeders?

I prefer a well bred pup over a rescue because I know what I'm getting; for example I know what to expect in a German Shepherd, their active dogs who grow large and you know what kind of hereditary health problems to look out for in that specific breed (although you shouldn't worry too much about that if you get a pup from a responsible breeder.)

With a rescue pup I feel like there is too much unpredictably in health, temperament, size, etc. The majority of rescues are mixed breeds with unknown pedigree, so you don't know if it's ancestors might have carried a health issue and passed it onto that dog, and after a few months or year of having it the health issue will pop up causing you to spend thousands of dollars on it. Not to mention you can't judge it's temperament on a one day visit then bring it home, with unpredictable behaviour you could bring that dog home and it suddenly attacks your other dog, child, etc. because it has dog aggression or human aggression or is just out of control.

Even if you do find a "purebred" dog in a shelter it's going to be a poorly bred one coming from puppy mills or backyard breeders who do not breed for health or temperament, and that unpredictable behaviour and health problems are still there.

With a well bred dog I know the dogs history, lineage, potential hereditary issues, and have a far better chance of predicting it's behaviour than a shelter dog would ever be. Once upon a time I was all for adopting shelter dogs and was one of those nuts screaming down peoples throats "adopt don't shop."

My first shelter dog was a pure bred kelpie. On the first day it bit my face and tore through my door screen and tried to attack my mum. My second shelter dog was a rottweiler mix that I had for a week before he started screaming everyday scratching his ears until they bled. Went to multiple vet visits a week, couldn't figure out what was wrong with him and so I spent hundreds of dollars on different brands of creams and ointments for his ears that didn't work. Ran out of money and forced to give him up, his ears still infected and bleeding with him screaming every night. Third shelter dog was a border collie. Only had him for two months before he died from heart failure.

So after those horrible experiences with shelter dogs and poorly bred dogs I feel like it's better to get a dog from a responsible breeder. I know that a well bred dog isn't 100% immune to health issues though, things can still pop up but it's a marginally much more lower chance than anything you'd get from a shelter or rescue.