I had a friend with a healer/lab, great dog, amazing eyesight, very energetic, and smart.
When I was ready to get a dog, I happened upon a healer/lab mix so bought the only female in the litter of 10. Unfortunately, looking back, I think the people were a-holes and lied when they said she was 7 weeks old. I think she was five at the most. She was very smart (I could tell her to "fetch to" about eight people that she knew by name, I could throw a ball a stick and a frisbee and tell her to get them with no pointing in any order I wanted, she knew the name of every room in the house), very energetic, and kind of a, well, female dog name that we can't post here.... She felt like she should be the boss, she was a bit mouthy, and she liked to run. She did like to hunt though and was a great retriever, so not all bad.
Have your friend make sure the breeder is decent and socializes the puppies well and has done all of the health checks and stuff on the parents as should be done with any dog purchase. However, breeders that intentionally make mutts might be kind of sketchy so buyer beware.
