Oneteaspoon, I am new to the forum but I have had a couple of Labs :) They are indeed wonderful dogs, provided they get enough people time. They are very people oriented (the kind of dog that will follow you into the toilet just so they can stay with you). My personal experience is that an older Lab (who, I stress to add, was a very chilled, laid-back, placid type who loved sleeping for hours and hours on the couch from a very young age) can cope with being left on its own for 8-9 hours per day, provided it is given access to the house when you are not there, is with you whenever you are home, is able to sleep in your bedroom, and has daily walks, training, and regular interesting outings with you to new places and is kept mentally active (e.g. my dog did flyball training 2 nights a week and obedience 1 night a week, spent every Wednesday 9am-5pm at another dog's house and went pretty much everywhere with us except work). But a little puppy is different. A puppy needs its humans to be home full time for the first few months, for company, toilet training, socialisation, obedience training etc etc. You also need to be committed to things like puppy play group and, once fully vaccinated, obedience training classes. If all that is not possible then I'd advise not getting a pup or young dog. A pup or young dog left alone for that period of time each day will be a candidate for developing behavioural problems (e.g. barking/howling, anxiety, being absolutely frantic when they do see you at last, digging, wrecking stuff, nipping people etc etc).
We recently adopted a young Lab (now 11 months) who was re-homed due to family allergies (...and possibly because of some of the behavioural issues I mention above..!). We both work full time, but when we got our dog we also both took 4 weeks off work so we could spend a lot of time getting him used to us and his new home. Within a couple of weeks he became settled and easy to live with. When we started back at work our dog went into doggy day care each week day. He is happy, occupied and having a great time with his doggy friends. Is day care or similar an option for you? It's pretty expensive, but the dog's mental health and peace of mind can make it worth it. Day care is usually for older dogs though, not little puppies.
You also mention that you are after a dog that does not have excess hair due to your Mum's lung condition. Unfortunately Labradors shed like it's going out of style. They do have shortish hair, but they are very, very generous in sharing it! With a Labrador, you have to be prepared to have dog fur infiltrating every aspect of your life. And every meal, LOL. A couple of years ago we went to Scotland on holiday (without our dog) and we left black Lab fur everywhere we went (which we actually really liked because we missed our dog a lot). So, the fur shedding could be something to consider.
Anyway, all that is just based on my opinion and experience, but I hope it is useful :)
