I would find your local GSD club, find out what activities their dogs are doing and go watch. Talk to breeders. Don't buy the first dog you see.
Talk to freekitty, she's a GSD person.
As far as Labs, the best way to find a breeder is to check out the hunting clubs. Watch the dogs doing what they were bred to do. If you don't want a full-blown field dog, it's a cinch that a pup or two in any given litter will be a more mellow boy or girl and perfect for a house dog that you might want to shoot over occasionally or take to a hunt test just for fun.
My girls are mixed field and show breeding, in varying proportions. But the show lines are NOT the block-headed, short-legged, fat ones. There are still a couple of kennels (Dickendall and Kerrybrook, for two) that breed what they call "dual purpose Labs" - and those are my show lines.
Mary Howley of Candlewood Kennels, who is probably the best field trial breeder in the country, uses show lines for outcrosses. My little black Lab that I got from her is 1/4 conformation (Kerrybrook) and she is PLENTY high-energy. We just finally have her to where you can hold a conversation with her, at age three. Before now she was all drive, no brain. But that's to be expected with her breeding, she's an 2xNFC/AFC Ebonstar Lean Mac granddaughter, they mature late, even for Labs.
My oldest dog was sired by an English show dog, at least the British show dogs have to pass a hunting test in order to put champion in front of their names. It's pretty pitiful when the "Pigadors" come out to try to get a Working Certificate on their dogs and the poor things are waddling in the general direction of the bird . . . slowly, and sometimes showing no interest at all when they get there.
My best buddy, my special dog, was a rescue but out of a field champion line. He was a beautiful example of the downeast NC type of Lab, dark, almost liver colored chocolate with green eyes that persisted well into adulthood.
I know of Candlewood, anybody who is serious about Labs knows that kennel. But, I’ll be getting one of the local variety when I finally can bring myself to do it. It’s been over two years, and I still can’t. I have taken in a sweet little Walker Hound girl, though. She needed somebody, and that somebody turned out to be me. We’ve just about learned each other’s ways by now.