I've only purchased one dog in my life, too, Everyone else has been a rescue - most of them found me, not the other way around. My sole puppy purchase presented an interesting challenge.
I had only recently moved away from home and was having serious pet-withdrawal. I desperately needed a dog! The other half understood ... sortof ... but really didn't want a dog, or anything else, for that matter. He put a lot of restrictions on what he would accept:
Had to be a purebred - which ruled out the peke-a-poo I wanted.
Had to be a puppy - I wanted an older dog, because it's easier for puppies to find homes.
Had to be female - I like my boys and female purebreds are 'spensive!
Had to be under 30 pounds - okay, we lived in a townhouse, I got that one.
Couldn't be yappy - which ruled out pretty much every terrier breed and small poodles
Couldn't be shipped, which left us within a three hour radius.
My one restriction was that I wanted longer hair. I like to bury my fingers in floof! That ruled out all the smooth-coated breeds.
With all the caveats, he really figured to remain dogless for quite some time, but he seriously underestimated me! With all the restrictions, I narrowed it down to a Lhasa Apso and a Shih Tzu. The Lhasa was bigger, but temperament won and I ended up with my little Shih Tzu. I loved her dearly - and always will, but I will NEVER purchase a dog again! She was, without a doubt, the dumbest, most hard-headed animal I have ever owned or been owned by!
With that in mind, I have to add that whatever she lacked in intelligence, she made up for in personality. She was a BLAST! We had SO many fun adventures, together. We are the reason why our local mall has "No pets allowed" signs on all the doors. I took her in for pictures with Santa (what can I say? I was childless and she was spoiled!) Most people thought it was cute, but there were, of course, complaints from a few patrons and staff. When security approached me over it, I innocently pointed out that nowhere did it say I could not bring a leashed, well-behaved pet inside. They couldn't argue, but we got an escort to Santa. The irritated guard waited while we got our pictures taken, then escorted us back out. Santa LOVED her, BTW. I went back the next day (Sunday) to actually shop, and lo and behold, there were "No Pets Allowed" stickers on all the doors. I lost it! I laughed so hard I couldn't stand up. On the rare occasion when I make it back that far into civilization, it still makes me smile!
meanwhile I don’t think SIL even asked before bringing their most recent dog home 
or most of them 
I probably would have just gotten the kind of dog I wanted regardless 
but I’m glad you ended up finding such a great dog though. 
and that is hilarious about the signs! 
mostly in the “rare” and less common breeds but still! Seems quite common for Goldens to be like $2-3K now.
since they’re the same dogs that end up in shelters anyway! I wouldn’t get a puppy from there of course but could maybe find a nice rescue. Idk.
