They will be able to give you a tour of their facility and should be willing to tell you all about their dogs. Be suspicious of any breeder who is unwilling to let you tour their kennel. When you do visit, make sure that the kennels are clean and that the dogs are healthy. For the most part in my experience, people at dog shows are very pleasant and willing to talk about their dogs. Just use common sense and try not to bother them just before they go in the ring if they are showing their dog.
Every breed has an organization dedicated to the rescue and placement of dogs.
I urge you to check into this. You would be doing everyone a great service if you could adopt one of these. Once again, the AKC web page is a wonderful place to start for more information. Also, on my Dog Breeds page each link generally leads to a rescue link within that specific site.