I got my male Doberman Pinscher a little over a year ago off of craigslist.
I, too, see poorly disguised ads, that are for backyard breeder puppies and people simply trying to make a profit off of older dogs that they may have gotten for free themselves.
The story behind MY dog is that his elderly owner had passed away, and her grandson was trying to find a home for her dog. The dog was a fawn (NOT my favorite color), (oversized) 108 lbs., and had “quirks” (the dog wouldn’t go up and down steps). The grandson liked the fact that I had had previous experience with Dobermans. There was NO charge/fee/cost for the dog; however, someone else had called before me.
The grandson wanted to give ME the dog, but I told him that if the other person didn’t take the dog, I would. I called the next day, and the other person ‘couldn’t get the dog in the car.’ I thought, WTheck?
So, I drove across the state to get the Doberman. The dog immediately laid down on the floor and wouldn’t get up. He snapped at me when I tried to put a leash on him. The young man and his friend got my large crate out of my van and tried to coax the dog into it. Finally, (and I had been outside during all of this), they put a leash on him, connected another leash to it, and dragged him into the crate. Then, four of us (they recruited a neighbor, too) carried the crate out and into my van.
Dickens (named that, because he looked so pathetic when I met him and sans a ‘real’ name when we met) was quiet on the long ride home, fantastic getting out of the van and into the house (he jumped onto the porch rather than going up the steps), and has shown no problem going up and down the few steps I have when he chooses to use them. (He is HUGE and can easily step on and off the porch.) Although he has a really poor coat (typical of many fawns and blues), he is really a Very Nice Dog and INCREDIABLY sweet. He shows a little separation anxiety but never in “his” home now, nor in “his” van but rather, if I have to go out of his sight, like at his CGC test. (He passed.)
Well, I guess I’m saying you CAN find a good dog off of craigslist. Some are free, as was mine. Some may charge a fee for their dog/puppy in order to be sure that YOU are not a flipper. It takes work, and you may get an average dog, i.e. a puppy with shots but not health testing. It just takes some work and some faith.
That said, I got my female Doberman from an animal shelter up north. The shelter required that I fill out an application but just called my vet and asked if they considered me a “good” dog owner. (They did.)
Recently, however, there was a female Doberman in the local animal shelter. You have to fill out an application, they have to investigate your references, call your vet, be interviewed, and be approved before you can have your own dogs meet with the one up for adoption. As I have a dominant female, I wasn’t sure that it work At All, although the female they had appeared to be submissive (and had a bad coat, scaly skin, worn down teeth, been bred to death, and was older). They wouldn’t allow me to do a 5-minute meet and greet with my current dogs before doing all of the above (as that is ‘wasted time’ on their parts). They, too, didn’t like the fact that I don’t have a current vet; I have gotten shots from the Tractor Supply vet clinics for the last two years. I could have shown that I took an $8 cat to an emergency clinic (after hours, on a Sunday, NONE of the “local” vets do after hours calls–they send you 45 miles away) at a cost of $700. Obviously, I am not a “responsible enough” owner for the local animal shelter.
Sorry. I just get a bit testy sometimes. Thankfully, the older female Doberman got a home yesterday.
That being said, I know many of the animal shelters in my state that adopt without a lot of crap. Many of them adopt their animals, already spayed and neutered, at a mere pittance, i.e. my $8 kitten. All of them require spaying and neutering, if not already done, and I have no problem with that. (That being said, I have now found a local vet whose costs rival Tractor Supply’s vet clinic and will go to him next year.)
So, just my experience(s).
