My obviously VERY chocolate lab mix was $30. However, he is older, and came with some chronic ear issues (thank you previous owner) that we worked through. He is the PERFECT dog for us! Came from a Humane Society shelter the next county over.
It depends. I would only adopt a purebred rescue from a breed rescue organization that has been recommended by the breed club, if possible. It seems, however, that there are a ton of Doberman rescues, and the national Doberman club lists them on their website. I don’t know if they do any followup regarding quality/ethics, etc.
http://www.dpca.org/rescue/by-state.php
I browsed it a bit; one of the organizations in NY charges $350; one in GA charges $250…one that covers the NY to Ohio to Kentucky charges $400 - puppies up to 6 months, $350 adults to 2 years, less for seniors; one in CA charges $250.
So…yes, I think $500 is high. I’d check to see if it’s on this list; I’d definitely want references too.
You might check out the dog pound. Dobies do show up there. Our dear, beloved Otto, whom we lost just this last year to cancer, was a pound puppy, and a great dog!
I paid $175, including licensing, for an 8 month old Dobe from my local shelter. However I paid $500 for a purebred 10 month old collie from the breed rescue. The collie came with more stuff and had zero baggage and has been one of the easiest dogs ever . The Dobe is a wonderful dog, but he’s take quite a bit of work, and has some lingering baggage (large men in Hats and sunglasses wig him out). So, I can’t really complain or compare either way. You’d need to decide how this dog fits in to your situation and spectrum. For the higher end, I’d expect a pretty easy, well socialized, adaptable dog. For las money from a municipal shelter, I’d expect to have to do some work.
[QUOTE=TheHotSensitiveType;8707486]
I agree that that price is not necessarily out of line with other pure breed rescues. All our dogs have had either no adoption fee (bully type dogs, one has serious baggage and the other is a high energy handful) or a low adoption fee (purebred adult with some baggage from family that could not match his energy level and emotional needs). In this case, that seems like a fair fee for a fixed puppy up to date on shots and no baggage if the rescue checks out.
I do have one question though, if they do not have papers, how do they know this puppy is a purebred? Did they foster the female before she gave birth and see the sire? Some puppies may be mixed, and you are unable to tell until they get older… Would that be a problem if it proved to be the case?[/QUOTE]
Can’t speak for the OP, but my purebred dog from rescue came to me as a result of a breeder gone off the deep end and being shut down for hoarding/abuse. She had some pretty good bloodlines but we couldn’t get his papers because the AKC pulled all her dogs registrations after that debacle.
If there’s a suitable dog and it’s coming from a reputable place, I don’t think I’d spend one minute fussing over a a couple hundred bucks. In the grand scheme of dog ownership it’s a drop in the bucket. And for the “perfect” dog? I wouldn’t blink, personally.
[QUOTE=vxf111;8711610]
If there’s a suitable dog and it’s coming from a reputable place, I don’t think I’d spend one minute fussing over a a couple hundred bucks. In the grand scheme of dog ownership it’s a drop in the bucket. And for the “perfect” dog? I wouldn’t blink, personally.[/QUOTE]
I agree. If there is a perfect dog, this is not really a discussion. If the discussion was about finding the right rescue organization in order to find the perfect match, it’s a totally different conversation.
In general, if I was looking for a good match of a specific breed rescue, I’d look only to organizations that had received the blessing of the parent club because they would likely be the most reputable.
Doesn’t mean that the perfect dog wouldn’t be found in your local shelter, though.
I paid $300 Canadian for my first dog (Pit Bull cross) and $300 American for the second (Pit Bull).
Both of my dogs were $75 and $80, respectively, when the rescue pulled them from the shelter, and that included the spay/neuter and rabies vaccine.
I don’t mind that I could have gotten a dog for cheaper elsewhere, I was happy to pay the rescue. Because they had been in foster care, I knew that they met my specific requirements.
The one thing I was really po’ed about was that when I got my female, the rescue didn’t disclose an injury (torn acl) that I now know they were aware of. That ended up costing me several thousand $ in vet bills and brought a lot of heartache with it
If you can trust the rescue that they are adopting out a healthy dog, it makes almost no difference if you pay $200 or $500 adoption fee. The money is in the ongoing bills and especially vet bills
My purebred dog was $500… I was going to adopt her directly from the breeder who rescued her from the pound but due to bad storms I couldn’t get her. The lady turned her over to the poodle rescue at their insistence even though she agreed to adopt her out to me. The rescue took her 100 miles away for spaying and then I had the high fee. Later because she was spayed so young I had to do two tplo surgeries on her.
My next dog will probably be from a breeder I hate to say. That situation was messed up in more ways than I stated but the end result was I got my standard poodle puppy
[QUOTE=knightrider922;8713286]
My purebred dog was $500… I was going to adopt her directly from the breeder who rescued her from the pound but due to bad storms I couldn’t get her. The lady turned her over to the poodle rescue at their insistence even though she agreed to adopt her out to me. The rescue took her 100 miles away for spaying and then I had the high fee. Later because she was spayed so young I had to do two tplo surgeries on her.
My next dog will probably be from a breeder I hate to say. That situation was messed up in more ways than I stated but the end result was I got my standard poodle puppy[/QUOTE]
If the breeder was working for the breed rescue, this was done the correct way - they can’t let volunteers adopt out the dogs from the pound to people that haven’t gone through the application process, otherwise they might just end up back in the shelter.
I’m surprised, however, that they insisted on spaying a young puppy; not sure how my breed rescue handles this… That said, you can’t be sure that the TPLO surgeries were necessary because she was spayed at a young age. My intact male had a cruciate tear and had TTA surgery…so it does happen to dogs that are not altered too.
However, I agree with the end result - if you want a nice purebred puppy, you are most likely to get what you want from a reputable breeder.
I think it is important to keep in mind that when you buy a cheap, unpapered puppy from a “breeder”, or even worse off craigslist/kijiji, you are running a good chance that the dog is from a puppy mill. Not only are these dogs bred on the cheap (e.g. no health testing, minimal vet care), they are also unsocialised, and you are supporting the horrific consitions that their mothers live in.
No thanks!
[QUOTE=DogIsMyCopilot;8713564]
I think it is important to keep in mind that when you buy a cheap, unpapered puppy from a “breeder”, or even worse off craigslist/kijiji, you are running a good chance that the dog is from a puppy mill. Not only are these dogs bred on the cheap (e.g. no health testing, minimal vet care), they are also unsocialised, and you are supporting the horrific consitions that their mothers live in.
No thanks![/QUOTE]
Isn’t that the same risk you take when adopting a pet from a shelter or rescue?
[QUOTE=DogIsMyCopilot;8711913]
I paid $300 Canadian for my first dog (Pit Bull cross) and $300 American for the second (Pit Bull).
Both of my dogs were $75 and $80, respectively, when the rescue pulled them from the shelter, and that included the spay/neuter and rabies vaccine.
I don’t mind that I could have gotten a dog for cheaper elsewhere, I was happy to pay the rescue. Because they had been in foster care, I knew that they met my specific requirements.
The one thing I was really po’ed about was that when I got my female, the rescue didn’t disclose an injury (torn acl) that I now know they were aware of. That ended up costing me several thousand $ in vet bills and brought a lot of heartache with it
If you can trust the rescue that they are adopting out a healthy dog, it makes almost no difference if you pay $200 or $500 adoption fee. The money is in the ongoing bills and especially vet bills[/QUOTE]
Yes, please vet the rescue, too.
I got my chocolate lab puppy from a rescue, totally spur of the moment. Took my guys to the Banfield vet for a checkup and the Petsmart was having an adoption fair- dogs, puppies, kitties EVERYWHERE. I had been kicking around getting another puppy for my young dog to have someone to play with, but hadn’t made the commitment.
Walked by the adult dogs, nothing there. Went down the row of puppy cages, saw three little chocolates sleeping. I gently stroked the head nearest the door through the wire… she slowly opened her eyes, then LEAPT to her feet, like “YOU’RE HERE!! They SAID you would come!!!” Of course I had to take her out and cuddle her, and I was lost…
She was 12 weeks old, have been spayed already and vaccinated. Because it was an adoption fair, her fee was half off (still more than I’d want to spend when shelter pets were $25… :winkgrin: ) but I was smitten.
Took her home, she did great- for a week. Then to the vet we went. She ended up having kennel cough, an abscess by her tail, an ear infection and demodetic mange. She passed the bordetello (kennel cough) to two of my guinea pigs, who died.
Would I do it again? Oh, yeah, no fear. She is a WONDERFUL dog. But wow, that was totally unexpected.
[QUOTE=Sswor;8713758]
Isn’t that the same risk you take when adopting a pet from a shelter or rescue?[/QUOTE]
I think the difference is that when you adopt, you aren’t encouraging the breeder to continue breeding litters. I’ve bought dogs from reputable breeders that do health testing and that I’ve visited and seen the conditions that the dogs live in. I wouldn’t pay money to someone who bred without health testing, but I would pay an adoption fee to a shelter because all dogs need the same care whether health tested or not.
[QUOTE=Sswor;8713758]
Isn’t that the same risk you take when adopting a pet from a shelter or rescue?[/QUOTE]
You aren’t financially backing the backyard breeder/puppy mill to continue doing what they do if you adopt. If the breeder/mill were to surrender to a rescue/shelter they wouldn’t make money so they aren’t producing dogs to put them there (esp. when many ask for a surrender fee).
