Adoption Process

We are a foster based rescue.  We do not have a facility.  All of our dogs are in foster homes located in Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.  We adopt out to Ohio and surrounding states within a 5 hour drive of Cleveland, OH. We do consider other areas, but that is dependent upon our ability to get a home visit completed.  Adopters will need to travel to the area where the dog is being fostered or event is being held.  Unless the applicant meets the dog at an event, an applicant needs to be approved through the adoption process before meeting dogs.
Before you complete your application we ask that you review the following requirements for adoption.

  • Familiarize yourself with the breed by reading our About The Breed page, or doing your own research. Dobermans are not starter dogs for inexperienced dog owners. If you do not have prior dog experience as an adult owning your own dog we cannot process your adoption application. 
  • If you are renting or are part of an HOA please review their pet policy to determine if there is a breed restriction. We will require a letter of approval from your landlord or HOA.
  • If you currently have pets in the home they are required to be spayed or neutered, up to date on vaccinations, and use a heartworm preventative.

ADOPTION STEPS

Here’s the journey you will take to adopt a dog into your family.

Step 1: Adoption Application:  Fill out the ADOPTION APPLICATION form.  To prevent any adoption process delays, please fully complete the form.

Step 2: Vet Check:  We will contact you requesting you to authorize your veterinarian(s) to release all your pets’ veterinary information to Doberman Underground.  Please include all recent veterinarians your pet(s) have seen.

Step 3: Phone Interview:  We will contact you to review your application and vet check, discuss the type of dog you are looking for, and available dogs.

Step 4: Home Visit:  A volunteer will contact you to arrange a mutually convenient time for a home visit.  This helps us match the right dog with you.

Step 5: Application Committee:  Our Application Committee will review all the information gathered during steps 1-4.

Step 6: Meet Dogs:  Once approved arrangements will be made with you to meet dogs available to join your family.  If the right dog for you is not immediately available, you remain an approved adopter and will be contacted as appropriate dogs enter the rescue’s care.

ADOPTION COSTS

PUREBREED

$400 – Under 1 year
$350 – 1 year – 6 years
$250 – 7 years and older

MIXED

$300 – Under 1 year
$250 – 1 year – 6 years
$150 – 7 years and older

WHAT THE ADOPTION FEE INCLUDES

The adoption fee offsets the costs incurred by Doberman Underground in the rescue, medical treatment, feeding, and housing costs of the dog while in our care.  Additionally, all dogs adopted through Doberman Underground have been:

* spayed or neutered
* vaccinated for rabies, distemper, parvovirus, and bordatella
* tested and treated for intestinal parasites
* tested for heartworm and received monthly preventative medication
* microchipped which includes a lifetime registration
* food and supplies​ to take home

IMPORTANT ADDITIONAL ADOPTION INFORMATION

  • Rescue dogs are a work in progress. We encourage our adopters to enroll in an obedience class with their new Doberman.  This is helpful in building confidence for both dog and owner along with establishing a bond for a successful life long relationship.
  • All adopters must sign an Adoption Contract, no exceptions. The Contract is a binding legal agreement between Doberman Underground and the adopter(s).  It states, among other requirements, that the adoptor(s) keep the dog up-to-date on all vaccines, heartworm prevention, medical care, and yearly wellness veterinary exams.  The Contract also requires that if the new owners should, for ANY reason, not be able to keep and care for the dog, the dog MUST be returned to Doberman Underground; NO exceptions.
  • As is common with rescue adoptions nationwide, we need to ensure your current pets, or recently lost pets, are kept up to date on heartworm testing and vaccinations.  We have treated many dogs that were heartworm positive. These treatments are painful and expensive.  It is very important to us that your current or past pet(s) receive regular heartworm treatment and that any dog placed with you will continue with the recommended heartworm protocol.  **Note: adoption applications will be declined if you are not following your vet’s heartworm treatment plan and/or if you are not up to date on vetting.
  • Adopters must own the property where the adopted dog will reside (i.e. not living at home with parents, etc.).
  • We prefer adopters to have a physical fence, however, we do realize that some communities do not allow fences of any type and some dogs are more sedentary than others. On a case by case basis, we do allow adoptions to homes without fences and consider, among other circumstances, the experience level of the applicant, the drive of the dog being considered, and the age and health of the dog.
  • It is our policy to not allow adoptions to homes with existing intact male or female dogs. Whether or not you decide to spay/neuter your dog is your own decision, but this policy is firm and we will not adopt out dogs in our rescue into homes with intact dogs.