I mean, I've had dogs before, it's not like I'm trying to get a dog for the first time in my life. The thing is, I am an immigrant, I had to leave my previous dog back home; A caucasian shepherd - a pretty serious breed (here's a google for image search if you don't know what I'm talking about).
For the past few years, for various reasons, I couldn't have any dogs and frankly my life felt somewhat insufficient. Finally I think I'm ready to get one. Considering all possible choices I decided to get a zwergschnauzer, and that would be my first ever dog since moving to USA.
I want to get a purebred male, either a young adult or a puppy. However it seems to be quite a difficult task to find a good puppy in my area (San Francisco Bay Area).
First of all the price. According to ads I found on the Internet, it varies from $350 to $3000 for a puppy. I mean I understand you get what you pay for, but really $3000 for a puppy? And we're talking about one of the most popular breeds in US, not some exotic one.
I am not trying to get a show dog, but a family pet, yet I want to get a good and healthy puppy and if it really makes huge difference, maybe I should prepare myself to pay reasonably higher than average price? But I won't pay $3000. It would probably be cheaper to fly to Germany and bring one here.
Also it seems finding a puppy is difficult. I've been emailing in response to all ads I've found on Craigslist, eBay Classifieds, and PetFinder. Most of the puppies are either already sold out or of a mixed breed.
I found web page of Miniature Schnauzer Club of Northern California and wrote them an email asking for recommendations - no answer yet.
Can you tell me the process of adopting a purebred dog in the United States? I'm especially interested in knowing the parts like how the registration process works, and the normal procedure for bargaining for price.