Mary Allen
#13 In some federal states of Germany and cantons of Switzerland, the Doberman is considered colloquially a so-called list dog.
This means that the legislator assumes that a dog breed is “potentially dangerous”. Depending on the city, different regulations apply to the sale and keeping of this breed. In particularly strict regulations, the keeping is completely forbidden, elsewhere the dog must be reported to the municipality.
#14 Before (!) purchasing a Doberman, please inquire in good time which bureaucratic steps you have to take into account.
#15 Many critics are against the existence of such breed lists, since aggressiveness depends on several (often human) factors and race itself is repeatedly questioned as a potential factor.
From decade to decade, more and more federal states and cantons in German-speaking countries are eliminating or shortening lists of potentially dangerous dog breeds due to scientific findings - the trend to instead train and monitor the sense of responsibility of owners is to be viewed positively.