i like the way people are giving the OP false facts about weather docking is illegal or not

i personally like dobermans with floppy ears and long tails, a good breed still looks chunky and mean

no it is NOT illegal to own a docked OR cropped doberman, as long as the puppy is NOT born in the UK and in a country where it is legal to dock the tails you can legally buy and own it, you will get evidence of the legality of the docking from the vet who performs it.

heck you can buy a cropped doberman if it is done in a legal country, as long as the puppy is NOT born in the UK all is good

like for example you cannot get a puppy here and go abroad to have these things done...apart from that the tail is docked at a few days old. your not likely to have the puppy untill 6-8 weeks so would be far too late

the only reason i would not buy a docked dog anyway is because of the health implications this can have on the dogs ballence, the tail is a big part of this + if it was justified to save a working dog pain in the long run then why arent sheep dogs docked (boarder collies) ? etc.. these dogs work in rough terrains with very large animals, yet no docked tails lol

if you want a docked dobie then there are many breeders in the UK who have kennels in Ireland and ship the pups over once the operation is done, enabling you to go buy/collect them in this country so YES the person you have heard of could well be legit....however if they get them docked here stay well clear, if questioned (which it is unlikely) you may need to provide evidence where the docking was performed