So it sounds as if you're looking at privately rehoming a dog via the internet?
I've previously privately adopted a dog of about that sort of age, from a someone I knew socially who couldn't keep him, and I knew the dog very well I'd looked after the dog so much he didn't notice the difference. He was about the same sort of age at the time. From experience, I would honestly strongly advise against adopting a dog privately. Reasons are that
- the owners are likely to try and cover up the issues the dog has, because they want to see the back of the dog. These could be medical or behavioural. Before I started dog sitting DDog he was billed as being a perfectly nice dog (and so he seemed to be, inside the house). It turned out that he was reactive to weird triggers, totally untrained (as in, he couldn't even sit on command), a veteran kitchen bin raider, avoided affection from humans (still does, apart from his nearest and dearest), lacked social skills and regularly got himself into scraps with other dogs, pulled on the lead so much I got chronic backache etc.... you start to get the picture. I have lost count of the number of dog scraps I have broken up, and how many times I've been bitten by him, albeit not for a while. In comparison, a rescue centre will have had the dog checked by a vet, vaccinated, neutered, spayed, and independently assessed for behaviour. You also get back up support - advice, information, and if things really didn't work out they will take the dog back. You don't get any of those with a private rehome.
- Why haven't the owners rehomed via a reputable rescue? Usually it's one of a couple of reasons
a) the rescue has refused to take the dog on behavioural or medical grounds
b) they value £400 more than ensuring that their dog gets the best home possible, which doesn't exactly bode well for their ability to tell the truth
Is there a reason why you're not looking at adopting via the local rescue centre or a breed rescue?