hope you find someone to take the pup
What a cute puppy! I have known some Dobe's and they can be great dogs, but they are a lot of work. My guess is the little boy's family found that out and figured they would turn the pup lose to find a new home rather than go to the trouble of taking it to a shelter or finding a rescue. What a great lesson to teach your kids-puppy is work, dump it.
And I am disappointed to hear that the rescue won't take the pup if it isn't Doberman enough. I looked into rescue when we got our puppy and lots of breed rescues take in dogs that are only in that breed by a remote chance-some even take dogs of similar background (like other sporting dogs) when there aren't other options. I really hope that the breed rescue will step in and help or that you can find a no kill shelter. But puppy's do place faster in many cases so I think someone will take the little fella if he goes to the shelter. Good luck!