I foremost encourage you to adopt from an organization that is well intensioned, but because of limits in space and budget are forced to euthanize. The city of Austin's town lake shelter euthanized over 19,000 animals in 1997. If you live in the Austin area, please save a pet from the town lake shelter!
There are rescue organizations for all breeds. Rescue organization are great to adopt from!! Instead of keeping animals in shelters, the animals are usually in foster homes. Small steel cages and narrow concrete kennels, the traditional housing in most shelters, can have a negative effect on the physical and emotional well-being of animals. Through foster care, the rescue people not only nurture the animal but also get know the animal. So they can join you with the right pet to meet your needs and the pets needs. Not all rescue animals have been abused or neglected. They often need new homes because their loving owner can nolonger care for the animal.
I also highly recommend adopting an adult dog!! Puppies chew on everything while they are teething, urinate in the house before they are house trained and their energy can often be difficult to handle. Some adults are also trained and many are already neutered or spayed.