What on earth is a guardian home and why do we have them?
First of all, let me share that there are a million ways to set up guardian homes, but this is how WE do it.
Let's start with the WHY? Because I love every dog and once they are with me I don't want them to leave so we don't typically re-home our dogs when they retire and quite frankly I have to have a limit to care for and train and give all the attention to on a day to day 365 days a year basis. I can handle more short term with no problem. If I kept every dog that retired we would be stopping our breeding career pretty quickly.
Plus, I love to share! This way I get to build relationships with amazing people and share our dogs with them. A guardian dog goes to the family for FREE and we retain the rights to breed the dog through age 6 (most retire before then). We pay for any expenses related to breeding including all testing. The dog is brought to us for breeding for a few days, for a sonogram (just a vet visit), and an x-ray (usually 5 days before due date)to determine the number of puppies. At that point they come with us for 7-9 weeks for whelping and caring for their litter (if the guardian has a female). Dogs can be bred once a year or back to back (twice a year) or a combination thereof. I can give you all the research showing reasons for the process of breeding in all of these options! I will want all guardian homes to read that research to be sure they are comfortable with the process and comfortable with us in every way before entering in this relationship. Dogs are very different from humans in how their body responds to heat cycles. In being a guardian we have to agree to this process together. Once a female retires she is spayed at our expense and she remains with the guardian for the rest of her life. Guardians are also paid per litter and may come and visit their dog any time during the 8 weeks she is caring for her babies.
Guardians must live no more than an hour away and realize the commitment of having to come to us. You do get notice, but only a few days and arrangements to come are not optional as heats don't wait.
So, to sum it up. FREE DOG, PAID per litter, Guardians can visit all the want. We pay for spaying them. Guardians MUST PROVIDE ALL TRANSPORT to and from during this process AND have the dog groomed 3/4 weeks before they come to whelp their puppies. If that is not possible then we just charge those costs against the amount paid per litter.
Males are different in that they never have to come for 8 weeks. They simply need to come for a few days several times a year depending on the females he is breeding with. Males can breed longer than females and that is determined by our vet, as each male will be different. Males clearly come more often and stay for a much shorter time. They also are paid less, but paid more often.
Both males and females have a legally binding contract detailing the rules for guardian homes and we also ask that all perspective guardian homes talk to a couple of our current homes to get their views on this process. I won't lie, it is hard to leave your baby with us for 8 weeks!!! You have to be prepared for that, but our door is open for you to come any time to visit!
We have the most amazing families as guardians. God has blessed us with some beautiful relationships and truly incredible families who have joined us on this adventure we started many years ago. We will forever be grateful! Many of our guardians have more than ONE guardian.
