12/17/2020
Taking Considerations & Interviewing for Guardian Homes (SNOHOMISH)
Becoming a Guardian Family: What it’s like to love a dog that’s technically not yours
The dog still belongs to the breeder. We agreed to take them ‘on terms’ and become a Guardian Family.
What is a Guardian Family?
A ‘Guardian’ is a person or family who agree to raise and care for a breeder’s dog as a loved family pet for the duration of its breeding career.
Guardian Families are used by responsible breeders to ensure that their breeding animals have happy, healthy lives as loved family pets (thus eliminating awful puppy farms). Breeders who use this method generally have a deep love and respect for their dogs and subscribe to the belief that the best puppies come from a family pet environment.
The Guardian Family has a contract with the breeder to keep the dog in good health and condition and to allow the dog to be bred for a certain number of litters before they are retired and legal ownership is given to the Guardian Family.
Terms regarding medical expenses, breeding costs and profits will vary from breeder to breeder. A common arrangement is that a deposit is paid for the Guardian Puppy to be refunded when the dog has delivered her first litter. This helps ensure both parties are invested in the dog’s wellbeing and the breeding process.
Should we become a Guardian Family?
And the answer is, it really depends on your individual circumstances and motivations.
Becoming a Guardian Family is a huge commitment and the best advice I can give is to talk over your interest with the breeder you are considering.
If you’re serious, here are some questions to ask yourself:
*Are you willing to deal with a female dog going into season? This means dealing with blood, keeping the dog away from other intact dogs and sometimes having to cancel or rearrange social plans because your pet’s cycle is getting in the way.
*Are you willing to work with the breeder? You can expect extra vet visits, check-ups and your pet going on ‘honeymoon’. Whilst the breeder will work with you, you need to be willing to be supportive of the process and be accommodating with balancing your family life and your pet’s needs.
*Do you like the breeder? For this relationship to work, you need to like and trust the breeder you’re working with. At times, you’ll have a lot to do with each other and you want to make sure you can communicate effectively and get along.
*Can you put the time into training? No one says your dog needs to be A movie actor but some basic obedience is crucial for all breeding dogs. If you want to reduce stress on the dog, it’s helpful to maintain consistency with the rules and expected behaviours between your house and the breeder’s house. You need to be willing to socialise your dog and put the effort into exposing her to other people and animals.
*Can you give your dog up for weeks on end every year? This is the hardest part. But when your dog is ready to whelp her litter, likely she will return to the breeder for about nine weeks. That’s a long time to be without your family pet! It’s emotional and if you have young kids, it might be a difficult concept to explain. Ultimately though, you do get the joy of knowing your dog is going to have babies that make another family as happy as she makes you.
*Are you planning on staying put for the next few years? It goes without saying but if you’re considering a transfer to Dubai or interstate in the next year or two, this may not be a beneficial arrangement for you or the breeder.
If after all that, you’re still keen…
Then absolutely, start looking into it.
Call the breeder and have a chat about your individual circumstances and what might be right for you both. Talk about your motivations, get to know them and get a feel for whether or not you feel you can trust them. Evaluate the contract you’re offered and make a well-informed decision.
Loving a dog (or dogs!) that doesn’t legally belong to you can be hard. It’s not easy being without your pet for weeks on end. But while it’s emotional, it’s highly rewarding knowing that from this partnership, another family will have a dog they adore as much as you do yours. Plus, meeting the puppies is pretty special!
At the end of your family pet(s) breeding career, the breeder will relinquish ownership rights in a written form and your dog lives out the remainder of its life with you and your family.
Must have previous dog experience, must be an approved only home, MUST live in PNW within 1-2 hour commute from Snohomish, no intention of moving for breeding contract duration
Will email a contract upon request
Serious inquiries only & you must have the means financially to care for a dog (vet, grooming, premium food, etc)
Small refundable deposit
Passive aggressiveness against Guardian Foster programs, they will be immediately blocked
Pics are examples except first 4 pics (our dogs)
bernadoodle, greater swiss mountain dog, dalmatian, dalmadoodle, doodle, labradoodle, goldendoodle
