Guardianship | Mountain Ridge Doodles

Guardianship Program

Being a guardian home for one of our doodles can be an excellent and affordable way to have a well-bred top quality dog for your family. We believe that all dogs have the right to a family that loves them and will treat them as a member of the family. Our guardianship program or as others like to call it, joint custody, is the best possible situation for one of our dogs. We have found that we can only give adequate love, attention and training to a maximum of three dogs that currently live permanently in our home. With this in mind, we like to place the pick of the litter babies in forever homes with the right family while we, Mountain Ridge Doodles, retain breeding rights. This means the dog will stay in your home as your family dog. We pay for all health testing and all breeding expenses. The dog’s every day expenses are paid for by the host/guardian family. At the appropriate time (when a female is in heat, or we need your male to breed to a female), your dog will come back to us for breeding and then again for whelping. Some families actually want to participate in the birthing and raising of pups in their home, which is not an option at this time. Guardianship programs are a win-win situation for guardian families, the breeder, and most of all the dog.

If you are interested in being a Guardian Home for one of our doodles, please fill out an application here.

Guardian families have "pick of the litter" puppy chosen by us.
Guardian dogs don't ever have to live in a kennel.
Guardian dogs get to be in their forever home from puppyhood.
The family gets a pick of the litter, health tested dog, while incurring only routine costs.

The following are requirements we use to determine the eligibility of our Guardian families; we take each Guardian application on a case-by-case basis:

Own their own home.
Provide obedience classes for the puppy.
Be vet recommended. (If we call your vet, they would provide a positive reference.)
Have a fully fenced yard.
Feed TLC Pet Food.
Notify breeder when a female begins her heat cycle immediately.
Provide assurance of secure inside containment during heat cycles.
Not allow a male to breed with other females or expose females to males while in heat.
Be within 50 miles of Greenville, SC.
Not transport the dog more than 60 miles from Greenville, SC for more than two weeks without notifying the breeder in advance.
Relinquish the dog during the time the breeder needs the dog for breeding.
Provide regular vet care including shots, heartworm and flea/tick preventative medicine. This will be at the guardian family's expense.
Be kept well groomed at all times.

Once we receive your application and would like to move forward, we will schedule a phone call with you to go over the Guardianship contract, then coordinate a home visit. Once approved, you'll be placed on our approved Guardian list to receive our next available Guardian puppy.

When breeding obligations are complete, usually 3 to 4 years after the dog matures, you agree to spay or neuter your dog. He/she then returns to your wonderful home where they have lived since puppyhood. Each female will be bred two to five times during a two to five year period, at the breeders discretion. She will be boarded with us during a portion of her heat cycle and whelping. Males may be needed for several more years but will only need to be away from their families a few days at a time.

If the family moves more than 100 miles from the breeder, the contract is dissolved and the pet price of $3,500 must be paid for the dog and the dog must be spayed or neutered. If we as the breeder determine that the dog is necessary to continue our breeding program then other arrangements can be met at our expense to have the dog returned to us for the period of time needed to breed. Contract terms can be modified and altered to meet an individual need or situation. The dog must be kept healthy, on heart worm meds, up to date on vaccinations and well groomed.

At any time, if we, specifically Deborah or David, feel that the terms of the contract are not being met by the guardianship family, we retain the right to take possession of the dog. The guardian family will relinquish all rights to the dog via contractual terms. If at any time, we determine that the guardian family is not being cooperative in making the dog available to us, or not informing us when the dog is in heat, we will reclaim the dog. The dog must be relinquished immediately upon request with no legal ties or binds. If any legal fees are incurred by the breeder to repossess the dog, the guardian dogs host will be responsible for payment of any and all such legal fees including court costs and attorney fees. Any money the guardianship family paid for the dog will not be refunded including vet bills.