• How does it work?
Think of Guardianship as your dog having a very part time job for the first few years of its life. That’s as simple as it is.
Males: for male dogs we ensure that they get placed in local or semi-local Guardian homes due to needing them to come over for a day or a few hours during a day more often for stud services. Expect to drop off or have us pick up your male dog up to several times a month at most. However, we typically do not need to call them to fulfill their “duties” even that often. This is just the maximum commitment that would be expected typically.
Females: for female dogs, the Guardian home is responsible for notifying SMDC immediately when the dog begins her heat cycle. It is imperative that we know the very first day that it starts. At that point, if it is a cycle that SMDC has made the decision to breed her on, the Guardian would be responsible for dropping the dog to our home to ensure that breeding takes place timely. If the Guardian home is located further away, arrangements can be made to meet if SMDC has availability. If not, it is still the Guardian’s responsibility to transport the dog to SMDC as instructed. Heat cycles typically take place every 3 months or so depending on the dog.
• What happens next?
After breeding, males and females both return home with their Guardians and males return when they are needed again. Females will then return a week or two weeks prior to their due date to ensure SMDC has the ability to prepare for the upcoming litter including a pregnancy vet visit at SMDC’s expense if necessary. The female dog will remain with SMDC through birth and until the puppies are weaned. This is a great opportunity for Guardian families to plan vacations or take care of things that would normally require them to pay for costing boarding services!
• What is the benefit?
You get a healthy, high quality puppy for a fraction of the cost or sometimes even zero cost.
• Would this be your puppy/dog?
Yes, it would be your puppy/dog permanently as long as the terms of the Guardianship agreement are carried out, during the Guardianship period (up to the 4th or 5th year or the dog’s life) San Marcos Doodle Co. would retain ownership in order to facilitate breeding as agreed. Think of it as joint custody 😉
When SMDC has determined that the dog can retire from our program then we pay to spay/neuter the dog for you and it remains your pet for life! 🩷
• Any other benefits?
Yes! There is financial compensation for each Guardian Applicant that is provided as well as FREE boarding at ANY time as well as period assistance with grooming, vaccines, and deworming. It’s an awesome partnership!
• Can SMDC remove the puppy/dog from your care?
Yes, we can. However, we’d like not to. The same rules that apply when normally purchasing a puppy/dog from us applies to guardian homes housing our puppies/dogs. Additionally, if the rules specific to Guardianship are broken/not followed, San Marcos Doodle Co. has the grounds to immediately remove the puppy/dog from your care.
• What happens if SMDC decides not to add the puppy/dog to your program or to retire the puppy/dog earlier than expected?
Honestly, this happening would be extremely rare, this is because we are intentional about the puppies and dogs we choose to have join our program. However, if that was to happen SMDC would immediately grant you full ownership of the dog and would spay or neuter at the vet of our choice and at our expense.
• What happens when Guardianship is over?
You are then given sole ownership of the dog and they will be spayed or neutered at my expense and live the rest of their life with you.
