Guardian Home Opportunities

A guardian home is a permanent home for one of our breeding girls or boys. As all of our dogs are family members it is necessary to have guardian homes to allow us to expand our breeding program.

We are very selective on who we allow to become part of our Forever Family Guardian Program. If you are a responsible pet owner this may be an option for you!

What is a Guardian Home?

A Forever Family takes possession of their puppy or dog, and Virginia Doodles retains breeding rights to the dog, with the understanding that this dog will be a permanent member of their family. The puppy comes at a reduced adoption fee to the family, with only the cost to maintain feeding, regular veterinary care of their new puppy. (All veterinary costs associated with reproductive care are paid for by Virginia Doodles.) In return, the family signs a contract, agreeing their dog will be a part of the Virginia Doodles breeding program and must be made available to us for breeding, visits and whelping litters.

Most of the puppies available will be females, and occasionally a male.

Guardian families get the "pick of the litter" while we retain the breeding rights of our dogs. After the breeding period is over, we will pay for spay or neuter and the dog will be the guardian family's forever pet. We believe that all dogs deserve to be part of their own family and never housed outdoors. Because we do not have a kennel based program we simply can not house all the puppies/dogs that we would like to keep as part of our breeding program. We want our dogs to have the best and in turn our customers will have a happy, healthy and well socialized puppy.

Is there a cost for a Guardian Home?

We ask that Guardian families pay a small fee, depending on the age, sex and length of contract. Guardians will be responsible for the usual cost of the daily care, annual well visits and maintenance of their pet. This includes flea/tick prevention, feeding a high quality diet from our recommended list and necessary supplements for the needs of their particular dog, attend professional training classes, etc. It is a given that you would also provide the love, care and consideration that would be given any pet dog in your ownership.

Benefits to being a Guardian Family:

Your family will be receiving the best puppy that represents the breed chosen by the breeder at a very low initial cost.
Guardian families can schedule vacations during breedings/whelpings without worry or cost of kenneling their pets.
Reduced pricing for grooming and kenneling for life.
If the Guardian family decides to obtain another puppy from us, they may get the second puppy at 1/2 price if a pet and free if it is to be used in our breeding program under our terms.
Males stay with their Guardian families and are only brought to the females to breed.

What families make the “ideal” Guardian home?:

You must be willing to feed a high quality dog food and follow basic health care, veterinarian care, such as maintaining vaccine schedules as well as take the puppy through at least one 6 week obedience training course.
No other intact dogs should ever be on the premises to prevent unwanted mating. Families MUST agree NOT to allow the dog to be bred to any other dog. If we find that one of our boys or girls have been bred outside of our breeding program, we reserve the right to cancel the guardian agreement and take possession the dog.
We may request to do a home visit and require you live within 2 hrs. of our home. If you have a female that will give birth in our home we ask that you bring your puppy to visit us so that she is comfortable with us during her stays while whelping and weaning her pups.
Must have a fenced in yard and own your own home. An invisible fence is suitable for males but females must have a physical fence. Again, this is “ideal” and exceptions are made on a case by case basis.
The puppy must be raised indoors and never left outside unattended.
When the female is in season, the Guardian family is required to contact us immediately so that arrangements can be made for breeding. We ask that Guardian families keep us updated on the puppy which would include photos every 3 months so that we may keep our website updated.
You must be willing to bring or meet us for the health testing appointments paid for by us.

When Does the Guardian Home bring their dog to us?

The female will return to our home for breeding and then again for 6-7 weeks to whelp each litter. (This is imperative as we have a very specific socialization program and visitation process for our waiting lists, so all litters must be raised in our home.)

She will complete her mom career at four or five years of age.

A male will need to be made available to Virginia Doodles for breeding, and will be kept for a few days to a week at a time, for stud service. A male may complete his career at four or five years.

Some of our forever families enjoy being part of the birthing process, and have enjoyed being able to share the joy of birth without the huge commitment involved in screening families or all that is required of running a responsible breeding program! Forever Families need PERFECT character and Vet references, should be permanently residing within two hours of Virginia Doodles, be available to provide their female dog during their season for breeding, and be aware of the signs of a female coming into season. Males will be made available for breeding at different times throughout the year.

Interview with a Guardian Family

Has it been more of a time commitment having the Guardian dog?

No, quite contrary! We would commit the same amount of time with any dog, as it is a responsibility as a dog owner. The only difference has been to be aware of her heat cycles and recording the dates to ensure we get her to Jaime in time for breeding. We LOVE the fact that we can count on vacationing every year while Summer is whelping her litter. Not only that, but instead of paying for kenneling she is loved and cared for by Jaime's family.

Do you have special training or other requirements with you have a Guardian dog?

We are required to feed Summer high quality dog food and maintain a healthy lifestyle for her. Jaime also requires that we attend at least one 6 week training class. We would have done so regardless as we feel it is important to the training of our dog. Other than keeping track of her heat cycles there are no extra requirements other than what any family would do as a responsible dog owner. We ensure she is loved, fed and received veterinary care and up to date on her vaccinations. Virginia Doodles pays for any reproductive care required for Summer.

What are the Positives?

There have been nothing but positives. We feel like we have a mentor in raising our dog, and we love having a part in the Virginia Doodles Breeding program. We believe in Jaime's methods of raising her puppies and her obvious passion for her dogs is amazing. The more we see what she and her family put into the dogs, the more we realize what a HUGE responsibility it is to have a quality breeding program. It is very time consuming and I know I could never do that! Just seeing my dog's puppies on her site and knowing we were able to experience part of this is a privilege. She treats us like family and we have become great friends with her family. It has been extremely rewarding experience and we are going to be adopting a second guardian dog!

Why did you choose to become Guardians rather than adopting Summer?

Actually, we were on her waiting list for a litter. When it was time to choose she had mentioned how she really wanted to breed Summer but had not found the perfect home for her. We went home that day and discussed the prospect of becoming guardians and asked Jaime if we could apply. She approved our family and it was the best decision we ever made!

Have there been any negatives to being a Guardian Home?

Not at all. Many people ask if it is extra work for us to keep Summer intact, or hard to have to let her go for so long. We have not had any issues, as Summer goes to Jaime's when she needs to be bred, and Jaime whelps her litter at her house. We usually take the opportunity to go on a vacation during this time, and Jaime has even offered to plan Summer's litters during the season we choose to accommodate our vacations. (Females have two seasons a year, usually every 6 months) She is the most giving lady, and the fact that we have the privilege to be part of the puppy raising process, to own this wonderful dog and be apart of such an amazing breeding program is really wonderful. We are so proud to be a Virginia Doodles Family.

With Regards,

John & Sarah