What is a Guardian Home?
We do not believe that puppies or dogs are best served by spending their lives in a kennel. Doodles/Retrievers are social animals that adore their families and want to be with them, participating as a loved family member. By placing them in a loving home environment that will be their forever home from the time they are puppies, we are ensuring their happiness and best start in life. We feel this is the best method for our breeding program.
Our Guardian Home Program allows for local families to have our “pick of the litter puppy” for a $800 deposit that is refunded once the breeding contract is over.
Guardian Families are an important part of our program. You will get to know us well! It's pretty amazing to be a part of bringing in top quality, healthy pups that will make so many families happy.
The Guardian Home puppy is part of the Guardian Home’s Family forever, while the breeding rights are retained by Harmony Doodles for a set amount of time (each situation is slightly different so we prefer to work out specific details with each family on an individual basis.)
Once the Guardian Dog has completed his/her breeding career, he/she will be spayed or neutered at our expense, and the dog will remain a forever pet of their Guardian Family!
Is There a Cost Involved to Be a Guardian Home?
Besides the initial $800 deposit, our Guardian Home Families are responsible for the general routine veterinary care and wellness of the Guardian puppy/dog placed with them. This means annual vaccines, feeding our preferred high quality dog food (TLC Whole Life Pet Food), grooming, monthly heart-worm prevention, flea/tick prevention, training, regular exercise and socialization, and most importantly all the love, care and attention possible :-)
Any “breeding related” medical costs for the Guardian Dog are the expense of Harmony Doodles. Our Guardian Homes are only responsible for routine maintenance and medical care just as they would if they had their own dog.
What Are the Benefits of Being a Guardian Home?
A Guardian Family gets our pick of the litter for a Goldendoodle! This means that we choose our breeding girls/boys based on the best qualities that are outlined in our breed standard with temperament of course coming first. Another wonderful benefit to our Guardian Families is that their Guardian dog or puppy will be completely genetic tested by 12 months of age (some tests may be done as early as 8 weeks of age) at the expense of Harmony Doodles prior to entering our breeding program at no cost to the Guardian Family. Our Guardian Families get to enjoy the excitement of being a part of our breeding program, and seeing the offspring of their very own Guardian dog be placed with families across the country bringing others the same joy and happiness that they have received from their Guardian Dog! One final benefit of being a Guardian Home for Harmony Doodles is that we give the Guardian $100/puppy from each litter (up to $1000).
What Are The Requirements to Become A Guardian Home?
To be considered as a Guardian Home for one of our breeding dogs, we prefer that you live within 90 miles of our home (Chester, SC). It is necessary that you have physical fencing to provide a safe and secure environment for the Guardian dog/puppy, own your own home, and have a schedule that will allow for your dog to not be left alone for extended periods of time. All dogs and pups placed in Guardian Families must be indoor dogs, and never be left outside unattended. Guardian Families must have reliable transportation, and required to bring the Guardian dog/pup to us when needed throughout the year.
Guardian families must: KEEP in touch with me during the development of their dog. I need regular updates and pictures of your Guardian Dog. We also require for your Guardian to come and visit at least 2 times for me the first year to evaluate them..
How Does it Work?
Most all of our pups available for our Guardian Program will be females. Occasionally we will have a male available.
If you are applying for a Guardian Home puppy, she will come to you at 8 weeks of age. During the first year, Harmony Doodles will have her genetic health testing completed. Once we receive all of the results from her genetic health testing, we are then able to access whether or not she will enter our breeding program. If for any reason we decide not to breed the Guardian Puppy placed with you (this is a decision solely made by Harmony Doodles) we will then pay to spay the Guardian puppy at no cost to you, and she will remain a forever family pet with her Guardian Family.
For Girls, they will breed starting around their second heat cycle (typically 18 months) and our Boys will breed starting around 1 year old.
If you are receiving a Guardian Home Puppy. We may require a visit to our Guardian Family’s home every few months during the first year to access the Guardian Puppy, as well as build a relationship with her for the future. Occasionally, we will ask our Guardian Families to bring the puppy to us for a visit so that she can get comfortable with our home for when she will be here with us in the future having babies.
When the Guardian girl is in season, the Guardian Family is required to contact us immediately. An intact female usually has a heat cycle that will last between 14 and 21 days. During this time, we will need access to her for breeding related appointments. Once she has been bred, she will remain with her Guardian Family until one week before her due date. At that time, the Guardian dog will come back to stay with us throughout her pregnancy, and will be returned once her pups are fully weaned approximately 7-8 weeks later. Guardian Families are welcomed and encouraged to visit with scheduled appts. while their Guardian Dog is here at Harmony Doodles.
How Many Litters Will A Guardian Female Produce?
Each dog is individually accessed before determining their required litters. Most of our Guardian dogs will have between 4-5 litters for us (this depends whether you have an adult that has already had litters or a puppy entering our breeding program). Female Guardian Puppies placed in a Guardian home will have up to (and no more than) a total of 5 litters. The health and well being of our breeding dogs is a priority to us, and Harmony Doodles will determine the health state of the dog prior to breeding.
Let's revisit what is required again:
own their primary place of residence
live within a reasonable driving distance of Chester, SC- preferably no more than 90 miles.
$800 deposit that is refunded once Guardian has completed breeding and spayed/neutered. Should pup not meet our breeding standards, Guardian dog will be neutered/spayed at Harmony Doodles expense and $800 is retained by Harmony Doodles.
Do not have an intact (unfixed) dog in your home
have a fully fenced yard
take their dog to puppy obedience classes or teach basic commands/self control no later than 8 months old
ensure the puppy is well socialized
provide routine veterinary care when needed
feed a diet that Harmony Doodles recommends (TLC Whole Life Pet Food)
have your Guardian Dog regularly bathed and groomed
send regular updates with pictures, monthly updates are great!
notify Harmony Doodles right away when a female begins her heat cycle
If you are interested and meet this criteria, please complete our Guardian Family Contract and notify us upon completion. This has been a very successful part to our breeding program. While it may sound like a lot of details, it really isn't. We love watching our Guardian Dogs thrive with their families. We love getting to know our Guardian Families and becoming life long friends.
To check out the Guardian Home Contract to see if it would be a good fit, click here.
You can email me, Cory, at doodles@harmonydoodles.com with any questions.