Guardian Homes

Male Guardian Dogs

The compensation for our male dogs is $200 per litter. A male dog will be expected to be available to stud at any time McKenzie's requires. This can be a very rare expectation or it can be several times per year. The male will be kept intact and will either be brought to us or arrangements will be made for pick-up whenever the female designated for him comes into heat. We will keep the male for approximately 1 week each breeding. Depending upon the experience on both sides and the need of the dog, we will relinquish rights after the male is around 8 years of age or when he has been replaced by a younger stud, which could be much earlier.

Female Guardians

The family of our female dogs will receive $100 per puppy per litter. Females come into heat approximately every 6 to 8 months. When the dog comes into heat, she will need to be brought to our home to be bred, staying for about a week to 10 days. If the family is watching closely and knows when she first started to bleed they can keep her a full 7 more days before bringing her here. Any earlier and she is gone longer than necessary and is herself confused as to why she is there until she is in full heat. After she is bred, she can return home until close to time to deliver (approximately 8 weeks). She is then brought back to deliver and nurse her pups for a total of 8 weeks. When the litter is born, the family is very welcome to come and play with puppies and visit the Mom after the first four weeks and after they have received their first shots if it can be worked out from our end. This makes the separation easier for both the family and the dog, and is also good socialization for the puppies. After 8 weeks (sometimes closer to 7 if weaning is wrapped up early!), she returns home freshly bathed/groomed and happy to be back with her family until the next time.

The current AKC-recommended and veterinarian-approved timing for breeding is to breed with every heat cycle. It is no longer considered advisable to give the females a year between litters. That said, the dog will be first bred at her second heat at around 1 1/2 years of age. She will then breed every 6 months or whenever she comes into heat. The good news is that the family does not have to deal with the mess of the cycle (because she will be returned to us during that time for breeding). However, it does mean she will be away a lot 8-weeks for each litter birth/puppy raising phase). After 5 litters, she will be retired and the family will gain full ownership at around 4-5 years of age. This could be a nice money making opportunity for some young person and a great way to learn responsibility and put some money away for college! This could also be a vacation fund for the family while at the same time having a really wonderful family companion!

Available Female Guardian Dog

Available Female Guardian Dog

Available Male Guardian Dog

Terms.

Guardian Dogs are placed in a home that we approve of, and that is located within a reasonable distance of us. Dogs are co-owned with your family and us until we are through breeding them. We own the breeding rights. The family agrees to a contract that states how they will cooperate with us in procuring the dog as we need them to breed. Otherwise the dog is the family's dog. Full ownership will revert to the family after we no longer need the dog for breeding.

The guardian home family will be expected to feed a high quality food and vitamins and keep the dog up to date on the shots and worming that is normally required of any family pet. We will be happy to help with the shots as we do our own and offer that for the family at no charge. Worming is very easy and can be added to their food. We will send home a kit after a dog is bred that will contain the prenatal vitamins, and a liquid wormer to be given about 2 weeks before they come here to whelp. This goes a long way in making fat, healthy pups! The guardian family will also be expected to train the dog so that their experience as well as ours is a good one. We are not strict on this but we do not expect to receive a dog that is a major behavioral problem or one that is so very spoiled that it does not know the meaning of the word 'no'. Any expenses that pertain to the pregnancy or any reproductive issues will be paid by us, the rest will be covered by the guardian home family.

The above responsibilities are such that the participating family must be willing to drive to Winchester, VA when necessary. You will be required to bring the dog to us when we need them. We are hoping this program will work for both parties.

If for any reason this arrangement does not work out for either side, it can be reversed. If you are unsure, you know that you are not 'stuck' with an arrangement you are not happy with, making this a very risk free situation. THE DOG WILL ALWAYS REVERT BACK TO MCKENZIE'S DOODLES IF THE FAMILY DECIDES THIS IS NOT FOR THEM OR THEIR CIRCUMSTANCES CHANGE AND THEY ARE UNABLE TO FULFILL THE CONTRACT.

Mckenzies Doodles has enjoyed many great relationships over the years with our families and we greatly appreciate all of the participation and cooperation with great attitudes. This program makes you a part of the vision that we have. We believe that these very social dogs should not spend their lives in kennels waiting to be bred. Even though we give our dogs a lot of attention, it is just not the same as having their own family from the start! It also makes the last send off after the final litter much less painful for all involved and we never send a beloved dog off to strangers after years of faithful service. We would love to have you consider being a part of our Mckenzie family and having a great dog to love and be loved by for years to come!