SwissRidge Guardian Program
This is a guide to the SwissRidge Guardian Program. Our program allows our dogs to live full, happy lives in loving homes while SwissRidge retains breeding rights. This way, our dogs enjoy family life and can return to SwissRidge when needed to help produce beautiful SwissRidge puppies for families around the world.
What is a Guardian Home?
A Guardian Home is a permanent family for one of our breeding dogs. Our dogs will live with you as your pet while SwissRidge retains breeding rights until they retire. Once retired, SwissRidge arranges and pays for spaying/neutering and transfers full ownership to you.
What are my responsibilities day to day?
As a guardian home you will provide love, exercise, and care for one of our breeding dogs. You are responsible for routine care. This would include feeding a high quality food, grooming, toys, vaccines, parasite prevention, and all veterinary care that is unrelated to breeding. You’ll also be asked to respond promptly when we contact you about health testing or breeding appointments and keep us updated on the dogs health. Guardian families are also responsible for transporting their dog to and from our facility when they are needed or veterinary appointments. We’ll also require you to agree to all of the terms outlined in our Guardian Program agreement. The guardian program is basically everything a responsible pet owner would do, with the added responsibility of participating in health testing and breeding.
What does SwissRidge cover?
SwissRidge covers all breeding-related expenses, including health testing such as hips, eyes, and DNA testing, along with any reproductive veterinary care. We also cover the cost of neutering/spaying at retirement and will transfer full ownership to you once their breeding career is complete.
How does scheduling work?
We will request your dog for health testing at specific ages and breeding when needed. With males, you will typically receive five to seven day’s notice before males are required. He may stay at our facility for seven to ten days or, if you prefer, come back and forth for breeding every other day during that time frame. The pattern is generally seven to ten days per stud use, with breaks between breeding’s. The actual frequency varies for each dog. With females, they are required to come back to SwissRidge at the start of their heat cycle, and will go back to their guardian home once they are finished their heat and during pregnancy. They will then return to SwissRidge at 53 days gestation, and stay at SwissRidge until they have weaned their puppies at 8 weeks.
What about transportation?
We allow guardian families to participate in this program if they live within 1.5 hours of Schomberg, Ontario or Friendship, NY. The guardian family is responsible for transporting the dog back and forth from our facility for breeding or veterinary appointments.
How do I keep an intact male and female healthy and safe?
Guardian families must not allow the their dog to breed or be bred by any dogs that are not owned by SwissRidge, whether accidental or intentional. All breeding’s are arranged through SwissRidge and done by SwissRidge. It’s important not to allow your dog around any other intact dogs unless directed by SwissRidge. This will prevent unwanted breedings or disease. You must always keep your dog in a fenced yard or on a leash.
Who owns the dog during their breeding career?
SwissRidge retains breeding rights and legal ownership during the dog’s breeding career. All breeding results are the property of SwissRidge, and guardians are not permitted to offer stud services or sell breedings independently.
Once the breeding career comes to an end, SwissRidge pays for neutering/spaying and transfers ownership to the guardian family.
What kind of training and lifestyle is expected?
Guardian families should do basic training with their dog which would include sit, down, stay, recall, leash walking and the handling exercise.
They should be well-socialized and comfortable in everyday environments. They should be social with new people and grooming should be done every 6-8 weeks.
When do they retire and what happens then?
Male and Females dogs usually begin their breeding career after completing health testing and once they have reached maturity. When we retire our males depends on their age and overall health, the females have a specific number of litters before retirement. When they are retired, SwissRidge covers the cost of neutering/spaying and transfers ownership to the guardian family.
What are the costs and benefits?
The guardian family is responsible for all the regular costs of dog ownership which include – food, regular vet care, grooming, and training, everything you’d normally expect to pay for a dog. SwissRidge covers all breeding and reproductive expenses, these include health testing, and veterinary care only related to breeding. We also pay for neutering/spaying once we decide the dog is retired.
There is no charge to the guardian family for the guardian dog. You receive a high-quality, pick-of-the-litter SwissRidge dog at no charge in exchange for caring for them and making them available to us for breeding when needed. All guardian homes are required to use our SwissRidge veterinarian where they will receive a 10% discount on all services.
What makes a great guardian family?
We look for families with flexible schedules and a family who doesn’t mind being without their dog for certain periods of time throughout the year.
A guardian home should have stable housing and income with a fenced yard and the type of lifestyle that can exercise and train the dog daily.
You must be willing to drive to our facility as needed and work easily with the SwissRidge team. We are looking for families who can raise a happy, well-adjusted dog who represents the SwissRidge standard and brand.
How often will they be away from us?
Males are only away for health testing or breeding, typically seven to ten days at a time if you leave him at our facility, but we give you the option to bring him back and forth every other day if you don’t want to leave him. Females are away for longer periods of time, during their heat cycle and when they whelp and raise their puppies. We always provide advance notice and coordinate around your schedule whenever possible.
Is there an agreement?
Yes, our agreement outlines breeder and guardian homes rights and responsibilities. If you would like to see a copy please email us.
What’s the bottom line?
Guardianship is a partnership built on trust. You provide a loving home for one of our amazing SwissRidge pups and SwissRidge manages the breeding side with care. If you like the idea of helping shape future generations of SwissRidge dogs and you’re comfortable with the responsibilities that come with owning an intact dog, this can be an amazing experience for your family.
If you’re interested in learning more about becoming a guardian family, please contact us. We’d love to share more details and help you decide if this program would be beneficial for your family.