German Shepherd Breeders

GUARDIAN HOME PROGRAM:

A Guardian Home is a permanent home for one of our breeding females/ males to ensure they have happy and healthy lives as the pet of a loving family. Firstly, the rate you will pay for your puppy or adult dog is steeply discounted. We would waive the purchase price of this puppy/ dog in exchange for your service as a Guardian Home. We only require you to pay a deposit price of $500. You will receive one of the best puppies we can produce or a 'pick of the litter' puppy from another breeder from which we purchase the puppy. We look for quality genetics, personalities and looks in all the dogs we buy to become one of our breeding dogs. Also, we do provide lifetime support for each of these puppies as we want them to be the best they can be. Also, since we do require you to live within a 60 minute drive (unless otherwise agreed upon) of our home in Butterfield, MN we extend the offer for the dog to stay at our home when the family goes out of town and needs to have the dog boarded. This helps us, the guardian dog, and our dogs, to be familiar with one another when it comes time to breed or whelp a litter. von Gottschalk will retain all breeding rights and AKC registration. Each guardian dog contract is unique but generally male dogs are contracted for a period of time rather than a number of litters and for females it's usually for 4 litters depending on what we're trying to accomplish with that particular female, how well she reacts to being a mother, and the puppies she produces. I usually will breed them back to back twice so they may retire early, unless our vet recommends differently or timing doesn't work out for me (overlapping litters, etc). The contract may be extended or shortened if we decide no more litters are desired out of the girl. Once their service to our program has been completed, a spay/neuter is required and then we transfer full ownership to you the Forever Home.

Becoming a Guardian Home is not for everyone. You MUST be willing and able to follow these requirements:

•  Have previous experience with dogs.

•  Provide the dog with a safe and loving home, including but not limited to:
- Containing the dog in a fenced-in yard or on a leash.
- Provide adequate exercise for the dog to prevent issues such as hip displaysia.
- Train the dog on basic commands (sit, stay, wait, etc.) or attend obedience classes.
- Housebreaking.
- Feeding the dog an approved high quality food (contact us if you are wanting to switch from what we feed).
- Do not allow him/her to become overweight.
- Keep dog socialized with dogs and people of different ages and sizes.
- Keep the dog clean and well-groomed.  

•  Provide the dog with basic veterinary care, including but not limited to:
- Yearly wellness visits and vaccines.
- Any medical issues the dog may have which are NOT related to breeding.
- Emergency vet costs (NOT related to breeding).
- Keeping dog on monthly, year-round preventative medications against heart-worms, fleas and ticks.

•  Notify breeder immediately when the female dog has come into her estrus cycle and be prepared to give dog up for approximately a week during breeding period.

•  Female will need to be returned to breeder one week before estimated due date and stay with us until her puppies are 6-8 weeks of age. Breeder will pay for all breeding related costs, including puppy vaccinations and registration.

•  For female breeding dogs, keep all unapproved intact male dogs away from her when she is in season. For males, keep females who are in season away to prevent accidental breedings. 

•  If guardian family goes on vacation or out of town for any reason and dog is not sent to breeder's home for duration of the vacation, contact information for kennel and/or pet-sitter should be given to breeder before guardian family departs. 

•  If dog does not pass certain health tests and is deemed by breeder to be unfit to reproduce, the dog will then be spayed or neutered. Guardian will not be required to pay any fee for the dog in this event.  

•  Guardian agrees to maintain this contract even if they relocate out of the area, including flying the dog back to the breeder at the expense of the guardian.

•  Guardian agrees to keep in close contact with breeder, regularly sending photos of dog and gives clearance to breeder to use any photos sent for marketing purposes (social media, website, etc.)  

•  Should the dog die early of natural causes, this contract shall terminate. If the dog dies while in possession of the breeder, dog shall be replaced with a puppy from VGGS next available litter.

•  If your circumstances should ever change and you are no longer able to keep the dog it MUST be returned to VGGS. 
•  If at any time the breeder finds the guardian to be non-compliant, the dog shall return to breeder immediately.  

•  If the dog is altered OR bred purposefully without written consent of the breeder, guardian will owe breeder a sum of $30,000. Any legal costs involved with obtaining this payment will also be paid by guardian.

•  You will be compensated $300 per litter once her puppies go home as a "thank you" for your patience while your beloved pet is away.


This is a big emotional commitment. Please think it through before you apply! If you would like to be considered for our Guardian Home Program, please email us for an application.
vongottschalkgsd@gmail.com