FAQ

as a guardian home, you are the forever family for one of our breeding dogs.

Guardians receive a puppy or dog at no cost. The dog will live with their guardian family, while we retain breeding rights for a set amount of time.

Guardian families will be responsible for regular vet, grooming, and feeding costs, and Hope Lane Kennels will cover all costs relating to breeding such as health testing, reproductive testing, whelping, etc. If for any reason we decide not to use the dog in our program, we pay the cost of a spay/neuter and the dog will remain your family pet. Dogs that are bred in our program will be spayed/neutered at our expense once they retire from our program and remain in the home of the guardian family.

guardians must live within 1 hour of Redding, CA. If you live over 30 minutes away, you must be willing to drive to meet us.

It is free! Guardians receive a “pick of the litter” puppy or dog at no cost to them.

Guardians are responsible for all “regular” dog care including providing food, treats, toys etc. They are also responsible for normal vet care that is not breeding related. The dog must be kept up to date on all shots, flea and tick meds, at the guardians expense. Guardians are also required to pay for grooming unless they opt to do it themselves.

1. Providing guardian family with a healthy dog at no cost.

2. Paying for health testing.

3. Paying for breeding related expenses (i.e. progesterone testing, semen collection, etc.)

4. Teaching the guardian family how to detect a heat cycle and how to care for a pregnant dog if they don’t already know.

5. Paying for spay/neuter upon retirement.

6. Paying a monetary sum per litter.

7. Providing lifetime of support for the guardian families.

8. We will always be willing to take the dog back if the guardian family can no longer care for the dog.

We do not require you to keep a specific groom or cut, but we do require that the dog’s coat is well maintained and does not get matted. This includes regular brushes and grooming. While the dog is with us, we reserve the right to groom and bathe the dog to ensure cleanliness, especially after whelping. Our dogs are ambassadors for our breeding program. They should be well maintained as we will likely be taking pictures of them while they’re with us. We also love to receive updated pictures from our guardian families that we can share.

Becoming a guardian home for one of our dogs is huge commitment and a decision that should not be made lightly. Please keep in mind that we are retaining full legal ownership of the dog until they are retired from our program and guardians have a legal obligation to follow the contract. Our dogs are very high quality and have been hand selected to benefit and improve our program further. Becoming a guardian home is not for everyone! Please consider this commitment carefully.

If your dog is deemed unsuitable for breeding by either us or one of our veterinarians, then the dog will be retired from our program. Breeder will pay for spray/neuter at our expense, and the puppy/dog will stay in their forever home with guardian and ownership will be transferred to the guardian.