HOW THE PROGRAM WORKS:

We place our breeding females in selected foster homes. These females are either bitches that have been purchased or they are pick of the litter female puppies that we select to keep back to see if they are good enough to enter our breeding program.

The foster family pays nothing for the puppy.  You agree that the dog will live as a Valued part of the family, get proper exercise & feed a high quality dog food and or Raw.

We are very selective in who we choose to become a foster family. The foster parents go through a detailed selection process. The ideal person is someone who had a dog that has died of old age. This is a person who knows how to take care of a dog. We do not give dogs to people that want farm dogs, nor do we give people dogs that are going to keep them in an outside dog kennel. We also do not give dogs to people who have just had a dog that was accidentally killed (if it happened once it can happen again).

We try to make sure none of the dogs are placed in homes further than 1 hour away; however, exceptions are made.

You do not see the dog enough and it is always a major concern to have the dog brought back for breeding and whelping.

We sign a Contract for our Program agreement.

Should the people spay the dog or refuse to allow us to breed the dog they agree to pay for two litters of 6 pups at $1500.00 each puppy. If you do the math you see that there is a considerable penalty if they choose to disregard our agreement.

When we no longer wish to breed the dog the foster parents are required to spay the dog and provide a letter from their Vet confirming the spay was complete.

In addition if the foster parents do not tell us when a bitch comes in season (even if we do not plan on breeding it) they are liable for the price of a litter.

We have a computer program to track the female's heat cycles. By inputting every heat cycle we can anticipate which bitches are going to come in season in which month. This allows us to plan a breeding season around a computer print out. That is the reason we threaten to take a bitch away if the foster parent does not tell me about a heat cycle. We also feel that this rule forces people to be more aware of what is going on with their dogs. They end up noticing other problems that come up besides heat cycles.

As a puppy grows up we monitor their temperament. We either go to the foster home or ask that the pups be brought to the kennel occasionally. We will give free yearly booster shots to the foster dogs if they are brought back out to our kennel. There is no charge for this. This is incentive for the foster parents to stop by every now and then.

If it is determined that a bitch is suitable for breeding, it will get bred here at the kennel. She will come here, get breed and then go home again. She then comes back to the kennel (5 days before whelping) to have the puppies. When it weans the pups (usually at 7 weeks) it goes back to the foster home. It is important to make sure the female stays at the kennel for 4 or 5 days after it is taken off the litter. Some bitches go through extreme separation problems and would run away from the foster home if they were allowed to go home right after they come off of the littler.

The most we breed a female is one time each year. In many cases we do not even breed them that much.
 

RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE FOSTER HOME:
• Own their own home or rent a home with landlord's written permission that it is okay to keep a dog
• Have their own car that is large enough to take a German Shepherd Dog
• Prior experience with German Shepherds is a plus but not necessarily required - but prior dog ownership is a must.
• Be prepared to have their own vet listed as a reference
• Fenced backyard - or large enough property
• Be available to drive dog to and from our home come time for whelping and/or breeding.
• Capable of moderate exercise
• Keep us updated on the puppy at least once a month, and when in heat, we must be notified so that we may keep track of the dog's cycles, with pictures every 1-2 months for us to follow the puppy's progress.
• Be willing to socialize the puppy by taking it everywhere possible and showing her life in general • Be willing to at the minimum take the puppy for obedience training

•Allowing the dog to run Loose in the neighborhood is an automatic repo!

• Any refusal to follow direct instructions such as: " Take the dog to the vet ,it looks injured " is an automatic repo!

•Most Important of all is feeding High Quality Food and not over feeding. Dogs should be kept lean. Carrying too much weight at a young age is going to add stress on soft puppy bones and could cause hip & elbow problems.

New owners need to be very careful of over exercising a pup. This means no jogging until after the dog is 12 months old. This mean not exercising to the point of exhaustion, or taking the pup for long long walks. Around the block is fine, a 2 mile walk is not fine. No jumping In and out of the back of trucks.

If the for any reason the dog is overweight or any breech of contract is observed the dog will be taken away.

The foster parents are required to keep the dogs current on rabies.

Foster Parents will be expected to have a dog crate of some kind in their home. Dog crates are used to housebreak dogs. We do not place dogs in homes where the dogs are allowed to run loose. That is just asking to have accidents and valuable articles chewed up.

If at any time something changes in a foster home and they are no longer able to keep a foster dog there is no problem with them returning the dog back to the kennel. When this happens we will either place the dog in a new foster home or we will sell the dog, depending on the quality of her and her pups.

If a person is interested in breeding then this is not a program for them. They should purchase a dog and get into the business.

We also get asked by an occasional foster parent if they can whelp a litter at their home. The answer is "NO". There is too much that can go wrong during a delivery.

If You Title the dog In Schutzhund, CKC Or AKC then this helps us to place the pups. We offer a special incentives to people who do this. (Ask for details)