Our Guardian Program
Learn more about Rutu's guardian program below!
What is a "guardian home"?
Our guardian home program allows us to grow our breeding program while prioritizing our dogs’ happiness, comfort, and need for love and attention. We adore every one of our dogs, and although we would love to keep them all with us, we know they each deserve more one-on-one time, affection, and daily care than we can provide on our own. Partnering with local families, called "guardian families" helps ensure every dog gets the individual attention they need to truly thrive. By joining our program, you get to partner with us and co-own a pick of the litter puppy at no cost. We carefully select our program dogs based on temperament, structure, and health because our goal is to produce healthy, well-structured dogs with balanced temperaments. Every selection is made thoughtfully to ensure the best possible outcomes for both our breeding program and its future puppies.
As a guardian family, you become a forever family to one of our breeding dogs while he or she is part of our program. You raise the puppy or young adult as your own from the very beginning, loving them, training them, and making them part of your family. When he or she is old enough to participate in our breeding program, the dog will visit our home for breeding-related appointments. If your guardian dog is a female, she will come to our home to be bred, then return to you for most of her pregnancy, living life with your family just as she normally would. One week before her due date, she will come back to our home to give birth and will stay with us for 7-8 more weeks until her puppies are weaned. After that, she gets to go right back home to you.
All of our puppies are raised here in our home, and most of our guardian puppies stay with us until they are four to five months old. Because they grow up knowing our house and knowing us, our home becomes like a second home for them. By the time they go to their guardian family, they are already comfortable here, so coming back for grooming, health checks, or breeding appointments is completely familiar and stress-free for them.
Our female dogs will have no more than five litters, provided she remains in good health, her puppies are healthy and have good temperaments, and she continues to enjoy motherhood. Once her breeding career is complete, we cover the cost of her spay (or neuter, for males), and full ownership transfers to you, and then she gets to permanently live with you forever.
Choosing to be a Guardian Family means becoming part of our program in a truly meaningful way. You help us ensure our mom and dad dogs live full, happy, and well-loved lives, while also getting to enjoy one of our exceptional puppies, and their puppies. It’s a unique partnership, and we’re incredibly grateful for the families who make it possible!
Guardian Home Requirements
To ensure our dogs receive the best care possible, families in our Guardian Home Program must meet the following requirements. Most of these are things you would already do for any beloved family pet, but they help us maintain the health, happiness, and well-being of our breeding dogs.
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Feed the food and supplements we recommend and stay current on all vaccinations and routine veterinary care according to our guidelines.
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Complete Level 1 and Level 2 training classes with proof of completion. These classes provide socialization, manners, and basic obedience commands essential for raising a well-behaved dog.
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Provide a home with a physical fenced yard. We may consider homes without a fenced yard if the dog is kept on a leash at all times when outside a secured area.
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Have the dog professionally groomed by us every four to six weeks, following the approved cut and style. Before their first adult grooming, we will groom the puppy every other week at no cost to help them stay comfortable with the grooming process, monitor their growth and development, and simply enjoy spending time with them.
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Maintain a work schedule that does not leave the puppy home alone for more than four to five hours at a time. If both adults work full time, at least one person should be able to come home during the day for walks, playtime, or supervision.
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Transport the dog to and from our home for grooming, health testing, scheduled visits, and breeding-related appointments as needed.
Interested in becoming a Guardian Family?
If you feel you meet the requirements listed above, please fill out our puppy application with a specific note about your interest in being a guardian family.
We'd love to chat more about it with you!
Last Updated: 1/7/25