Our Guardian Family Program
A Guardian Family (GF) is a family that is local to us, (usually within an hour’s drive of Guanaba) who become the forever family of one of our Guardian Puppy’s (GPs). This is a puppy we have handpicked to continue our selective breeding program. This puppy stands out from the crowd and has ticked all the boxes!
Samoyeds are especially social, loving and at their happiest when they are with their humans and this is the life we want for our breeding boys/girls. We deliberately do not house our fur team in kennels. They are part of our lives and our family and as such live inside as the Samoyed breed was bred to do. Consequently there is a limit to the size of our Sashenka fur team! There are only so many dogs one can have before the kennel situation is necessary and the dogs become a business and commodity instead of cherished family members. We are a boutique breeder and don’t ever wish to be sizeable. We love our Sams far too much for that.
Hence, having our breeding dogs live in Guardian homes allows them to thrive, by engaging in busy family life, where they get socialised, taught their doggie manners, played with, walked and receive an abundance of love as they should. This ensures a well-rounded, confident, content and happy dogs. In turn this leads to the brilliant start for happy, confident and social puppies!. So, it is a win-win for us as Breeders, the Guardian Family and most importantly of all, our breeding boys and girls.
While we would love to keep everyone of our boys and girls and as hard as it is to part with them, we just can’t give each boy/girl the love & attention they need and more importantly, that they deserve. This is what makes the Guardian program so valuable.
WHY WE USE GUARDIAN FAMILIES
We are always working towards our goal to further improve our breeding lines and try to produce the highest quality Samoyeds we feasibly can, it is not only our mission, it is our passion!. We recently just signed up to be a part of an international study around the prevention of Hip Dysplasia. Very exciting! Having our breeding dogs live in a GF, enables us to expand the gene pool and thus build or expand on blood lines whilst keeping our focus on healthy, happy Samoyeds, with sound, consistent and confident temperaments.
Variety, as they say, is the spice of life and with potentially broader diversity in our breeding program it allows us to be more selective (or adventurous) when forward planning future litters. GF's are integral to this process as having a larger number of dogs to select from provides us with access to a much grander gene pool and so we are very blessed with our GF’s. In essence, with the help of GF’s, we can set about determining bitches and sires that complement each other and try to balance the best qualities and attributes of each parent so they produce the best possible outcome. This is of course a healthy, happy, confident, (and don’t crazy cute!) litter of puppies. Successful outcomes like these are vital for our future breeding program and ensure the success of the Samoyed breed as a whole in Australia.
WHAT’S THE BENEFIT (WIN) FOR THE GUARDIAN FAMILY?
The win for the GF is they welcome into their family an amazing puppy that is the whole package. He/She is selected for their outstanding attributes and qualities that Sashenka Samoyeds have come to be known for. The GF can love on a gorgeous puppy that grows into a beautiful adult standard of the breed. Whilst their stunning good looks are a given what isn’t is the reduced cost to the GF. Why? Because we believe in compensating you for the time, even though its short, that you will be away from your dog during mating and whelping and the other requirements that go along with having Guardianship of a breeding standard dog.
The cost to you is your Guardian payment and your time to do the puppy parents chores such as chauffeuring pup to classes and making sure they do their homework plus the normal day to day costs of raising a family dog and of course a bit of running around when and if needed for breeding tasks. So, other than that, it is nothing you wouldn’t do for any previous or other pet dog (I would hope ).
WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS OF A GUARDIAN BOY/GIRL?
The guardian puppy is part of the GF home forever and the breeding rights of the boy/girl are retained by Sashenka Samoyeds while under contract. All of our boys/girls go on breeding contracts. We understand that it can vary slightly dog to dog or family to family, so we try to work out the specifics with each family on an individual basis when necessary.
We DNA test all our puppies before they leave us so we can do some, (fingers crossed!) forward planning. Sometimes we may do preliminary hip testing around 16-20 weeks but usually we do final health tests closer to your boy/girls’ 1st birthday. So, we really don’t need to see your boy/girl till it is time for photos around 7-8 months of age and then around their 1st birthday to complete their health testing.
Anytime your boy/girl is at our house they are treated as a part of our family and have full access to our household, so toilet training and crate/pen training, (for night-time only) is mandatory. Doggie manners are required also.
The Girls: Around their first birthday we will complete health testing. Only certain vets can do some of the testing we require so if you aren’t in close proximity of one of our vets, your girl will have to come for a sleep over so we can complete all health & temperament testing. Depending on which tests we do, the results can take a few weeks. No girl will have a litter prior to her first birthday, (Dogs QLD requirement and also just plain responsible practice) and only once all health testing has been completed and her breeding status assured will we move forward.
We contract our girls for a maximum of four litters. Although, we don’t always do a third or even fourth litter, and this is a decision made after we have health and temperament tested the progeny from the first two litters. Each girl is rested for a season after any back to back litters.
With health testing, if she does not get the test scores we hoped for she will be desexed and retired from our breeding program. Should she get great scores, she will be only desexed once she has completed her all breeding duties at our expense .
What is most important with our breeding girls is that we are notified of each and every heat cycle and that you feel competent to check for any signs of a heat when it is expected. We send you a heads-up email around the time her heat is due with signs to look for. If your girl is an integral part of your family it will be easy to notice.
When she is with us during any mating’s or whelping litters, the time frames can vary girl to girl, cycle to cycle, litter to litter, due to a combination of factors such as mother nature and the girl, but we will let you know more about this when we chat with you. We try to keep her to a normal routine as much as possible.
After your girl has honeymooned, we provide you with comprehensive pregnancy care notes & information so you know when we need to ultrasound or when she is due to come to us to get her comfortable and relaxed so she can start preparing and nesting and get settled. Once your girl has honeymooned we will we require them for an ultrasound to confirm her pregnancy.
We provide food for our pregnant mums and we always send them home with a goodie or treat bags and spoil them rotten while they are with us.
The Boys: Around their first birthday we will complete health testing. It is the same as the girls here, only certain vets can do some of the testing we require so if you aren’t in close proximity of one of our vets, your boy will have to be dropped over to us for a sleep over so we can complete all health & temperament testing. Depending on which tests we do, the results can take a few weeks. Once all health & temperament testing has been completed and his breeding status upgraded, he is good to go and we only usually need him for the mating. Once an official ‘tie’ or two has taken place we will bring him home. If there is hesitance or the timing is not quite as we expected it, he may have a sleep over.
On occasion he may be required to do an Artificial Insemination (AI) or semen collection and while we try to give you as much notice as possible regarding any mating’s please appreciate at times it may be very short notice and we will need access to him. How often he is used can vary, we don't like to saturate our lines with the one stud so it isn't excessive by any means but there are always different factors which we will discuss as is needed.
Should the boy not get the test scores we hoped for he will be desexed and retired from our breeding program. Should he get great scores, he will be desexed when all breeding duties have been completed and at our expense.
Again, we will go over everything with you in detail as there can be a lot of variations, so we do try to tailor the arrangement to suit everyone and be as flexible as possible.
WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS OF A GUARDIAN FAMILY?
This is a quick summary of the main points. Please be sure to read the contract as well. There are no surprises, it just good to be on the same page
· You must live within 1 hours drive of Gold Coast
· Provide a safe environment and have a yard that is securely fenced
· Be able to transport your boy/girl to us when required or to our reproduction vet if we are unavailable
· Ensure any other household dogs are desexed (unless it is a Sashenka Samoyed breeding guardian dog)
· Understand that all breeding rights are retained by Sashenka Samoyeds and all girls are to be kept safe during all heat cycles and all boys are to be kept away from any entire female/bitches
· Provide crate/pen and toilet training.
· You will ensure you puppy receives proper socialisation and training.
· Provide a premium food diet (Royal Canin etc)
· Be willing accept & follow Sashenka Samoyed’s recommendations for care including veterinarian care/advice such as vaccine schedules or the use of certain medications while under contract. (You are welcome to use your local vet for non-breeding vet care)
· Ensure your Samoyeds’ coat is kept in optimal condition
· Ensure monthly worming/flea/tick treatments are maintained and all dogs are always kept flea free
· Enjoy your pup.
WHAT ARE THE COSTS FOR THE GUARDIAN FAMILY?
Our Guardian Puppies are a quarter of the set price at the time of whelping. Ultimately you are getting the pick of the litter for a fraction of the price.
We believe this cost allows you offset the costs of providing pups/dogs with a premium food diet, provide monthly worming/flea/tick treatments, council registrations, annual vaccinations, grooming and training and any necessary, (non-breeding related) vet care including op insurance.
WHAT WE THINK SETS US APART
Our breeding boys and girls mean the world to us, and we want to ensure they have the best life possible.
· We pride ourselves of our dogs coming first. Its always their health and their needs as a priority. Hence our boutique size and family orientation
· We are not a ‘show’ home. But our puppies are part of other breeders’ programs and are in the ring.
· Our Sashenka bloodline has been exported internationally which we are very proud of
· We charge a fraction of the price of a pet pup to our GFs
· We will only do a third and/or fourth litter if we are happy with the first two litters and if it is the right thing for mum
· We provide food for all of our pregnant mums during their pregnancy, (we don’t know of too many breeders who do that!)
· Provide comprehensive pregnancy care notes, dates & information for each pregnancy
· Let you name your pup! This is a big deal. The Pup will naturally have a pre-determined pedigree name on their documents though
· We cover all breeding related expenses.
· Treat all boys/girls as a member of our family while in our care