About our Guardianship Opportunities
Thank you for your interest in our Guardian Program!
We are so thankful for our guardian homes and are always in need of those interested in the program so that we can continue our quality breeding program. These great dogs join our Guardian families at a great price (no cost to you). The dog becomes a loving part of your family, and 16 Paws Goldens maintains exclusive rights for breeding with unlimited access. Once a dog is retired, the dog's ownership will transfer to your family. To be a good breeder of quality dogs, we also must keep, evaluate, and continuously add quality bloodlines to our breeding program. We like to keep a few of our pick puppies to monitor their growth and development. Some will eventually fit into our breeding program someday, but as we only breed the best, some also will not make the cut. We prefer to place these pick puppies in guardian homes. A golden retriever needs to be a part of the family to develop their full potential. That is why we have a guardian program. The guardian home program is an excellent deal for the dog, it’s a good deal for the guardian parents, and it’s a good deal for producing an exceptional golden retriever breeding program.
To check the availability of puppies or adult dogs, please visit our available dogs for guardianship page.
Who Benefits From Our Program?
Each Dog
We believe that puppies or dogs are best served integrated into a loving family rather than kennel-raised. Dogs are social animals that adore their families and want to be with them. Dogs want to be involved in their family’s daily life and participate as beloved family members. By placing them in a home environment from a young age, we are doing our best to ensure their happiness and stability for the dog’s long term health. As a guardian home puppy grows up, we closely monitor the temperament, drive, and health. If the dog is exceptional in all aspects of the breed, he/she may be used in our breeding program. The dog will continue to live with their guardians full time except when testing, whelping and actively raising a litter. Before any dog is bred all genetic testing will be performed as well as clearance by a vet for future reproduction. If the dog does not pass all genetic testing and is not deemed healthy enough to carry/sire litters by the vet, he/she will be fixed at the expense of the breeder and all legal ownership paperwork will be transferred to the guardian at that time. If a female passes all testing and is cleared for reproduction her breeding career will begin on or after her second heat. She will be evaluated after every litter by the vet and both timing of breedings and length of breeding career will be at the breeder’s discretion upon the professional opinion of vet. Females are generally in guardianship until her 6th year of age or 4th litter. After the 6th year of age or after the completion of last litter (whichever comes first) breeder will pay to have dog fixed and all ownership papers will be signed over to guardian family forever. Males are in guardianship until they turn 8 years of age. At 8 years of age, breeder will have male neutered and all ownership papers will be signed over to guardian parents forever. General life expectancy of well bred and cared for Golden Retrievers is around 14 years but can live up to 18 years with lots of love and care.
Our Guardian Families
Guardian homes get a top quality Golden Retriever. You invest time, love, and cooperation of partnering with 16 Paws Goldens.
The Golden Retriever Breed
This program allows us an opportunity to test, show, and retest to ensure that the very best dogs will continue in this breed.