Guardian homes are charged with a very special mission – taking care of a breeder mom or dad! These dogs have litters of puppies which help ensure healthy, loving happy service dogs are placed with children and veterans in need. Breeder dogs live their whole life with the guardian home, even after they retire from breeding. Guardian homes receive a start up set of supplies to take care of the 4 Paws breeder dog and can receive ongoing food and vet care from our center until the breeder dog retires from the program.
Breeder dogs have been selected from dogs raised in our service dog in training program who have displayed a temperament consistent with what we would want from a service dog. Then the dogs go through a process of rigorous medical evaluations to determine their health and that of puppies that they may bring into the world.
Responsibilities
Breeder Females
Breeder females are part of the program up to seven years of age for large breeds and up to nine years of age for small breeds, at which point they are spayed and ownership is transferred to their guardian family for the remainder of their life. They will typically have 4-5 litters of puppies. Females will return to 4 Paws for all breeding activities including whelping and will stay with their litter of puppies at 4 Paws until the puppies are six weeks old.
Breeder Males
Breeder males are part of the program up to 10 years of age and come to 4 Paws for breeding purposes. They must be brought to 4 Paws within 1-2 days of request and will remain at 4 Paws for varying lengths of time up to a few weeks.
Have questions or want to learn more?
Foster
Guardian Home Coordinator
GuardianHome@4PawsForAbility.org
937-374-0385
Ready to join the 4 Paws Family as a Guardian Home? Complete the Volunteer Interest Form