Our breeding program is designed with some of our dogs being placed in a guardian home, with their forever family. Guardianship enables breeding dogs to live one on one with a family while they are participating in our program. They are loved and cared for by the same family they will be living with when they retire. Implementing a Guardian Program ensures that our puppy’s/dog’s every needs are met and that they receive all the love and attention that they could possibly need.

We are currently looking for individuals that would love to be a part of our Guardian Family. This is a great opportunity to love and raise a “pick of the litter” puppy from one of our Golden Retriever litters. Your responsibility includes but is not limited to; loving on the puppy and helping him/her to grow into a well-rounded, well-socialized, extremely well-mannered, trained adult dog. Guardian Families are responsible for regular veterinarian care, food, training, supplies. All expenses related to breeding (health testing, etc) will be covered by "WOOD FAMILY DOGS?". After the dog is finished with his/her breeding career then they are spayed/neutered (at our expense), ownership transferred and then they are your dog for life. 

Some people are concerned about having their dog gone for the time frame that it takes them to whelp the puppies and complete the nursing phase. My response to that is it’s a great time for us to get to know you. Our Guardian Families become like extended family. We hope our Guardian Families come by often to see their girl and spend some time with the puppies, which helps us to socialize them and is VERY rewarding for the family to see what their baby girl has just done. It’s an amazing process and very rewarding to be a part of.

The pup will have health testing done to assure breeding quality. In the event of a pup not passing the testing, the guardianship will be terminated, dog spayed/neutered, and the guardian will have ownership of pup with no further monies due. Life changing results will be considered individually. There will be a specific contract for each guardianship arrangement. Guardians must not have any other intact dogs for the entire duration of the guardian contract (spayed/neutered pets are fine). Non-smoking homes only.Female guardian dogs are usually under contract for 5 litters. I usually will breed them back to back twice so they may retire early, unless my vet recommends differently or timing doesn’t work out for me (overlapping litters, etc). The contract may be extended if both the guardian and myself agree to it, or shortened if I decide no more litters are desired out of the girl. Guardians of females are required to alert me to when their girl is coming into season, and make her available to me for the breeding process. Approximately one week prior to whelping, the girl will come to my home for delivery and care of her pups. Once the pups head to their forever homes (at 8 wks), the female can head back to her guardian home.

All guardian moms are required to feed the same food we used until they are retired. We feed Purina Pro Sport, at this time.

If you have an interest in becoming a Guardian Home for one of our dogs, please contact Us at Pups@riveroaksgoldens.com to complete the Guardian Family Application.