At Ridgy Didge we have a Guardian Program in place as an important part of our ethical breeding practices. We thought we would let you know how this works.
From time to time, we choose an outstanding puppy to keep as a future breeding dog. This puppy is one that has really good DNA and outstanding temperament, and we expect to show good hip and elbow scores when the time comes. In this way we fulfil our commitment to continue to produce quality, healthy puppies for our families and the Australian Cobberdog breed.
These puppies go to live with their forever gardian family – with no purchase cost – from around 9-10 weeks when they leave us. Ridgy Didge retains the breeding rights for a set period of time. At whelping time, the dog comes back to Ridgy Didge where we can supervise the birth and are close to the 24 hour vet should there be a need. The new mother will stay with us until the pups are weaned, and will then return to her family. After the set breeding period is finished, the family is responsible for having the dog desexed, and the contract finishes.
Ridgy Didge pays all expenses to do with breeding, hip and elbow scoring, and DNA testing. Guardian families are responsible for the usual ongoing costs of keeping a pet dog, including vaccinations and worming, food, tick and flea prevention, grooming and general vet bills, council registration, and obedience classes.
To qualify to be a Guardian Family for our Ridgy Didge breeding pups, there are some conditions that applying families must fulfil and they must be prepared to meet our conditions on how the puppy is to be raised. Below is a general outline, and we will provide further details for families who wish to apply to be guardians.
- Most importantly, you must be a resident of the Sunshine Coast.
This is important for us to be able to work with you in breeding season, including veterinary health and pregnancy checks and tests, and for whelping. - You must have a fully fenced yard to keep the dog safe.
- Your home must be a single story home, important for protecting pups joints as they develop.
- You must be prepared to provide a loving, caring home, where the dog is welcome inside the house and is considered part of the family. There must be somebody home for a good amount of time each week so the dog is not left alone for extended periods.
- You must be prepared to continue the socialisation and training of the dog along our guidelines. This ensures that the dog is a good, polite pet for your family, and easily managed and adaptable when the dog visits for breeding. This includes crate training, grooming, leash training and puppy school training with a professional dog trainer.
- You must be willing to contine to provide a predominantly fresh, raw food diet.
If you fulfil the above conditions and would like to learn more about our Ridgy Didge Guardian Program, please express this in an email to us at rdcobberdogs@gmail.com . We will respond and email you a Guardian Program application form; then we'll assess your completed application and get back to you.
If you would like to adopt a Ridgy Didge Australian Cobberdog, please read our Adopting a Puppy information, before you continue the adoption process. For more information, pm us on Facebook, or contact us at our website. Like and follow us on Facebook to keep up to date with ongoing puppy news and announcements.