Available Guardian Pups:
We don’t currently have any prospective pups for placement, but we hope to have both male and female pups to place in the Summer/Fall of 2026.
Call Gen for more information 530-400-5497
Call Gen for more information 530-400-5497
What is the Guardian Family Program?
We are always looking for folks who might be interested in becoming a guardian family for one of our breeding dogs. In the 24 years that we have been breeding doodles none of our dogs have ever lived the life of a “kennel dog”.
Large breeding programs (puppy mills) warehouse dogs from the time they are pups until they have had their last of many litters. They are typically unsocialized, unkempt and unloved. Many are bred for far too many litters and once retired, are very difficult to place with individual families due to their lack of training and socialization. The life of a puppy mill kennel dog is miserable.
We think of the Guardian Program as a “Win-win-win”:
Our different approach to breeding dogs is a far more dog-centric philosophy. Each of our breeding dogs is a member of someone’s family. Each dog lives in a family home, loved and cared for, surrounded by their human “pack”.
So how does the Guardian Family Program work?
When our prospective breeding pups are 8 weeks old, we place them with a Guardian Family free of charge. The guardian raises the pup within their home teaching them how to be a good family member.
When the pup is about 1 year old, we begin to do their health testing (hips, elbow, cardiac, eyes and DNA) to determine whether they have the health scores to make the cut for the “breeding team”. Most of our prospective breeding dogs pass their health tests and go on to produce gorgeous pups.
Occasionally, we will have a pup that doesn’t make the cut. When this happens it generally doesn’t mean that the pup is unhealthy, it just means that they don’t have the scores that we need for the “cream of the crop” breeding standards that we hold for our breeding program. For example, we run DNA tests on our prospective breeding dogs to help us avoid passing on genetic conditions that we would not want to pass on to future pups. Occasionally, the result may indicate that the dog is a carrier for a genetic condition that they, themselves do not suffer from, but could possibly pass on to future pups.
When we have a pup that doesn’t make the cut for the breeding team, we then offer the dog for 50% of the pet cost of puppy as our way of saying “thank you” to the family for participating in our breeding program. The dog is then spayed or neutered and goes on to live their life with their family as a pet.
What happens when the dog becomes a member of the Breeding Program?
Once a prospective breeding dog passes all their health tests, they become a member of the Sierra Vista Doodles breeding team. Of course, the gender of the dog determines the direction of their breeding career.
FEMALES: We begin to breed our females between the time they are 1.5-2 years old. We generally breed every other cycle (a typical heat cycle occurs once every 6 months(ish). Not every breeding will result in a pregnancy so on those occasions, we would breed on the next heat cycle. We retire our females after their 3rd litter. Our goal is to retire our girls sometime between their fifth to sixth year. After retirement, we transfer ownership of the dog to the Guardian.
MALES: Being a stud comes with different responsibilities. Our boys are members of the team for a bit longer than our girls (we retire our males when they are 8 years old). Naturally, for a male, the breeding process is not a strenuous as it is for a female. We typically contact the guardian about a week or so ahead of time to let them know their boy has a “job” soon. We will then plan to borrow the boy for a couple of days to complete the breeding process. In most cases we borrow the stud for an afternoon and then return him within hours to his family with a smile on his face ; )
Costs related to the Guardian Program
Interested in learning more about our Guardian Family Program?
Call Gen at 530-400-5497 for more information.
Large breeding programs (puppy mills) warehouse dogs from the time they are pups until they have had their last of many litters. They are typically unsocialized, unkempt and unloved. Many are bred for far too many litters and once retired, are very difficult to place with individual families due to their lack of training and socialization. The life of a puppy mill kennel dog is miserable.
We think of the Guardian Program as a “Win-win-win”:
- Dogs win because they live the life of a family dog (with a part-time job),
- The Guardian Family wins because they get a free dog, and of course
- We win because we can expand our breeding program to include new genetic lines, ensuring healthy new generations of puppies.
Our different approach to breeding dogs is a far more dog-centric philosophy. Each of our breeding dogs is a member of someone’s family. Each dog lives in a family home, loved and cared for, surrounded by their human “pack”.
So how does the Guardian Family Program work?
When our prospective breeding pups are 8 weeks old, we place them with a Guardian Family free of charge. The guardian raises the pup within their home teaching them how to be a good family member.
When the pup is about 1 year old, we begin to do their health testing (hips, elbow, cardiac, eyes and DNA) to determine whether they have the health scores to make the cut for the “breeding team”. Most of our prospective breeding dogs pass their health tests and go on to produce gorgeous pups.
Occasionally, we will have a pup that doesn’t make the cut. When this happens it generally doesn’t mean that the pup is unhealthy, it just means that they don’t have the scores that we need for the “cream of the crop” breeding standards that we hold for our breeding program. For example, we run DNA tests on our prospective breeding dogs to help us avoid passing on genetic conditions that we would not want to pass on to future pups. Occasionally, the result may indicate that the dog is a carrier for a genetic condition that they, themselves do not suffer from, but could possibly pass on to future pups.
When we have a pup that doesn’t make the cut for the breeding team, we then offer the dog for 50% of the pet cost of puppy as our way of saying “thank you” to the family for participating in our breeding program. The dog is then spayed or neutered and goes on to live their life with their family as a pet.
What happens when the dog becomes a member of the Breeding Program?
Once a prospective breeding dog passes all their health tests, they become a member of the Sierra Vista Doodles breeding team. Of course, the gender of the dog determines the direction of their breeding career.
FEMALES: We begin to breed our females between the time they are 1.5-2 years old. We generally breed every other cycle (a typical heat cycle occurs once every 6 months(ish). Not every breeding will result in a pregnancy so on those occasions, we would breed on the next heat cycle. We retire our females after their 3rd litter. Our goal is to retire our girls sometime between their fifth to sixth year. After retirement, we transfer ownership of the dog to the Guardian.
MALES: Being a stud comes with different responsibilities. Our boys are members of the team for a bit longer than our girls (we retire our males when they are 8 years old). Naturally, for a male, the breeding process is not a strenuous as it is for a female. We typically contact the guardian about a week or so ahead of time to let them know their boy has a “job” soon. We will then plan to borrow the boy for a couple of days to complete the breeding process. In most cases we borrow the stud for an afternoon and then return him within hours to his family with a smile on his face ; )
Costs related to the Guardian Program
- Guardians do not pay for the purchase price of a puppy unless a pup does not have the necessary breeding scores to become a member of the breeding team. At that point we offer to transfer ownership of the dog to the Guardian for 50% of the purchase price of a pet dog.
- Sierra Vista Doodles covers all costs related to breeding (reproductive health testing & reproductive services
- The Guardian covers all of the day-to-day costs that they would cover for any dog in their care: food, training, vaccinations, flea/tick/heartworm medication, well-dog check-ups and pet health insurance for accidents or medical emergencies.
- Sierra Vista Doodles will cover half of the cost of the spay/neuter at the time of the retirement for dogs who have been members of our breeding program (having had a litter or sired a litter).
Interested in learning more about our Guardian Family Program?
Call Gen at 530-400-5497 for more information.
