Guardian families must feed your doodle food approved by Stokeshire Doodles. We are advocates of healthy nutrition for dogs, and for feeding foods that will not cause health issues, things as cancers, tumors, allergies, etc. The foods we ask you to feed are easily found but are holistic, wheat and corn-free, with no by-products or fillers, etc.

We require the family to avoid all chemicals unless necessary and to not give supplements or medicines unless approved by us. This includes flea, heartworm, or any other meds. We use Simparica Trio Dogs for flea medications and your Vet will prescribe the heartworm medication.

If the dog becomes sick or injured, we need the family to notify us right away so we are involved in all decisions regarding the treatment of the dog.

We ask the family to practice safe handling of the dog. To not leave the dog outside if they are not at home. Don't let the dog sit in the back of an open pickup. Use a leash in public. Provide basic obedience training so the dog has manners. All things that should be done to protect your dog anyway.

The guardian home is responsible for the transportation of the dog to us when needed for breeding, whelping, or health testing. This is the most inconvenient part of the guardian's responsibilities. Please think through this carefully. We will not meet families or pick up dogs ourselves.

We will usually breed F1 Doodles on the second heat following when the dog reaches 12 months of age. This varies for our purebreds. If a dog goes into heat at any time beyond 12 months, you must notify us immediately so we can assess whether or not we will breed. This will depend on how many other girls are cycling and having litters, as well as the individual dog's age and situation. We would also like to be notified when your puppy has its first cycle, somewhere around 9-12 months of age, so we can have a calculated guess on when her next cycle will be.

As soon as our Guardian family is aware the dog is in heat, we will have them arrange to bring the dog to us by day 5 - 7 of the heat cycle. She will remain with us for about one week, and then they can pick her up and take her back home. Again, please be aware that we will not house the dog for long periods before or after the times they are needed. If you are unable to drop off or pick up the dog within 1-2 days of when needed, you will be required to find someone else who can do so for you, or we can ask one of our dog transporters if they are available for $100 per trip.

Dogs are pregnant for about 58-63 days on average.

She will come to us between 7 - 9 days before she whelps her litter. This gives her time to settle into our home & studio, and get used to seeing the whelping box. It is important that she becomes very comfortable with being in our house and being with us all the time. We do not want the mom to feel threatened by us when she is getting ready to whelp. She will go home after the puppies are fully weaned. This will be between 6 and 7 weeks of age.

We generally do not allow guardian homes to visit until puppies are at least 4 weeks of age for health safety reasons, however, we're happy to take the necessary precautions. Please be aware though that no handling of puppies will be allowed without gloves and masks. You may visit the guardian dog and spend some time with her if she is doing well with leaving her puppies for shorter periods. We do try to limit this visit to one hour as our schedule is very busy and puppies are not best served by being away from mom for longer than that.

No, there is an initial "Where is my family going?" when they bring her to us, but in every situation, the dog is settled and comfortable and doing very well within an hour or two. This is where he or she was born and it is likely that they will remember smells and get quickly acquainted with their kin here on the Shire.

We try very hard to give them so much attention and love the first couple of days that it is a pleasant and enjoyable experience for them. The less stressed and the more relaxed she is, the better it is for her puppies. So, the guardian home mustn't make the transition difficult for the dog.

Pregnancy is relatively easy. We have a list of what happens each week during the development of puppies, and we give that to our guardian homes at the time we begin breeding. The dog may act a little more tired, or not eat normally for a few weeks. In the last couple of weeks of pregnancy, she usually becomes more hungry and sleeps more as time progresses. Otherwise, normal activity is typical and it is important to continue walking the dog right up to the end. This helps during delivery. Being in shape is always crucial to a healthy delivery. Normal play and romping and running during the first half of pregnancy are great. After that, we limit activity to walks on a leash and no ball chasing type of activities. We suggest adding ¼ cup of yogurt or cottage cheese every other day and a raw egg twice a week during the last 2 weeks of pregnancy to give extra nutrition.

No chemicals may be given during pregnancy. We have to be notified immediately of any illness or injury so we can be involved in determining how she is treated.

While the dog is in the guardian's care and home, any illness or injury that happens is their financial responsibility, except for pregnancy-related complications. We must be involved in treatment plans and know what is going on and determining medications, but the family is responsible for all other expenses that fall outside of our Stokeshire Guarantee. We require Pet Health Insurance during her breeding years. This insurance is for your protection because these dogs are extremely valuable as breeders.

The guardian home pays for any normal care items: Food, dishes, leashes, beds, normal vaccinations or wormings, flea meds, heartworm meds, toys, grooming needs, etc. If the dog needs meds due to worms, illness, infection, or anything unrelated to pregnancy, it is the guardian’s responsibility to pay for those expenses. We pay for all expenses related to health testing for breeding purposes, all breeding expenses, and litter expenses that are not covered by insurance.

While we contract for unlimited litters, we are concerned about the well-being of our program dogs. If we find that the female has problems with deliveries or it would be unhealthy for them to breed again, we will stop the breeding program with her and she will be yours. We take into account each female individually, working directly with a local veterinarian to ensure exceptional care of our animals.

We pay for the spay surgery after the female has had time to recover from the last litter and have her hormone levels returned to normal. This is usually about 2 months after puppies are weaned. We will use Medford Veterinary Clinic and cover 100% of the expenses.

We are very careful to know the DNA and overall health of the animal before placement. Remember, that breeding quality and pet quality are two different things. Just because a dog may not be the best breeding candidate doesn't mean they aren't the perfect pet. Most of the testing we do is very specific, we use Embark Veterinary, and we have already thoroughly screened the line and health testing of parent dogs, so it's not likely we'll encounter a problem that would cause an issue that would disqualify an animal from our Stokeshire Breeding Program.

We want you to treat this dog like it is one of the family and we recommend a local groomer, however, we do not require them to look a certain way, however, while they are with us, we retain the right to groom and bathe them to ensure cleanliness for delivery and overall whelping.

Guardian dogs are ambassadors for our program. They must be very well maintained as we will likely be photographing them regularly.

We offer discounts for our in-home groomer at Stokeshire. You can also come and use our facility!

Provide a guardian with a healthy dog.

Pay any veterinary costs associated with breeding, including but not limited to:

Progesterone testing

Cytology

Ultrasounds/Radiographs

Necessary health testing

Spay or neuter the dog when they are deemed no longer needed for breeding, be it because of age or health standards required for breeding.

Provide lifetime support for the dog.

Assist guardian with detecting and caring for a female dog in the estrus cycle or pregnant.

If the dog is deemed by the breeder to be unfit to reproduce, the dog will then be spayed or neutered at the expense of the breeder and awarded to the guardian home.

Dams generally cycle every 6-10 months. As long as your dog is healthy and up to having a litter we are very flexible as to when the breeding will be done but don’t want to wait for more than a year between breedings unless there is a medical reason to do so. Current medical studies show that it is healthiest for dogs to be bred back to back without skipping heat cycles. She will not be bred before 12 months or after 6 six years. Most females average 4-6 litters.

The Guardian Home puppy or dog is part of the Guardian Home’s Family forever, while the breeding rights are retained by Stokeshire Designer Doodles for a set individualized amount of time. Once the Guardian Dog has completed his/her breeding career, he/she will be spayed or neutered at our expense and the dog will remain a forever pet of their Guardian Family!

Male guardian dogs are usually used for breeding after 10-18 months. We ask that you make your dog available for breeding. Most of our guardian studs aren’t used for breeding very often. A male stud will be in our home for about 5-7 days for mating and will return to his home afterward.

If you ever need boarding we would love the opportunity to watch your dog as long it fits in with our family schedule.

No. There is an initial "Where is my family going?" when she comes to us, but in every situation, the dog is settled and comfortable and doing very well within an hour or two. Remember they will already “know” us from being with us from birth, the times we have taken them for testing, or when we have “dog sat” for you. We give them so much attention and love that it is a pleasant and enjoyable experience for them. This is also important as everything the dam feels causes things to happen inside her body that can affect the babies. The less stressed and the more relaxed she is, the better it is for puppies.

A Guardian Family gets the very best that Stokeshire Designer Doodles has to offer. This means that we choose our breeding team based on the best qualities that are outlined in our breed standard with temperament of course coming first. Another wonderful benefit of Guardian Families is that their Guardian dog or puppy will be completely health tested by around 1 year of age at the expense of Stokeshire Designer Doodles before entering our breeding program at no cost to the Guardian Family. Our Guardian Families get to enjoy the excitement of being a part of our breeding program, and seeing the offspring of their very own Guardian dog be placed with families across the country bringing others the same joy and happiness that they have received from their Guardian dog! In addition, we compensate our families for each litter or stud service.