Guardian Homes
Love them as your own. Partner with us for their future.
Why Guardian Homes Matter
Guardian homes are an essential part of Walk with Me Doodles. As our program grows, we simply cannot keep every breeding dog in our own home, and we would never want our dogs to live as kennel dogs. Through our guardian program, carefully selected dogs are able to grow up in loving family homes while still remaining an important part of the future of our program.
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A Meaningful Partnership
Becoming a guardian means entering into a long-term partnership with us for the duration of your dog’s breeding career. Your dog lives with you as a beloved member of your family and returns to us as needed for health testing, breeding, and whelping.
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​Yours for Life
Once your guardian dog retires from our program, they are spayed or neutered and full ownership is transferred to your family. From that point forward, they are completely yours - for life.
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A Relationship We Value
This relationship is incredibly valuable to us. Our guardian dogs are carefully selected, deeply loved, and represent the future of Walk with Me Doodles, so we are intentional about choosing families who understand the commitment and want to build a positive, lasting partnership with us.
What the Breeding Partnership Looks Like
Our male & female guardian dogs have slightly different commitments throughout the program.
Every guardian arrangement is built on communication, trust, and the long-term well-being of each dog.
Requirements
Our guardian families are an incredibly important part of our program, and because these dogs represent the future of Walk with Me Doodles, we are thoughtful about the families we choose. Guardian families must be able to meet the following expectations throughout their dog’s time in our program.
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Must live in Southeast Texas or the surrounding area, within three hours of Orange, Texas.
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Must review, agree to, and sign our Guardian Program Contract.
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Must provide a safe, clean, loving forever home.
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A securely fenced yard is highly preferred, though not always required.
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Must not own, house, or allow regular access to an intact dog of the opposite sex.
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Must be able to provide a high-quality, approved diet, routine veterinary care, vaccinations, grooming every 6-8 weeks, and appropriate heartworm, flea/tick, parasite control, and deworming.
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Must complete the AKC STAR Puppy program by 6 months of age and Canine Good Citizen training by 1 year of age. Both are offered at no cost through local group classes with Becki. Additional training opportunities are available to guardians at 50% off.
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Must make regular socialization a priority throughout puppyhood and beyond.
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Female guardians must be willing to return their dog to us for each whelping & quarterly stays.
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Guardian families should plan for a minimum of four litters before retirement, unless we determine otherwise based on the dog’s health, well-being, or future within our program.
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Male guardian dogs may need to come to our home for breeding during a female’s heat cycle, typically over a 5-7 day window. If repeated travel is inconvenient, we are happy to have him stay with us for that full period.
A Guardian Placement Is a Partnership - Not a Free Puppy
Guardian dogs are placed with approved families at no purchase cost, but this program comes with a meaningful long-term commitment.
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These dogs are carefully selected, deeply loved, and incredibly important to the future of Walk with Me Doodles. Because of that, we are intentional about the families we choose and do not approve guardian placements casually.
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Guardian families are held to a higher standard because they are entrusted with dogs who represent the future of our program. We are looking for families who value the relationship, understand the responsibility, and are excited to partner with us for years to come.
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Walk with Me Doodles reserves the right to decline any applicant we do not feel is the right fit for the individual dog or for our program.
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If the guardian program sounds like a relationship your family would genuinely enjoy, we would love to learn more about you.
Guardian Home Opportunities
We maintain a guardian home waitlist for families who would like to be considered for future placements. When we begin searching for a guardian, we first work through our current waitlist. If we do not find the right match there, specific opportunities will be shared below.
Current Guardian Opportunities
We do not have any current opportunities, but will in the future, join our waitlist!
Interested in a future guardian dog?
Join our Guardian Home Waitlist to be considered for upcoming opportunities after we've worked through our current waitlist.
Future opportunities may include puppies from planned litters as well as select young dogs entering our program. Placements are always made based on the right fit for both the dog and the family.
