Do you live within a reasonable distance to Coeur d Alene, ID?  If not, are you willing to drive/deliver to our location or meet us within reason?  Do you dream of owning one of our beautiful Ponderay Golden Retriever puppies or adults?  Would you like to own one at a discounted price or perhaps even free?  With this fantastic program, you pay 1/2 the normal companion puppy price for the Pick of the Litter Puppy.  Our contract then allows you to become the proud owner of the most beautiful and choice dogs…..the Pick of the Litter Puppies at this great discounted price and will actually PAY you as well so that this dog can become yours for FREE!  All these puppies are Cream of the Crop and hand picked by us as the Best of the Best!

Our guardian program was implemented when we decided we wanted to expand our program to new, healthy lines so we could continue to breed our goldens and offer our puppies to the public.  We find awesome families who ae willing and excited to be a part of your program who give our breeding dogs a chance to be a part of a family for their entire lives, also known as our guardians!  The benefit all around is obvious.  Our dogs then don’t have to be kenneled as much, retired to new homes, or sharing attention with a bunch of other dogs.  They live in a 1 – 3 dog homes and get to experience all the things a pet dog should!  Our guardians get the benefit of only paying a low deposit fee and then getting money back for every litter after we pay to health test the dog.  Finally, we get to continue to produce awesome puppies for our future families.

The Guardian Program allows for you to have a “Pick of the Litter Puppy”, or adolescent/adult breeding dog for just a fraction of the price.  This puppy or dog is part of your family forever, while the breeding rights are retained by “Ponderay Golden Retrievers”, for a short-term amount of time.  Once this dog has completed his/her breeding career, he/she will be neutered or spayed at our expense.  This dog will always remain a forever member of your family and at the end of our short-term contract will become your full property!

The dog will live full time with you and only come back to us for breeding and whelping/weaning.

Yes, initially.  We do not give these dogs away.  The cost of a guardian dog/puppy requires a deposit set by us, which is usually half the pet price.

At the birth of this dog’s first litter, we will refund half of the deposit back to you and will also pay you a set amount for each additional litter as a way of saying “thank you” for participating in our “Guardian Program”.

We have found that having an upfront deposit for these puppies and dogs is essential in finding the absolutely the BEST homes for these wonderful dogs!  By doing this, we eliminate those folks who may be doing the program for the wrong reasons!  Again, we have done this as part of ensuring the health and benefit of every wonderful member of our “Ponderay Golden” family!

You are responsible for the general routine veterinary care and wellness of the puppy/dog placed with you.  This means annual vaccines, feeding “Purina Pro Plan Focus Puppy Large Breed, Chicken & Rice”, for the first year of life then switching to “Purina Pro Plan Sport 30/20”.  NuVet Plus Tablets daily and when I say it’s time NuVet Joint, that you will order off my website here.  Treats that are all natural, grooming, monthly heartworm prevention, flea/tick prevention, training, regular exercise and proper socialization, and most importantly all the love and care and attention possible!

Any “Breeding Related”, medical costs are the sole expense and responsibility of “Ponderay Golden Retrievers”.  You are only responsible for routine maintenance and medical care just as would be expected of any other responsible pet parent!

First of all, you get the very best that “Ponderay Goldens” has to offer in the Golden Retriever!  This means that we choose our breeding stock based on the best qualities that are outlined in our breed standard with temperament of course coming first.

Another wonderful benefit to you is that this dog or puppy will be health and genetic tested by 18 months of age (some tests are done at 2 years of age) at the expense of “Ponderay Goldens”, prior to entering our breeding program at no cost to you!

Also, you get to enjoy the excitement of being a part of our breeding program, and will see the offspring of your very own dog placed with families across the country, bringing other the same joy and happiness that you have experienced with you “Pick of the Litter Dog”!

To be considered as a member of the Guardian Program for one of our breeding dogs, we require that you live in North Idaho or Eastern Washington.  It is necessary that you have a physical fencing around your yard to provide a safe and secure environment for your puppy/dog, own your own home, be financially stable to properly care for the puppy/dog, have a schedule that will allow for your dog to not be left alone for extended periods of time.  All dogs and pups placed in this program must be indoor only dogs, and never be left outside unattended. You must have reliable transportation, and a willingness to bring your puppy/dog to us when needed for breeding purposes.

Most all of our pups/dogs available for our Guardian Program will be females.  Occasionally we will have a male available as well!

If you are applying for a “Guardian Program Puppy”, she will come to you at 8 weeks of age unless we have an adult available.  During the first year, “Ponderay Goldens”, will have her genetic testing completed and possibly some health clearances done.  Once we receive all of the results from her testing, we are then able to assess whether or not she will enter our breeding program.  If for any reason we decide not to breed the puppy placed with you (this is a decision solely made by “Ponderay Goldens”) we will then pay to spay your puppy, and this dog will become your full property at no additional cost to you!

If you are receiving a “Guardian Program Puppy”, we ask that you send us monthly photos and updates during the first year so that we can watch her develop, and update our website.  We also will require scheduled visits two to three time a year with you to assess your puppy, as well as build a relationship with her for when she comes to stay with us during whelping.

Each dog is individually assessed before determining how many litters they will have.  Most of our guardian dogs will have between 1-5 litters for us but will have no more than a total of 5 litters.  The health and well-being of our breeding dogs is a priority to us, and prior to any breeding, “Ponderay Goldens”, will receive clearance by our Veterinarian.  Females are first bred around 2 years of age.  Occasionally we may decide to have fewer litters if we feel it is in the best interest of the dog to do so!  Again, this is determined by “Ponderay Goldens”.

That is simple to answer!  Her at “Ponderay Goldens” our aim is to provide superior quality puppies and excellence of service to all our puppy parents!  We have also done everything in our power to make our breeding program top notch in every conceivable way.  We start with the ” Best of the Best” fully health tested dogs that are wonderfully bred.  We continue with top quality care, nutrition, love and socialization.  We thoroughly interview every interested puppy applicant to make sure our dogs and puppies only go to the Best of the Best homes!  We make sure we are there for the life of every puppy that leaves our care.  Our “Guardian Program”, was put in place for this very reason!  We found that our “Ponderay Goldens” puppies were in greater demand than we could possible supply….so the “GuardianProgram”, was started!  This program allows for our dogs to live the normal, happy life they are SO deserving of and at the same time allows us to continue to build a superior breeding program!

If you are interested in being part of our “Ponderay Goldens Family”, we would love to hear from you.  Please click on the link below to read the “GUARDIAN AGREEMENT”