about guardian owners dogs

 
About the Masterkarn Guardian Home Care Program

Guardian care program…
All our potential Guardian care dogs are generally retired Champions or ex show pups, that are well socialised and very important to us in our breeding program. We want these dogs to have loving, caring homes to retire in to enjoy the finer things in life, like lazing in the sun, going for long walks to the beach or park. Being the only one getting all the attention and Obedience to keep an active mind would be very special for them.
However all dogs in this program must remain in a 2.5 hr drive of Masterkarn kennels at all times. You will need to be prepared to have your dog leave for a short time while raising their pups or being used at stud. The girls will come into season while you have them at home. Boys will be entire for about 3-9 years.

We have found that the Guardian Home Care Program is the best way to accomplish the ongoing benefit for the breeds continued existence, health and longevity. This is a very unique program that allows our breeding dogs to live as much loved family pets able to all the family things like obedience, agility, walk on the beach or parks etc. with our locally selected families while participating in our breeding program. This program has been successful for many generations of our dogs.
We have the two colours in our Guardian owners’ dogs, the stag red, straight red or the black and red colour. Obviously for us, colour is of less importance than the temperament, type and health of our breeding dogs, so for this reason Masterkarn has a policy of listing what puppies/dogs we have selected for our Sponsor GUARDIAN OWNER and then match families with the selected dog/the dog.
You will initially pay $1,000.00 for the dog as a deposit. This fee will be returned to you after the fulfilment of a contract for females. Males are given an inconvenience fee for delivering the dog to Masterkarn kennels for each stud work instead.

Stud dogs.
Our Stud dogs are the backbone of our breeding program, but often breeders need to wait until an age appropriate time to use them at stud. These young males are between 12 months and 5 years of age, trained and socialized. Some care dogs need to be made available on occasional times for shows or at any time required by us for breeding. The show guardian care dog/bitch is also required to be shown at specialty or major All breeds shows, including A20, FCI and some Royal shows.
Stud owners must live within 2.5 hours drive of Masterkarn kennels for us to have the dog available. The dog is placed at a discount to compensate the owner for the effort of keeping an intact male or female.
Following you will find several of the common questions answered about our GUARDIAN OWNER but please feel free to contact us if you have any further questions, or if you would like to express interest in joining our GUARDIAN OWNER program.
For a sample copy of our Guardian owners Agreement please contact us.

Questions/Answers...
What is the Masterkarn Guardian OWNER?
Masterkarn selects and places our "pick show or breeding potential " puppies in our GUARDIAN OWNER program. Once the dog is placed in a GUARDIAN OWNER program, they stay with that Carer for their entire life, provided the Guardian Owners follow our requirements - which we feel are very reasonable. Our GUARDIAN OWNER allows our families an opportunity to have some of the best German Pinscher from the world’s best lines as their family pet!

What happens in the first 12 months of the GUARDIAN OWNER?
If you take the dog or young adolescent in for the GUARDIAN OWNER the first 12 months are fairly basic. You will pick the dog up from us and the dog will live with you until their first season (heat cycle). In the German Pinschers, we expect the first season to arrive between 6-12 months of age, on some rare occasions we will have one that starts between 9-12 months of age or even 12-18 months but this is not common. Upon the start of their first season, you will contact us directly; if you do not have a suitably safe location for them during their season you will need to bring the dog to Masterkarn to stay protected with us during their season, this is to ensure that no unwanted boys come to call. The first season is usually between 14-21 days (2-3 weeks) depending on the maturity and ovulation cycle of your dog. We do not breed any dogs less than 18 months of age so once their season is done, we then contact you to come and collect your dog. You can then expect that the dog will come into season about 6-9 months from the start of their last season. Seasons in the German Pinschers, traditionally every 6-9 months but can range 4 months up to 9 months between cycles.

During their first year sometime around 12 months of age we will request the dog to come and have a photo session done, usually we try and coincide this with an already planned visit, like when they are brought for their health testing.
At 12 months of age we require you to bring your dog to Masterkarn for assessment for the breeding program. If we decide not to breed with them we will then ask you to de-sex them and we will transfer ownership over to the Family.
If we do access them and wish to proceed, you will then pay for a n eye exam to be done. Once we get the results from all testing done, we then make a second assessment for the consideration of adding the dog into the breeding program. If we do not add the dog into the program, we will then ask you to de-sex them and we will transfer ownership to the Family. This is our way of being able to keep the best males & females from each litter and then have the ability to only select the best of the best to continue on with the breed's development.

What happens after the Carer Dog is 12 months old and has had their testing and final assessments completed for addition to the breeding program?
If we do add the dog to our Breeding Program we will require you to bring the Carer dog to us at the start of every season that we plan to breed. During the off seasons (any we so choose not to breed during you may keep and house her with you if you have a suitably safe location for them during their season to ensure protection against unwanted mating’s, if it is deemed that the location is not secure they will need to come back to Masterkarn where we can protect them from unwanted attention. Please note we do not necessarily mate our Guardian Owners dogs every second season. After each season they spend with us the dog returns home with you. If we have mated them while here, they will go back home with you during their gestation and we will then give you details as to when they need to return to have their litter.
We require that all pregnant Sponsor care program Dogs to return to us 2 weeks prior to their due date. This ensures them time to settle in and start nesting in preparation for the birth. Once the puppies are born and Mum is settled in, her Guardian Owners family is welcome to come and visit her and the new babies from a distance while she is with us but not to touch them.
Once the puppies are weaned sometime between 5-6 weeks of age the GUARDIAN OWNER dog is then ready to go back home with her family. By this time the Mum is usually more than ready to have the puppies weaned and go back to her family as the puppies usually have their teeth in by 4 weeks of age!
For the Males Masterkarn requires him to be returned to us (with sometimes appropriate notice) for any mating we plan for them. They will stay with us for up to 6 days at which time He can then go Home again, until next time Masterkarn requires him.

What is the Guardian home care programs' responsibilities?
Even though you are only paying a deposit on your Guardian owners Dog we require that you take top notch care of them. This means, including but not limited to: a high-quality diet as outlined by us, routine veterinary care, annual vaccinations, worming and flea treatments as outlined by us, the dog and obedience training, love, exercise, care and attention, etc. These are our babies that we place with you and we want to be assured that they will become your baby.

Show guardian homes
Under specific agreements some Guardian care dogs will need the dog continuing a show career at special shows, including major all-breed shows (including interstate FCI, A20 and some Royal shows) and Specialty shows and then to be bred with before retirement.

Availability and your responsibility...
You will be responsible for loving them, walking them, grooming them, making sure they have a good diet, vet check-ups and a safe place to sleep and play, while they participate in their breeding/show program just as you would your family dog. Collecting their health tests and making them available for stud use as part of the contract.
The program is only available to families and individuals who live within a 2.5-hour drive of Masterkarn kennels (Fernvale or Ipswich, QLD). You must have a safe and secure environment for a GUARDIAN OWNER program dog to ensure their safety and health.
We ask that you assess your life style, reliable transportation and permanency in the area to ensure that you are able to meet the requirements of caring for a pet and meeting the requirements of the Guardian Owners agreement.
We prefer families with previous dog ownership experience but are happy to work closely with families and individuals who are new to dog ownership. Our GUARDIAN OWNER program dogs are to be kept as House dogs, outside time while the Carer is at work etc… is acceptable but when the Carer is home the dog needs to be inside with Carer.
If you have another dog, provided it is NOT a male, it is still an option to be a Masterkarn's

 GUARDIAN OWNER program.
You must be willing to keep the female or male entire and live in Qld within reasonable driving distance from us. All Health testing is required and paid for by Masterkarn Kennels prior to the guardian taking the dog. You have a responsibility to get an eye and heart exam yearly until the dog is 9 yrs. old. you will need to make the dog available for all appointments arranged by Masterkarn kennels.

At 6 months You will need to have his full breed DNA collected and sent to Orivet for a certified result, cost paid by Masterkarn kennels. Often this will be already completed at a younger age. Most times this dog has already had the DNA collected prior to the dog placed up for the Guardian owners home.

12 months: You agree to take your dog to an eye exam and a heart exam each year until the dog is 9 years old, which must be passed to continue the program. A photo session would be expected at this time, if the dog passes all DNA health tests the dog will be continued into the breeding program.

18 months - 2 years Hip and Elbow scoring to certify fit for breeding to keep the breed healthy.

2 years Should the dog be eligible for stud program and there is interest in him being used at stud from another breeder requiring a service fee, we are happy to facilitate the breeding arrangements, which may include the stud service, fuel and other costs we will be responsible for this. A collection of semen will be done by Masterkarn kennels as no cost to the Guardian owner prior to the retirement of the dog but generally around 2 years old once health testing is completed and a passing grade accepted. At no time is the dog available for stud or to whelp a litter by the Guardian owners.

For Males: Once a female comes into season, we may require your male German Pinscher to visit Masterkarn kennels for breeding. This takes 7 to 14 days depending on female’s ovulation. Males can be used several times a year.

FEMALES
How Many litters will my GUARDIAN OWNER female dog be required to produce?
We do not put out very many female sponsored pups due the more complicated process. Females are required to have the same health screening as the males at the same age grouping and must be cleared for breeding prior to mating. When she is over 18 months old and in season, she will be required to visit Masterkarn kennels to be bred, it takes 7 to 14 days depending on her ovulation from the day you first sight blood (so 3 consecutive days she will be with us). We can give you advice on how to check for your female’s season. Once she has been bred she will be returned to Masterkarn to whelp her puppies from 3 weeks prior to her whelping date for her to become familiar with us, as she will be in our home during her whelping and the dog raising time, just like she would in yours. Your family can visit once the pups are over 4 weeks old and we are sure she is settled.

We require between 2-3 litters for females (up to 5 years old) or 6-10 years for males from our GUARDIAN OWNER program dogs once they are in the GUARDIAN OWNER. Each dog is individually assessed prior to entering the Guardian Owners to determine the required litters. Masterkarn takes the health and wellbeing of all our breeding dogs as a priority, and based on our vets’ assessments we will only breed our Guardian owners’ dogs if they are in optimum condition for each litter.

Contract release or early release…
If we have accomplished our goals in development from one of our Guardian owners dogs, we may select to retire them early. We have on a number of occasions early retired our Carer girls prior to completing the required litter numbers. BUT it is only Masterkarn's right to make that decision and ask for a dog/bitch to be de-sexed and retire early the GUARDIAN OWNER program dog. We do not release dogs form this program if the agreement was not completed. A fee is required if you wish to be released for loss of the litters expected.
Once your Guardian Owners dog is retired from the breeding Program and de-sexed, they remain your family pet. German Pinschers, have a life expectancy of about 10-16 years.
On average, our breeding dogs are de-sexed and retire around the age of 9- 10 years for males, with females producing no more than a maximum of two litters during her breeding career on this program. Once a dog is retired, they have no further obligation to the Masterkarn breeding program and they live out their lives of leisure with you as normal.

Who covers the cost of breeding and any medical costs related to breeding?
Any medical costs resulting in or related to breeding (e.g. a caesarean) and any stud fee costs (E.g. Artificial Insemination) required to produce the litter are Masterkarn kennel's sole financial responsibility. Our Guardian carers are only responsible for routine maintenance and medical care, such as, but not limited to, feeding, annual vaccinations, worming and Advocate treatments, just as they would if they had a de-sexed pet. Additional vet visits regarding health tests is also the Guardian owners responsibility and limited to breed expected health tests only.

What are the advantages to the dog in the GUARDIAN OWNER program?
Our GUARDIAN OWNER program girls and boys are able to live in a family pet home environment rather than a kennel situation. Once they are retired from breeding and de-sexed they don't need to be placed in a new home at an age when it could be more difficult for adjustment as she/he is already in her permanent home! You gain a puppy or young adult that is your dog form the day you take it home, just like your family dog you always wanted.

What initial costs am I looking to incur when applying for a Guardian owners Dog?
We do not give our GUARDIAN OWNER program dogs away. The fee is to have the health testing fees as the price for the dog (something most people like to know). Regardless of the colour of the Guardian owners Dog we require GUARDIAN OWNER programs to pay the health testing for eyes and heart once a year as the dog/dog price, so in effect you get a dog for free and just pay for the health testing as part of the agreement. The initial deposit is returned for bitches once the agreement of the first litter is completed. Stud dogs receive an inconvenience fee for each stud of $500.00.

What are the benefits of being a GUARDIAN OWNER program?
You are getting the best that Masterkarn has to offer in the German Pinschers, as long as the dog is continued to be cared for as required. This means that in the litter the dog that possess the best qualities as outlined in our breed standard not only for type, conformation, colour and movement but also for temperament, soundness is selected for this program.

If assessed for addition to our breeding program, you get a health tested dog that will give you peace of mind. You get a top-quality German Pinschers, for less than quarter of the going pet price.
You become part of the Masterkarn GUARDIAN OWNER programs, where the future development of the breed worldwide is ensured for future generations to enjoy. You enjoy being part of the breeding program and seeing your girls and boys puppies go across Australia and around the world.
You may fall in love with the puppies and end up becoming a 2+ dog household!
All our GUARDIAN OWNER programs have the first right to purchase a pet dog, with notice, or have first right, if a the dog is assessed as breeding quality, to taking on that the dog from their girl/male as a second Carer Dog in the program.

Possibly even start showing her/him yourself for fun!

We hope this will give you some realistic and full disclosure information about our GUARDIAN OWNER.
If you would like to talk to us please email or phone for more information
For a sample copy of our Guardian Care Home Agreement please contact us- masterkarn.knls@gmail.com

Gracie (below) was one of our early Guardian care puppies. She is now retired and still with her first family home. Her show babies are champions with pups of their own. She produced three Champions from her first litter and her son went to America to the well-known Daveren kennels. Some of his progeny became Grand Champions.

Generations of German Pinschers and Dobermanns have been produced due to this program.