Foster Home Program:

HOW THE PROGRAM WORKS:

We place our breeding females in selected foster homes. These females are either bitches that have been purchased or they are pick of the litter female puppies that we select to keep back to see if they are good enough to enter our breeding program.

The foster family pays nothing for the puppy. They do agree that the dog will live as a housedog.

We are very selective in who we choose to become a foster family. The foster parents go through a detailed selection process. The ideal person is one who has just had a 10 or 11-year-old dog that has died of old age. This is a person who knows how to take care of a dog. We do not give dogs to people that want farm dogs, nor do we give people dogs that are going to keep them in an outside dog kennel. We also do not give dogs to people who have just had a dog that was accidentally killed (if it happened once it can happen again).

We try to make sure none of the dogs are placed in homes further than 50 miles away; however, exceptions are made.

You do not see the dog enough and it is always a major concern to have the dog brought back for breeding and whelping.

We sign the AKC ownership of the dogs over to the foster parents at the same time we sign a breeding contract with them. We have full breeding rights. We can breed when we want. The foster parents sign a breeding lease agreement so are registered as Jeremy Gerdes being the breeder.

Should the people spay the dog or refuse to allow us to breed the dog they agree to pay for two litters of 6 pups at $1000.00 each puppy. If you do the math you see that there is a considerable penalty if they choose to disregard our agreement.

When we no longer wish to breed the dog the foster parents are required to spay the dog and provide a letter from their Vet confirming the spay was complete.

In addition if the foster parents do not tell us when a bitch comes in season (even if we do not plan on breeding it) they are liable for the price of a litter.

We have a computer program to track the female's heat cycles. By inputting every heat cycle we can anticipate which bitches are going to come in season in which month. This allows us to plan a breeding season around a computer print out. That is the reason we threaten to take a bitch away if the foster parent does not tell me about a heat cycle. We also feel that this rule forces people to be more aware of what is going on with their dogs. They end up noticing other problems that come up besides heat cycles.

As a puppy grows up we monitor their temperament. We either go to the foster home or ask that the pups be brought to the kennel occasionally. We will give free yearly booster shots to the foster dogs if they are brought back out to our kennel. There is no charge for this. This is incentive for the foster parents to stop by every now and then.

If it is determined that a bitch is suitable for breeding, it will get bred here at the kennel. She will come here, get breed and then go home again. She then comes back to the kennel (5 days before whelping) to have the puppies. When it weans the pups (usually at 6 weeks) it goes back to the foster home. It is important to make sure the female stays at the kennel for 4 or 5 days after it is taken off the litter. Some bitches go through extreme separation problems and would run away from the foster home if they were allowed to go home right after they come off of the littler.

The most we breed a female is one time each year. In many cases we do not even breed them that much.

When we reach a point where the quality of puppies from a particular foster dog is not as good as the majority of the breeding stock we will drop the female from the breed list and ask the foster parents to get the dog spade and it then becomes there dog.

By constantly adding and subtracting dogs from the breed list we are continually able to improve the bloodline. Usually we will breed a bitch 2 times to 2 different stud dogs before we would drop it off the list. The decision to drop a bitch would be made on the quality of the puppies she produced. The problem is you need to wait awhile to monitor the development of a litter before deciding if the litter is "Very Good" - "Good" or "Could be Better."

RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE FOSTER HOME:
• Own their own home or rent a home with landlord's written permission that it is okay to keep a dog
• Have their own car that is large enough to take a German Shepherd Dog
• Prior experience with German Shepherds is a plus but not necessarily required - but prior dog ownership is a must.
• Be prepared to have their own vet listed as a reference
• Fenced backyard - or large enough property
• Be available to drive dog to and from our home come time for whelping and/or breeding.
• Capable of moderate exercise
• Keep us updated on the puppy at least once a month, and when in heat, we must be notified so that we may keep track of the dog's cycles, with pictures every 1-2 months for us to follow the puppy's progress.
• Be willing to socialize the puppy by taking it everywhere possible and showing her life in general • Be willing to at the minimum take the puppy for obedience training

The foster parents are required to feed a good quality food. We ask that it either be Nutro, or something on that order. We do not want grocery store food used.

The foster parents are required to keep the dogs current on rabies, heartworm. The reason for this is that the state of Texas does not allow us to give Rabies shots or administer heartworm medication. We ask that the dogs be put on once a month heartworm pills during the mosquito season.

Foster Parents will be expected to have a dog crate of some kind in their home. Dog crates are used to housebreak dogs. We do not place dogs in homes where the dogs are allowed to run loose. That is just asking to have accidents and valuable articles chewed up.

If at any time something changes in a foster home and they are no longer able to keep a foster dog there is no problem with them returning the dog back to the kennel. When this happens we will either place the dog in a new foster home or we will sell the dog, depending on the quality of her and her pups.

When people ask if we split the litters with foster parents, the answer is usually "no." The only way we would ever consider splitting a litter with a foster parent is if the person puts a title on the dog. That is a rule that is cast in stone. Most foster parents find the pups cute, but they don't want more dogs. The kinds of people that take these dogs are not interested in breeding. If they are good foster parents and want another dog, we will give them a second one.

Any negative comments we have ever heard about not splitting litters have come from people that are not in the program. These people think it is not fair to let another person raise a dog and then we take all the pups from "the dog". Our position is that there are a lot of people in the world that have no interest in breeding, that make absolutely great pet owners (foster parents), that would never in their life consider paying $1,000.00 for a puppy. For many they cannot afford it, for the rest, a $1,000.00 pet is not a priority for them. These people appreciate having a quality pet live in their home and the fact that we occasionally take a litter is of no concern to them, especially when they see the quality of my kennel facility. They know the dog is well taken care of when it comes here.

If a person is interested in breeding then this is not a program for them. They should purchase a dog and get into the business.

We also get asked by an occasional foster parent if they can whelp a litter at their home. The answer is "NO". There is too much that can go wrong during a delivery.

From a breeder's standpoint, the only negative aspect of this program is the fact that you give up the sale of a puppy at the time that you place it in a home. You also do not have the option to sell the foster dogs if and when people call and want to buy older females.

It is our opinion that more people in this country should start programs like this. If we are to improve the breed of dogs (and it does not matter what breed we are talking about) we need to improve the way we breed. This program works.

Email us for more information or if you are interested.  info@gerdeshaus.com