Hello

?#2

I have a very unfortunate thing going on in my home right now.....I have a 10 month old Show/Working GSD that we have to put down because he developed a tumor in his mouth that can not be removed.

With that being said.....The breeder we got him from is willing to work with us because we are out working their dogs in shutzhund even though it is not a genetic problem. They are offering a 8 month Show/Working line bitch that they are willing to co/own with us. We would title her and then breed her, I could split the litter and or keep a male to replace our male we have to put down...Is this something that happens often and does it often work out?

A lot of people co own. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it's all bad.

Really depends on the two people involved. I have seen long term friendships destroyed when one parties goals changed.

I would pass. I would only co - own with someone I trusted completely, respected my decisions, or had the the gorey details written out into all of their glory so no one changes their mind or reinterprets the conversation.

Such as what if this bitch doesn't live up to breeding potential in your eyes but in the co owners eyes it's a great dog even though her elbows, knees, heart or eyes didn't check out or she proves to be mental. What if they don't agree with you on which male to use? As co owners they would need to agree with you on the choice.

There are alot of GSDs in this world. I personally would mourn the dog I had and seek my new pup elsewhere if this is the only deal they are willing to work with you on.

I have co-owned two female dobermanns. The first turned out to be a disaster- the dog was never in shape (so I walked and ran her 3 HOURS a day- this was a 4-6 month old pup), the food I fed her was garbage (I changed that to a brand she was ok with), she didn´t know enough commands (even though she said that knowing commands in irrelevant for a small pup- building the drive is what matters and I did that with success) and when I got pregnant, even though my mother, boyfriend, grandmother and mother-in-law promised to help with the baby and, if needed, with the training of the dog. But that was not good enough and when the dog was 6 months old she was taken away from me, because the breeder was afraid that the pick of the litter will not get enough showing and training. This dog has never been seen again even though was sold to neighbouring country.

The second co-owned dog is my Veeda. The breeder wanted to get her a good home but at this time I had no money to pay for her so she offered co-owning. The breeder is constantly interested what we do and she gave us goals we had to achieve (filling of the breeding requirements) and we did more so she is more than pleased. I searched males, she searched males and we agreed on one we both liked. I don´t ever feel that Veeda is anything but mine, the breeder gets two pups of her choise from the first litter and then Veeda will be mine on paper as well. I´d say this was a great deal.

I think co-owning is always about human relationships. And a clearly written detailed contract helps I whould prefer a deal that ends at some point. This way if the other person turnes out to have very different views and goals you don´t have to put up with this until the end of the dogs life- I could live with one breeding with dog(s) that I whouldn´t breed instead of having to put up with one litter after another until my dog is exausted and old.

Robert,
as stated above, co-ownerships can work out or not. i have had one that was perfect. but we knew eachother very well PRIOR and we knew we were on the same page as far as criteria for breeding, temperment evals, conf, cerfs--all that. but i have heard nightmare stories about more than not.
if you dont know this person very well, i recommend not to do it. it can sort of be like having a child with somebody, in that you are tied to them for the life of the child (in this case dog) and all decisions have to be discussed and agreed. be careful. as stated above, there are so many other choices. IMO the puppy should be replaced w/another of equal quality for half the price you paid for yours. or even free replacement with NO strings attached in either case.
if its too much about-the-money----beware. even if this is not a genetic issue, it should boil down to fairness and ethics not just getting out the checkbook again or trying to get you to raise, train and whelp a litter to get your replacement. that is a LOT of wk.... just thoughts.

jen

Thanks for the info....


Bob