Step 05
Being Matched
When your name gets closer to the top of the Waiting List, you and several other families who placed their deposit around the same time as you did will receive a Puppy Announcement from us via email. These are special announcements available only to families at the top of our Waiting List. A Puppy Announcement includes information about a litter that is available for adoption, pictures and information about the parent dogs of the litter, and precious pictures of our puppies from that litter at about 5-6 weeks old.
We ask families that receive this special Puppy Announcement to view the pictures and descriptions and reply to us with their choices of puppies in that litter in order of preference within 24 hours. Within 1-2 days of a Puppy Announcement, we will match the puppies to families based on your preferences and the order in which the deposits were placed. If you are matched to a puppy in this litter, you will be notified by email within 1-2 days after submitting your preferences from that litter to us.
We send Puppy Announcements to more families than the number of puppies available in that litter, knowing that even though a family may be at the top of the Waiting List, it might not be an ideal time for them to adopt a puppy. You are always welcome to pass on a litter announcement if the timing isn’t best for you or if you want to wait for something different. Unlike almost all other breeders, we don’t “lock” you into a particular litter. If you find that you need to pass on a litter for any reason, you will retain your place at the top of the Waiting List, and we will notify you when more puppies fitting your preferences become available.
You may be asking, “Does this mean I won’t be coming to see a litter and picking out my own puppy?” That’s correct. Breeders handle this step in many ways, and we have found our process really does lead to happy puppies with happy families. It’s also one of the reasons we have such a detailed application process. You’ve given us very specific information about what you are looking for and while you’re waiting, our Team has been answering your breed questions and helping you narrow down the best fit for you. We do give you the opportunity to make sure you are happy with the personality and appearance of your puppy on Adoption Day. We want to be fair and provide each family an equal opportunity of choosing a puppy from a litter whether the family lives in the same town as the Guardian Home, or across the country. It may help to know that we very rarely have had a family arrive to adopt their matched puppy, and leave without that puppy in their arms, satisfied with the choice we’ve made together. If you don’t feel comfortable with our involvement in matching you to your puppy, we may not be the right breeder for you. We just want you to be aware of our tried-and-true process from the beginning.
We also want you to know that from the time a Puppy Announcement is received (and if you are matched to a puppy), you will have 1-2 weeks before your puppy is ready for adoption. We wait this long to send Puppy Announcements (when our puppies are between 6-7 weeks old) because we want to make sure our puppies are healthy and ready for adoption. We know this short time frame can present challenges for those of you who must make travel arrangements, but we are committed to this time frame for the sake of our puppies.
Back-out Fee
Our desire is for you to truly be committed as the Forever Home for the puppy you have chosen to adopt. Because of the amount of time our Team invests in matching you with your puppy and then scheduling your Adoption Day experience and/or delivery, there is a Back-out Fee if you are matched to your puppy, but circumstances prevent you from following through with your adoption.
$100 – Before 72 hours before Adoption Day
$200 – Within 72-24 hours before Adoption Day
$300 – Anytime during the 24 hours before Adoption Day
**We will use the date/time of your email notification of your decision to back out to determine the amount of the Back-out Fee. If you back out, you may of course stay on our wait list and wait for another available puppy but will now have an adjusted deposit on record towards your puppy.
