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Sunset Hills Family Care Home Program

At Sunset Hills we feel that to succeed as excellent breeders and to properly develop the Australian Labradoodle breed, it requires us to have a number of dogs in our breeding program to successfully further and develop the lines.

We have found that the Family Care Program also known as “Carer Homes” is the best way to accomplish this.   This is a very unique program that allows our breeding dogs to live their lives out as much loved family pets with our locally selected families while participating in our breeding program. 

In short, rather than paying full price for a pet puppy you will receive a “pick of litter puppy” for a 50% security deposit of the normal pet price.  We assess puppies around 12 months of age for quality based on our high breeding standards and then we will pay to completely health test your puppy for things like Hips, Elbows, prcdPRA, vWD, eyes, Thyroid, Cardio, Patella and DNA profiling.  Based on those results we then decide if we will breed puppy or pay to desex them for you.  If we breed them, they will continue to live with you are your beloved pet while not here having/making babies.  If we desex them then they will continue to live with you with no requirements for them to come back for short stays as needed if breeding them and you have a beautiful puppy for ½ of what you would normally pay.  

If we breed puppy we then will give you 50% of your security deposit back as a thank you for participating in the program.  And you will continue on with your Puppy as your beloved pet.

 This is our way of ensuring that our breeding dogs live with their families in forever homes and still participate in the future development of the breed under our watchful eye. We can't thank our families who share our Family Care Home dogs with us enough for the important role they play in the future of the breed.

Following you will find several of the common questions answered about our Carer Program but please feel free to contact us if you have any further questions, or if you would like to express interest in joining our Carer Program. melinda@sunsethills.biz

For a sample copy of our Family Care Home Agreement and Contracts please follow the below links to our .pdf files. 

For Female Family Care Dogs

For Male Family Care Dogs

What are the benefits of being a Carer Home?  You are getting the best that Sunset Hills has to offer in the Australian Labradoodle.   This means that in the litter the carer puppy possess the best qualities as outlined in our breed standard not only for type, conformation, colour and movement but also for temperament, soundness and coat quality. 

All our Carer Homes while in the program are offered free basic grooming, with sufficient booking, for our Carer Home dogs. 

If assessed for addition to our breeding program, you get a completely health tested dog without having to pay for any of the testing yourself.

You can potentially get a top quality Australian Labradoodle for a quarter of the going pet price or even at 100% refund of your Carer Home deposit by gaining an Obedience/Agility title or Therapy/Service Dog Certification.

You become part of the Sunset Hills Carer Homes, where the future development of the breed worldwide is ensured for future generations to enjoy. You get to enjoy being part of the breeding program and seeing your girl’s puppies go across Australian and around the world.  And each year Sunset Hills sponsors a Family Care Home Appreciation day to all our Carer Homes, with lots of fun for all ages and the four legged members!

All our Carer Homes have the first right to purchase a desexed pet puppy, with notice, or have first right, if a puppy is assessed as breeding quality, to taking on that puppy from their girl as a second Carer Dog in the program. 

What exactly is the Sunset Hills Carer Program? Sunset Hills selects and places our "pick of the litter" puppies in our Carer Home Program. Once a puppy or dog is placed in a Carer Home they stay with that Carer for their entire life provided the Carer Home follow our requirements, which are very reasonable. Our Carer Program allows our families an opportunity to have some of the best Australian Labradoodles in the world as their family pet!

Do I have to give my Carer Home dog back? As a carer of a Sunset Hills family care home dog we want to assure our families that their dogs are theirs to keep forever (as long as Carer adheres to the requirements of the program).  We do require the dogs to come back to us for short visits so that they can participate in the breeding program but always the family care home dogs return back to their Carer after these short breaks.  After you dog has fulfilled the requirements under the family care home program we then pay to desex them for you and they continue living with you as their forever home.

What is available under the Carer Program?  Sunset Hills places both female and male puppies and dogs in the Carer Program.  Occasionally we have mature adult females and males but more often they are 8+wks to adolescent aged puppies that are available for the Carer Program. We have all three sizes, Miniature, Medium and Standard that are placed in our Carer Program.   You will find that we have a rainbow of colours in our Family Care dogs.  Obviously for us, colour is of less importance than the temperament, type, health and coat of our breeding dogs, so for this reason Sunset Hills has a policy of listing what puppies/dogs we have selected for our Carer Program and then match our families with the selected dog/puppy that fits them.

What happens in the first 12 months of the Carer Program? If you take a puppy or young adolescent in for the Carer Program the first 12 months are fairly basic.  You will pick puppy up from us and puppy will live with you.  If they are a girl it is until their first season (heat cycle).  In the Australian Labradoodle we expect the first season to arrive between 9-12 months of age, on some rare occasions we will have one that starts between 6-9 months of age 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 puppy to Sunset Hills 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 puppy.    We do not breed any girls less than 1 year of age so once their season is done we then contact you to collect your puppy. You can then expect that your puppy will come into season about 6 months from the start of their last season.  Seasons in the Australian Labradoodle are traditionally every 6 months but can range between 5-9 months between cycles.

During their first year sometime between 10-12 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 or a grooming you have booked with us.

By 12 months of age we require you to bring your puppy to Sunset Hills for assessment for the breeding program.  If we decide not to breed with them we will then desex them at our expense for you.

If we do assess them and wish to proceed, we will then pay for a full range of health testing to be done.  The type of testing we do and have access to here at Sunset Hills is as follows; AVA Hips, AVA Elbows, HEDS Eyes, Thyroid, prcdPRA, vWD, DNA profile and PennHip.  Once we receive 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 desex them at our expense for you. This is our way of being able to keep the best females and or males 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. Or in the case of boys, we will contact you prior to needing them brought back for mating (usually about 1-2 weeks is needed for this).  We’ve found that our boys get more use in the first year of the breeding program and substantially less after that. Concerning our girls, during the off seasons (if we decide not to breed during a season/heat cycle) you may keep and house her with you if you have a suitably safe location for her to ensure protection against unwanted matings, if it is deemed that the location is not secure then she will need to come back to Sunset Hills where we can protect her from unwanted attention.  Please note we do not necessarily mate our Carer Home dogs on every 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 Carer Home Dogs return to us one week 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 Carer Home is welcome to come and visit her and the new babies as often as they wish while she is with us.  Once the puppies are weaned sometime between 5-6 weeks of age the Carer Home 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 6 weeks of age!

How Many litters will my Carer Home dog be required to produce? We require between 2-4 litters from our Carer Home dogs once they are in the Carer Program. Each dog is individually assessed prior to entering the Carer Home to determine the required litters.  Sunset Hills takes the health and wellbeing of all our breeding dogs as a priority, and based on our and our vets assessments we will only breed our Carer dogs if they are in optimum condition for each litter. If we have accomplished our goals in development from one of our Carer Home dogs we may select to early retire them.  We have on a number of occasions early retired our Carer girls prior to completing the required litter numbers.  BUT it is only Sunset Hills right to make that decision and desex and early retire the Carer Home dog.  Once your Carer Home dog is retired from the Breeding Program and desexed, ownership is transferred to you and they remain your family pet.  Australian Labradoodles have a life expectancy of about 15 years.

Who covers the cost of breeding and any medical costs related to breeding? Any medical costs resulting in or related to breeding and any stud fee costs required to produce the litter are Sunset Hills sole responsibility.  Our Carer Homes are only responsibly for routine maintenance and medical care, such as, but not limited to, feeding, annual vaccinations and Revolution treatments just as they would if they had a desexed pet.

What are the advantages to the dog in the Carer Home Program?  Our Carer Home girls are able to live in a family pet home environment rather than a kennel situation.  Once they are retired from breeding and desexed they don’t need to be placed in a new home at an age when it could be more difficult for adjustment as she is already in her permanent home!

What are the requirements of becoming a Family Carer? The program is only available to families and individuals who live within a 2.5 hour drive of Sunset Hills (Lewiston, SA).  You must have a safe and secure environment for a Carer Home 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 Carer Home agreement.

While we prefer families with previous dog ownership experience, we are happy to work closely with families and individuals who are new to dog ownership.  Our Carer Home dogs are to be kept as House pets, outside time while Carer is at work etc… is acceptable but when Carer is home the dog needs to be with Carer as they have been bred for human companionship.

If you have another dog, provided it is NOT entire, it is still an option to be a Sunset Hills Carer Home.

What initial costs am I looking to incur when applying for a Carer Dog?  We do not give our Carer Home dogs away.  We have found that a 50% pet price deposit has worked very well.  Regardless of the colour or size of the Carer Dog we require Carer Homes to pay a 50% pet price deposit for their puppy/dog.  At the end of the Care Program we then return 50% of the deposit back to the Carer as a thank you for participating.  The other 50% is set aside for any Carer who, while the dog is in the breeding program, obtains an Obedience or Agility Competition Title or completes and gains a Therapy or Service Dog Certification. We recognize the time and work our Carers invest to gain any of these and therefore we like to recognize their accomplishment with the return of the other 50% of their Carer deposit.

What is the Carer Home responsibilities? Even though you are only paying a 50% deposit on your Carer 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, puppy 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.