# Co-Owning A Dog?



## GSDTrain (Apr 21, 2008)

I have noticed lately that a lot of people including people on the board are now co-owning dogs. I know nothing about co-owning, so I have a few questions.

What is the main purpose of co-owning a dog with the breeder?

When "purchasing" the dog from the breeder you are co-owning with, is there a fee like there would be if you were just buying the puppy for yourself, not to co-own?

What are the advantages/dis-advantages of co-owning a dog?

These questions are all out of curiousity.

Thank You


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## Amaruq (Aug 29, 2001)

> Originally Posted By: GSDTrainI have noticed lately that a lot of people including people on the board are now co-owning dogs. I know nothing about co-owning, so I have a few questions.


The answer to all of your questions is "it depends on the individual situation". Pretty simple sounding answer to a complex question.











> Quote:
> What is the main purpose of co-owning a dog with the breeder?


Actually any co-ownership is very individualized and will usually depend on the two people sharing ownership. Generally it is done between a breeder who wants to keep a dog in their breeding program but may be limited with the number of dogs that they can own either by local laws or just having the time to properly work, train, title/show the young pup/dog with other obligations to other dogs that they already own. It could also be a situation where the breeder wants to see how a particular breeding resulted and wants to keep 2 or more pups back to "raise out".



> Quote:When "purchasing" the dog from the breeder you are co-owning with, is there a fee like there would be if you were just buying the puppy for yourself, not to co-own?


Again sometimes money will exchange hands sometimes "other" arrangements are made such as person x pays for vet person y pays for food and maybe both split training/trial fees. Or any mix and match version similar in nature. One of those things that would be spelled out specifically in a co-own contract.



> Quote:What are the advantages/dis-advantages of co-owning a dog?
> 
> These questions are all out of curiousity.
> 
> Thank You


Any co-ownership is only going to be as good as the people involved in it. Trust and communication are VITAL parts of any co-ownership. Trust by BOTH parties to stick to the contract and do the right thing is VERY important. If there is an issue communication needs to be clear and swift. There will more than likely be SOMETHING that will come up and not be covered in a co-ownership but if you have trust and communication between breeder and "owner" it will usually work out.


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## GSDTrain (Apr 21, 2008)

Thank You for answering my questions. I really appreciate it. Co-Owning makes more sense now that my questions have been answered!


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