# For a Program Dog, Read Your Contract Carefully



## ILGHAUS (Nov 25, 2002)

Always read your contract very carefully. It is always recommended to have your own lawyer read and advise you on the contract -- *Before Signing.
*

Verbal reassurances will not hold up in a dispute. If it isn't on the contract then it is not enforceable by law. Have everything included in the contract.

If you are dealing with a non-profit organization always verify that they are in good standing in the state that they are incorporated. 

Who pays for the dog while it is in training? At what point does ownership transfer to you?

Will the organization take the dog back if after delivery the dog is found to be unsound? 

If you fundraise for your dog, what happens to the money turned over to the organization if you decide to go elsewhere, after a reasonable time there is still not a suitable dog for you, or later the dog is found to have been unsound mentally or physically at the time it was turned over to you?

For how long and what type of follow-up care and help does the organization offer? 
Email and phone calls?
Do they send a trainer to you? Who then pays for transportation, meals & board and time spent training?
Do you and the dog return to the organization for additional training? Who pays the costs?

Who has ownership of the dog if it is no longer able to work for you? Does the dog go back to the organization? 

Do you get to choose what the dog is fed? 

Are you able to have other pets in the home?


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