Co-Ownership Contracts

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Co-Owning Your Puppy With His Breeder

by Terry Thistlethwaite

When people hear the term "co-own", their first response

is sometimes "I don't want to co-own a dog, I want to own my

dog outright."   The idea of a breeder maintaining "partial

ownership" of a puppy they are placing may be confusing

and even distasteful to some at first glance.  More and more

reputable breeders, however, are requiring co-ownership

in their puppy contracts.  With rare exceptions, Chekia

puppies are now placed exclusively on co-ownerships, and

the benefits are to the puppy, to the breeder, and to the new

owner as well.

Basically, co-ownership comes down to this:  The new owner

gets the dog, and the breeder makes the rules.  Many people

mistakenly believe that all contracts between breeders and

new owners come down to this, but legally speaking, this is

not true.  When a breeder writes a contract giving full

ownership to someone else and accepts a monetary amount

in return, this is a sales contract.  A sales contract binds the

seller (breeder) to absolutely everything he or she promises

within the agreement.  It does not, however, bind the buyer

(new owner) to anything beyond payment.  This is because

a seller simply cannot stipulate to a buyer how the buyer will maintain the "product" once it is under the new ownership. 

For example, you can sell a lawnmower for a hundred dollars

and guarantee that it will run without problems for six months.

You can also stipulate that the new owner keep it in his living

room and paint it green every Thursday.  If the lawnmower

fails to run after three months time, and you refuse to return

the hundred dollars on the basis of the fact that the new owner kept it in his garage and painted it only once -- on a Saturday

-- and painted it red at that -- you will not win your case in

court.  The buyer owns the lawnmower and is not obligated to

your stipulations, but you, as the seller, are obligated to your stipulations and must return the hundred dollars.

To the legal system, a puppy is not much different than a lawnmower.  I can place a puppy with you and have you

promise and sign that you will raise the dog in your home as

a family member, keep him on the best fresh food diet, not

shoot him up with every vaccine under the sun, and return him to me if you ever decide you don't want him any more, and believe that I have protected my puppy with your promise

and signature.  I can also promise to pay you money should

you decide to return the puppy.  Say we both sign the

contract, and you go off and decide to put the puppy on a

diet of grocery store kibble  and have your vet shoot him up with eight way vaccines every six months.  Two years down the road, the puppy is so unhealthy that you decide you don't

want him any more and you give him to your cousin Fred. 

I meet Fred in the grocery store and he tells me he has the

dog, and the dog is living in his garage.   Legally, I have no recourse to get my poor sick puppy back or save him from life

in Fred's garage (even tho Fred is not a person I would have

ever placed a puppy with in the first place!)  Should you

decide to take the puppy back from Fred and return him

to me, however, you have a legal right to demand the money

I agreed to pay you upon his return.  This is because, as a

"buyer", you have every right to do as you please with the

"item" you purchased, and as a "seller", I am obligated to the promises I made in selling the "item" to you.  As much as you surely realize this is unbalanced, and fully unfair to the

puppy, it is nonetheless the way legal cases involving "sales contracts" regarding dogs are typically decided .

Legal definitions aside, however, a puppy, as we both know,

is not a lawnmower.  In order to insure the sincerity of the new owner, the only recourse a caring breeder has in protecting the long term interests of their puppy is a legal co-ownership. 

Again, the co-ownership is simply a LEGAL way of following through on all of the agreements made between the breeder

and the new owner so that BOTH parties are obligated to their

promises.

A co-ownership takes no right of "possession" or ownership

away from the new owner, and it is typically stipulated within

such a contract that this person is to keep the dog as part of

their family for life once both parties are satisfied with

the placement (which typically takes a few weeks, or longer

in the case of an older pup) -- or until such circumstance occurs that they deem it reasonable to return the dog to the breeder.  In some cases, a co-owned dog will be a top

notch representative of the breed and important to the

breeding program, and then the details related to breeding

will be included in the contract.

The new owner benefits in co-ownership by being assurred

of a lifelong interest in the dog on the part of the breeder

who stands behind that dog one hundred percent.  The breeder benefits in knowing that the new owner is honest

and sincere in the promises they are making regarding the level of care and commitment they are assuring they will

make to their new puppy.  The puppy benefits in having a wonderful home and a genuine "safety net" should that wonderful home ever disintegrate through circumstances

that are unforseen at the outset.

Co-ownership contracts are the best way that we have of

insuring that both the breeder and the new owner are sincere

in the promises that they make regarding a puppy.  The time

that a puppy is placed in a new home is a very emotional time

for all three parties: difficult for the breeder who loves their

puppies dearly and wants to do everything possible to insure

their ultimate lifelong care, health, and happiness;  scary for

the puppy who is leaving the only home he's ever known and

being placed in the hands of a stranger; and elating for

the new owner who has likely been waiting a long time for this precious new family member.  Most likely it is only individuals

who are sincere in all of their promises and agreements who

are going to write or sign a legally binding co-ownership

contract, and that bodes only the best possible outcome for

the puppy, and his health and happines for many years to

come.

You're listening to:

"Someone To Watch

Over Me"

written by George Gershwin