I have a male pup here (I bred the litter) that I can't keep due to my home set up so am keeping a female.

Anyway this male I want in a show home whereby the dog lives within the home and isn't passed on because it's not made the grade for the owner. Pet first and foremost whereby owner also shows (like my set up)

I have someone to visit him next week who lives over 300 miles away, it has been mentioned about keeping him in my name, or co-ownership but he lives with her. Obviously we have a lot to talk about if she likes him and he won't be leaving with her next week either.

I know plenty of people say it doesn't work and fewer people saying it does work. Either way if I do anything whereby she doesn't have full control we will draw up a contract and wonder if this should be done via a solicitor? or would it be suitable for us to draw up our own to sign and get a 3rd party to witness this.

Does anyone have any examples that they can send me that they have to read through?
All pups including this male are endorsed.

Above all is it a good idea or to relinquish all control on him and do the normal contract as with the other owners? He's just a very very special young man and its hard for me to admit that I can't keep him here

The biggest cause of ill feeling in the show world and the cause of more friends breakups than anything else in my experience.

In many ways letting him go entirely, enjoying and praising his new owners efforts, will get you closer to the dog in the end.

Just my experience from long observation.

I had intended to only keep a bitch from my litter. In the end we had 4 pups, and the runt was a dog who very early on showed he was going to be a little star. I wanted exactly the same as you, but it never got that far. The prospective co-owner decided she would  prefer to buy him outright, which was never on offer, and a lucky outcome as far as I was concerned...9 months later he is still with me, and although we manage (I have 6 altogether, 4 males, 2 females and show 4 of them) I am conscious that life could be easier.

Meanwhile he has had a good start in the show ring, and he is very much in the mold of his sire, a dog with 30 international titles and the best of temperaments. I know the owner of the stud dog  very much wanted a dog out of this litter, but the time was not right for her. I decided to put him into co-ownership with the as a gift. She has the same attitude to her dogs as I have to mine. I haven't drawn up a contract to cover this, although I do have a detailed sale contract I use; I suppose the reason for not doing is that I would trust the stud dog owner with anything and everything I have. I pay for all of the puppy's needs, show costs, insurance etc. If and when he goes to live with his co-owner in Poland we will have a discussion about what if anything I am expected to contribute, but I am fairly sure that current arrangement will be reciprocated.

So in summary this is a unique situation where co-ownership is appropriate for the people and dog involved, but I would not consider it ordinarily in the future unless I was willing to trust my life to that person.

I have always, personally, preferred to buy/sell outright rather than get into a co-ownership.   I had one breeder, not in the UK, who tried to persuade me to take 2 bitches, co-owning.   I was suspicious because of 'history' with this person, but when it turned out I was going to do all the work, using her stud dogs, and she'd come in and walk off with pick of litters, I told her thanks, but NO THANKS.   It depends on the individual situation and had I needed to get a couple of admittedly well-bred bitches to start my bloodline, I might have been persuaded.   Lots of new people might have been 'flattered' to have been offered them!    Having said that, some years later, I had a male who we'd kept back (from an all -male litter, unfortunately).   By the time he was around 18 months, he started challenging his uncle resulting in some quite nasty fighting.   Try as I did, I couldn't get him to settle down (he'd not been used, his uncle had) so in the end found him a super home.   In his case I did co-own to begin with but once I got to know the new owner better, I signed him over to her totally, with no extra charge because I was happy to have found him a good home and have peace back with our small pack.  In that case, I had a co-ownership contract, setting out exactly who paid for what.

If you do decide to co-own, just make absolutely sure you set everything down in writing - who pays for what, food, vet bills, any stud fees coming in (and I'd want some say in who gets to use him!).  Just be aware, Contracts are often only as good as the paper they are written on (perhaps less!).   Eg. I had a Contract with a fellow-breeder stating that I wanted one stud from the male they took (they had one of each).  Fat lot of good that did as when he was around 2, before I could get to use him on one of my bitches, as planned, she'd sold both of them overseas.   Too bad I hadn't put Not for Export on their registration papers .... at least that might have made the new breeder/owner think twice before taking them even if they still went overseas.   Obviously once gone, I couldn't use him on my bitch.

If you get any hesitation about signing a Contract with this prospective co-owner, don't co-own.  It would be better if you knew your co-owner really although even close-friendships don't always last!  Whether or not you use a Solicitor doesn't really matter and may not be worth spending the money on to be honest.

I have a lot of hesitation in it so something for me to mull over but the idea of full ownership for the other person is more appealing

Sell outright, that way they get all the work, you get all the fun watching them win.
Great deal of kudos to be had from being a breeder who is prepared to share their stock with others.
Simply the best way to stay friends and get access to your breeding.

> In many ways letting him go entirely, enjoying and praising his new owners efforts, will get you closer to the dog in the end.<br />

Just sell him as normal with endorsements and that you'll want him back if they ever need to re-home, just like the rest of the litter.

I have had 3 dogs in Co - ownership/breeding terms all with different people. 2 there has not been written contract, 1 was under a finnish kennel club contract.
All have been nothing but pleasure. These have all been girls tho, I think with a boy you maybe should just sell outright...

I 100% agree with Brainless.