Hello,
I have three english springer spaniels as show dogs, and I'm looking for a co owner for all three. A contract would be drawn up, and it would include some showing and the dogs living with the co owner for some time. Please let me know if you are interested. Thank you.

Assuming you don't own the stud dog, would he/she be interested?    I think you are looking for a professional handler actually, of which there are very few in the UK.   If you get out and show a couple yourself, you might be able to contact fellow-breeders who might be interested, but I'd be careful who you get involved with.   I co-owned one of mine who I had to rehome after he started challenging his uncle for top dog.   I wasn't able to get them to sort this out (actually it was all the younger dog) so in the end contacted somebody I knew to see if she'd like to have him.   She did, but as I didn't know her that well, I decided to co-own him with her at first.   Once I knew all was well and could trust her, I signed him over to her because to be honest, I don't like these 'deals' and prefer everything to be outright.    If you do go ahead with this, you obviously know you have to set out who is responsible for what, from show entry fees, to any studs (if males?) they might attract if successful in the ring, to vet costs.   Overall you may well be better to sell them and cut any losses you may have!    If they are bitches, you could also stipulate that you'd like a puppy from at least one of them?

Co-ownership can get messy unless you know the people involved, and have done for some considerable time.

Mmmm, the quickest way to lose friends and I would have to think 10 times and then have another think before entering into any deals of any sort, there is so much to go wrong and "contracts" drawn up between people have been proved not to have any legal standing in lots of cases.    I obviously don't know your circumstances but maybe there is some other way to have your dogs shown, maybe paying a professional handler, and perhaps living with a family member if you can't keep the dogs for some periods of time.

> there is so much to go wrong and "contracts" drawn up between people have been proved not to have any legal standing in lots of case

That's the truth for sure.   I sold two puppies to a fellow breeder, with a contract saying part of the sale of the dog was to include one free stud from him on one of my bitches (specificied which one).    As it turns out, by the time the dog was just over a year old, he and his sister were sent abroad to another breeder.   How often have I kicked myself for not endorsing them 'not for export' (which was available then if not now?) but being a fellow breeder, and one I trusted (hah) they went with no endorsements.   And obviously being out of the country any possibility of being able to take the stud I wanted went out the window.   I did have his litter brother, but I didn't think he wasn't as 'right' for my bitch as the one I sold was.

Lesson learnt and part of why I prefer things to be 'outright' rather than getting involved in anything to do with contracts.   And I'd never again sell to a fellow breeder either.   Had that dog gone into a pet home I could have used him - and as for the brother I kept, I'd probably have homed him into a pet home, with access, and kept the sister I sold.  Hindsight.

Just to add that if you know the people involved in this idea, and they have been friends for a long time (but as suggested, friendships can be broken over things like this!) you might be lucky but as it appears you don't have such a person/people, I'd sell these dogs and hope the new owners will show them.   Far cleaner.