Country Acres Farm
ABOUT US
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Welcome to Country Acres Farm!! We are the Rutherford family and we live in Northern Alabama with our two beautiful children. We are currently small hobby breeders, and raise Akc Golden Retrievers and miniature Goldendoodles. Here at Country Acres, our dogs are our passion! We hope to take that passion and turn it into an avenue to bless others with a best friend that will love them unconditionally for years to come. Scroll down to see more about our program, or click on the menu tabs above to see available puppies!
Puppies Raised the Right Way
Here at Country Acres Farm, our main priority is ensuring the health and well-being of our animals. All of
our studs and dams have been genetically tested for over 250 genetic diseases to ensure the health and
quality of their pups.
We take great pride in raising our pups in a safe and loving environment. We and our children are very hands
on with them from the beginning to help them become well socialized and acclimated to both adults as well
as children. Our puppies are raised using curriculum that encourages certain training exercises designed to
help strengthen the pup's growth and development.
The first exercise that we do with the puppies is called ENS, or early neurological stimulation. This was
developed by Dr. Carmen Battalia and involves creating very mild stressors to the puppy starting at around
3 days old. ENS was proven to help stimulate the neurological system and has been shown to improve the
development of the pup's immune system, cardiovascular system, and stress tolerance! It can also help fight
disease later in life.
Another training method that we use is ESI, or early scent introduction. This is a training exercise designed
to to enhance the pup's nose awareness and ability to identify and react to certain scents. Each day we
introduce a different scent to the puppy.
The next method we use is handling exercises. Around three days old we start doing puppy massages. We
start with a soft touch and progress slightly firmer as the puppy ages. We focus on rubbing along the back,
paws, tail, gums, in the mouth, the belly, and the collar area. By starting these handling exercises at an early
age, we can help familiarize the puppies with handling that is necessary for providing care for them in the
future. This is also a great way to desensitize the puppies to heavy touching if they will be going home to a
family with a special needs child or small children who can sometimes be a little more heavy handed.
The last technique that we use is exposure activities. Dogs who haven't been socialized with others or
exposed to many things are often fearful of new situations and circumstances-like meeting new people or
going new places. Starting at 3 weeks old, we slowly begin introducing new sights and sounds in a safe and
fun way. This helps the puppies to build confidence, specifically so they can be confident in new situations.
All of these training exercises and daily exposures help the puppies to become highly intelligent,
well-rounded pups suitable for everything from family pets to potentially even future service dogs.
