About Golden Acres Dogs

Golden Acres Dogs, on Girts Rd south of Jamestown, is two businesses in one: a breeding program for petite golden retrievers and mini goldendoodles, and a class-based training school open to the public.

The class ladder

Puppy Class takes dogs from nine weeks to ten months and covers socialization, confidence building, basic obedience, loose leash walking, recall, focus around distractions and "preventing jumping and nipping." The Behavior and Relationship Class, for dogs six months and older, moves to real-world skills – passing other dogs calmly, impulse control, polite greetings – and adds "introductory scent work" and "light on-leash agility." The Advanced Behavior Class builds on that with "reliable off-leash skills (where appropriate)," stronger recall around distractions, "progressing scent work" and "more advanced agility and obstacle challenges."

Where classes happen, and what else is available

Group classes are "held in our relaxed horse arena setting," which gives an enclosed working space that is unusual for a rural training operation. For owners who would rather not work in a group, the business offers "one-on-one in-home training sessions where we come directly to you."

Honest about what it does not take

Two notices on the classes page are worth reading before booking. "If your dog has shown signs of aggression toward people or other dogs, please contact us before registering," and for the advanced class, "if your dog is currently struggling with reactivity or aggression, please contact us before registering." In both cases the business suggests one-to-one work first. Those are entry conditions rather than an offer of aggression rehabilitation.

Experience stated

The About page states "I have been breeding for over 10+ years and training dogs now for the last 20+ years," and describes work with owners and rescues.