About Us
ABOUT US!
We are Rachelle and Marissa Terry. We live in Northern California on our 5 acre ranch. We got our first poodle in 2010 and have slowly grown our program since.
Rachelle has worked in the veterinary medicine field for over 20 years, trained horses, is certified in animal nutrition, and bred Alaskan Malamutes for several years prior to our transition to poodles.
Marissa has a history working in the vet field, dog training, dog grooming, and is currently an animal control officer. We have dedicated our lives to the animals we love so much.
Working in an animal shelter and a veterinary hospital we have experienced firsthand many dogs that have been let down by people. Many dogs come to the clinic or shelter that are fearful, aggressive, unsocialized, shut down emotionally, or suffering from a genetic disease that could have been prevented with proper breeding and health testing. While we believe that adoption is wonderful, we also believe that families have a right to choose a dog from a breeder with confidence knowing that their new family member will be healthy and come from parents with good temperaments.
Our goal is to change the negative stigma that breeders have been given. We strive to produce puppies that are well rounded family companions, could excel in the show ring, and have the potential to be an emotional support/service/therapy/or facility dog.
THE NURSERY/PUPPY SCHOOL.
Our puppies are raised inside our home and are exposed to Early Neurological Stimulation (ENS). We strive to give our puppies the best start in life and raise our puppies using a combination of methods from both Puppy Culture and Badass Breeders. These programs help strengthen our puppies fear response, build intelligence, build confidence, increases their stress tolerance, problem solving stills, and gets them used to handling and restraint. Our puppies are exposed to grooming, the daily life of a busy family home, children, other dogs, and our cats. We believe in exposing our puppies to as much as possible in their first eight weeks with us to provide you with the perfect addition to your family!
Our puppies start their training at just a few days old. We handle our puppies each day and make sure they get lots of human interaction. Over the course of eight weeks our puppies are challenged with obstacles, various loud noises, different smells, fear response, enrichment toys, multiple car rides, meeting new adults and children, bathing, professional pressure dryer, nail trims, and clippers. All of our puppies experience their first vet visit at eight weeks as well.
Not only do all our puppies make the honor role, but they also come from parents that are health tested (genetic testing and OFA). We run genetic health testing for each individual puppy as well, so that you know you are getting a healthy puppy when joining the Sapphire Ridge family!
A Furever Friend
It brings us happiness knowing that we are producing puppies that will be a treasured member of your family. We stand by our puppies and offer a lifetime of breeder support and knowledge.