how did you get introduced to the Ridgeback breed?

[lotsofjoy]

I don't own one yet.

One of my husband's high school buddies who we still keep in contact with got one 14 years ago. We fell in love with his looks and then fell in love with his personality. Ever since I've followed the breed with hopes of someday having one of my own.

So how did ou find out about ridgebacks? What attracted you enough to consider getting one?

Thanks!

-Renee

[Karen]

  Great question,  Myself it was over twenty years ago and my neighbor which we would spend every summer water skiing with, (yes we took entire summers off to ski during the days and sail at night) back to RR's -- they had an 8 month old male given to them, I fell instantly in love. So about a year later we took in our first rescue bitch, fully intact, spayed her and loved her till she passed 7 years later.  In that time period my husband and I had to have a second a buddy for her, and bought our first RR pup almost two years after taking in our rescue girl . He too was our baby and companion. It was sixteen years ago that we took in the third and have had them ever since.  I showed horses as well, so getting into showing the dogs was second nature. We love this breed and respect their intelligent loving nature.

Cannot wait to hear more tales of RR Addictions.

[ridgebackpack]

Growing up I lived way out in the Country. My best friend lived on about 8000 acres. Her father a real oldtime Cowboy was big into Hog hunting. He bought what he said was a RR cross with Pitt Bull. At 6 months old he gave me the dog, because he said it would not bark on the trail.

We called him Buc and he lived to be about 12. He was a beautiful dog, with a perfect ridge, and if he had Pitt in him, he took after the RR side completely.

He was a great dog!

[Rosebud]

Well I guess you can say they were forced on me.

My best friend (at that time) had grown up with rr's. When her boys got old enough she got one for herself and decided to breed her. She was adamant that I was going to get a puppy, I was adamant that I was not.

3 months later the day they were being born tragedy struck and mom had am emergency c-section half-way through whelp and had to go on IV and the pups had to be separated from her and bottle raised. I was a relief feeder and poop cleaner for 4 weeks before I started giving in.

The first give-in was Rocket, he was the runt, the only one to survive the c-section and the only one with a white paw-paw. Making sure that baby made it was enough to make any one give in. There was no way he was going anywhere but home with me. There was no way I was going to trust anyone to take good care of him but me.

The second give-in was Sally, and this is the look that did it. My heart melted, that pup wanted ME and nobody else but me, and she made it very clear to everyone that I was her momma and she had to come as well.



So Miss, no way in the world am I gonna get a dog, ended up with two and I wouldn't trade it for anything in this world. It was honestly the best decision I have ever made in my life.



Michelle

[petersen]

I met my husband at FSU and he had a RR mix named Tommy.  Tommy was only 40 pounds, ridgeless, but had every trait a ridgeback is known for.  Fastforward to 3 years ago, the lake we live on used to be pristine until a developer decided to dredge about 11 acres and caused a major blue-green algae bloom.  My dog, Jude, who we adopted only two years earlier, drank from the lake and immediately became infected with what we found out after a necropsy was a neuro toxin from the algae bloom.  Very rare, you may remember the teenager who died after swimming in a pond on a golf course, same symptoms, same type of neuro toxin.  Horrible death. 

The day I went to pick up Jude's ashes was one of the worst our family ever went through.  We were devasted.  My daughter, in her infinite wisdom, announced later that night, that the only way we would ever be happy again was if we got a puppy.  I immediately told her no, I don't do puppies (all our dogs up until then had been adopted/rescue).  Persistant as ever, she proceeded to search the internet for puppies.  I was melting, but still did not want a puppy, nothing could ever take Jude's place, when all of a sudden out of my mouth came "the only puppy I would ever get would be a rhodesian ridgeback!"  She had never heard of a ridgeback, so together we went on an internet search.  We stumbled upon Jeannie's website and saw that she had ONE puppy left.  (This was also the only ridgeback puppy in the state of Florida at that time).  I called Jeannie, poured my heart out to her (she probably thought I was nuts, but was too nice to say so).  The rest is history, we drove to Tampa the next morning and picked up Max.

Max has truly healed the hole left after the horrible death of Jude.  Every day we thank God for him and for Jeannie!  He is an amazing dog, and has so many traits that Jude had.  God truly works in mysterious ways.

[Estelita]

We knew of Ridgebacks, thought they were "cool" but didn't think about getting a purebred dog initially.  I grew up with German Shepherds who had major health issues, so I was against a purebred.  I wanted a GSD mix.  We ended up adopting Stella from a shelter the day she was set to be euthanized.  We knew she was a GSD mix but had no clue what the other part was.... we were told a number of times by people seeing her with us that she was an RR mix, but we didn't really buy it until we ran into a dog looking identical to her, adopted from the same shelter about the same time, the same age, and with a ridge.  We were able to piece more together.  A bunch of shelter workers had been fired between Luna being adopted and Stella being adopted, so we never had the whole story.  We were fascinated.

Of course, the longer we had her, and the more we researched, we realized she was so much more RR in behavior than she was GSD. OOPS!   

We now foster RRs!  And we are amazed at how perfect of a breed they are for us.... considering this all happened by mistake!

[RRBoy's Mom]

Research...

I knew I wanted a dog and what I wanted out of the relationship.  With that in mind I bought books, went on the web, and went to dog shows to talk to breeders.  We evaluated our life and the dog that would fit into our life.  Owning an RR is a lot of work but it if very rewarding.  We spend a lot  of time with our boy and are starting to reevaluate our life to determine the best time to add another to our family. 

Bottom line, know what you can and can not do and be prepared for the commitment. 

Good Luck (from a newbie RR owner, only 3 years but looking forward to many more)

[sarah yates]

i moved to africa from the US about 5 years ago. people were helping themselves to stuff in my yard and in my garage so i decided that i needed another pair of eyes around the house. i did not like dogs but felt that i needed a dependable companion that was aloof, reasonable intimidating and intelligent (as well as low maintenence). i had heard of ridgebacks and started researching- it turned out to be one of the best decisions i've ever made. Khale joined me when i lived in Botswana about 2 years ago, and now Naro joined has me in after my recent move to Nairobi, Kenya.

even after i got khale i wasn't sure about my emotional investment with an animal but, when Khale was about 5 months old she woke me up in the middle of the night and went to look out the window. i figured it was a cat or something...then she started to growl a low quiet growl that i had never heard her do. i looked out the window and there was someone creeping through my yard. this person then turned on a flashlight and started looking into my car! i hit the alarm button and that was the end of that. she helped the security people scour the yard but the person had already disappeard. after that i really saw her as my best friend!

i now want to get into showing and breeding and rescue and everything else- i'm totally in love with them.

after i moved to Nairobi and brought both Khale and Naro into the vet the vet shook her head and said...'no one will ever trouble you.' i hope that's not entirely true but they're my best friends for sure.

[rrlady]

  Great question

Yes, it is...I backed into the breed actually.  In 1986, my neighbor's daughter brought a 10 lb pup with a strange ridge on its back.  I hadn't ever heard of RRs nor seen one. He had lots of black ticking.  My neighbor couldn't keep him.  She was going to bring him to the SPCA in the afternoon.  She asked me to watch him a few hours for her that morning.  He just walked in and made himself at home.  Curled up at my husband's feet, let out a contented sigh and fell asleep.  Will said, "Look at this little guy, he's right a home."  At that I started to cry, and told him Jane was going to bring him to the humane society.  He said, "he can stay, if he doesn't get too big".  Famous last words in our family.  We named him Bogie. He grew to be 120+ lbs.  We believe he may have been mixed with bullmastiff or mastiff, possibly some pit, too.  He had a gorgeous, perfect ridge and fan.  He was the most unique and wonderful dog I had ever had.  He was light wheaten when all of the ticking fell away. I lost him to OS in November of 1994, 3 months after we had gotten a purebred RR puppy from Shirley Batson of Deer Ridge.
We got 'Dozer in December of 1995. Lost him to OS at the end of Oct 2004.
Joe in summer of 2000 after we had lost our funny Charlie to ARF.
Rhett came to us March of 2005.
They were and are all very special to us.
Sharon

[Donna]

My first Ridgie came to me over 25years ago.  A friend had one and they were going back to their breeder to discuss getting another, so I went along for the ride, well the woman turned out to be so nice, we spent the day at her house, toured her kennel, and needless to say I was hooked. Got my first pup about a year later, this was from Alicia Mohr, I showed that dog for a spell, but my dad got cancer, and I had to take care of him, so showing was put on the back burner, needles to say we never finished her, but she lived to be about 12, and she was great, I swore I would never have any other breed and I haven't.
To raise the money for her, I wanted one so bad, we had a garage sale, and I sold all my kids baby things and anything I could find, raised enough money for the dog and then some, best money I ever made, was for my best cause ever.
Over the years, after Kesha died, we had lived in apartments that didn't allow dogs, but soon as I moved to where I could have dogs, I purchased a pair, brother and sister and I had my hands full for a while, but that was our beginning. I ended up with 4 well actually five dogs, husband came with a springer spaniel, was a package deal!!
And as long as I live and am able, there won't be an end to my having Ridgebacks.
Donna

[Keeper]

We were at relative's house, riding motorcycles when she said, "I know how you love dogs...you got to see Shirley's Weird Looking dog!!"  Shirley was a Lab and German Shorthair Breeder and handler.  She took on a livernosed male named Kinde for a friend who asked her to show it.  This was 1978. 
Shirley was cooking for a large crowd that was expected for a Pig Roast the next day.  I watched her while she was making sausage to stuff into chickens.  The first thing I noticed as Kinde sauntered into the kitchen was the similarity to a lion on the hunt. He walked with his nose up at counter level across her very large kitchen and then into the formal dining room and then in a circle of the main floor until his second pass put him on the opposite side of the kitchen, nose still skimming the edge of the counter.

On the 3rd pass, without missing a single step, he raised on his hind legs, grabbed 2 large German Brats and sauntered into the formal dining room where he loudly smacked his prize into oblivion!  I was laughing so hard by the time that Shirley noticed the raid on her food that I could barely sit on the bar stool!  By then Kinde was approaching his 4th pass...and agile as Shirley was...Kinde was smoother and faster! 

I thought, 'Wow!  That dog actually planned the assualt on that food!'  Within a week, Shirley had contacted the only breeder in Michigan...and I was the proud owner of my first livernose RR...he was 4 months old and it took 5 of us to hold him for his last shot before I could take him home.  His name was "Akeeta Maxwell of Kimbida"  He was the son of the a rather famous RR of the time.  The Guardsman of Kimbida.

I still miss him.
KEEPER

[Rosebud]

These are some wonderful stories.




Michelle

[k9crazyrr]

I grew up with German Shorthair Pointers.  I wanted a dog that was short haired and simalar size.  I love Shorthairs, but because I do not hunt I felt it was wrong to have one.  I was managing a large boarding kennel at the time and I saw my first RR.  I asked the owner alot of general questions and then went to afew shows.  I was introduced to lure coursing, and then I was just plane hooked.  Now I have two and I am looking for my third.
Angie

[saikridgebacks]

I LOVE German shorthair pointers, and more importantly my dogs love to play with their GSP friends.

But back to the subject:

My husband, Andrew...his grandfather had three Ridgebacks. They all went to work with him. Andrew would spend the summers with them and fell in love with the breed. My mother bred Chows and I grew up with many different pets. I myself had owned a Border collie that we had obtained through rescue.

When it came time to get an dog, there was no discussing it. Drew wanted a Ridgeback!!! After much research I agreed. It took us a couple years to find a dog. At the time we lived in North Carolina (uggggg I miss it) We talked with one breeder that wouldn't sell us a puppy because we weren't married. Then another a year later that would  not place a puppy with us because we had a child. Then we got on a list with a breeder and all but one of the puppies had died in birth. It was tough. But we finally got our boy Murphy and I have been hooked since.

Our dogs are a big part of our family and I wouldn't have it any other way!!

Heathe

[a_bomb_betty]

My brother started showing ridgebacks in Southern California about 25 years ago. I helped him show a couple times and loved going to the shows with him and hanging out as a young girl. A few years ago my husband saw my brother's dogs when we went for a visit and really liked them. Turned out his boss at work also had ridgebacks and they got to talking about them. So about 2 years ago I told my brother to keep a puppy for me the next time he had a litter. We got Betty last year in March and she is great. A perfect family dog and she's competitive in the show ring. We are going to try lure coursing next!