how did you get introduced to the Ridgeback breed?

[kainda]

there was one bitch with puppies in our zoo.. I liked them... THen I researched on the internet and i liked them, then i went to see some puppies and i went home with one...

[melissap]

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

Michelle ~ this is such a great story, and it got me teary!!! Thank you for sharing your story about little rocket!

[Rosebud]

Michelle ~ this is such a great story, and it got me teary!!! Thank you for sharing your story about little rocket!

Thank Melissa,

But true to being the runt, Rocket ain't little no more. He's the biggest one of the whole litter. Gawd awful in conformation, way above standard in height and weight, bow-legged and cow-hocked, but he has a heart as big as he is and I love my biggest man in the world.

Michelle

[melissap]

 

The biggest one in the pack huh, guess you did a great job with your bottle feeding responsibilities! When we picked up our 2nd last month - she was the baby budah of the bunch ~ such a great temperment

now, last I saw the gang, she was not the biggest any longer

I will make a concerted effort to learn to upload my pics so I can share!

Kisses to Rocket ~

[Rosebud]

The biggest one in the pack huh, guess you did a great job with your bottle feeding responsibilities! When we picked up our 2nd last month - she was the baby budah of the bunch ~ such a great temperment

now, last I saw the gang, she was not the biggest any longer

I will make a concerted effort to learn to upload my pics so I can share!

Kisses to Rocket ~

Yes we did. He got extra meals and extra love since he was so tiny.

We're getting off topic so here's a link to the rest of my reply in a new topic. Puppy personalities.

http://rr-forum.com/forum/index.php/topic,962.new.html#new

Michelle

[Alfred]

i was crazy about Dobermans as a small child
two of my dad's friends had one...

one had a Doberman bitch that was knocked up by a Rhodesian Ridgeback that ran loose in the nearby small town...
and i got two of that litter
i remember being disappointed that they looked just like their father (minus the ridge), and not the doberman mother
 

there were a number of RR's in the area back then
(across the Lake from Chicago, IL... between South Haven and Kalamazoo, MI)
a store owner had one as a guard dog in South Haven...

i was raised as one of Jehovah's Witnesses, so i'd often see one, or an obvious mix while going from door to door...

anyway, as mine grew, i realized how special they were
and that it was more due to their RR genes than Dobe

i've always kept an eye out for them...
noticing them on television and magazines...
but went without a dog for many years

i had a $900 kayak stolen out of my garage a little over four years ago...
(i owned the thing for three days... sat in it in the driveway ONCE)

as i stood there, looking into my garage... i thought...

"why don't i have a dog?"



so i began my search
i looked at ONE Doberman kennel online and thought...
nah.
i have to have a Ridgeback
a real one this time...

i looked at hundreds of dogs on many, many webpages for weeks

deciding what i liked
and found exactly what i wanted


ohyeah...
and even though this small rural community has been ravaged by crystal meth, i haven't had anything else stolen from my property since getting Chester
 

[melissap]

 
Loved your story ~

I always laugh when my husband locks the doors so religiously ~ I always tell him, there is NO WAY anyone would be fool enough to enter our home, adn that locking may be an old habbit, but it is really not necessary with Brando around the house!

We live in a really safe neighborhood though ~ he only gets to scare the squirrrels and the pizza guy!