africandream

The Pack - Kamali, Gracie, Jazz & Coco snuggling up in the evening. They can often be found in the kitchen taking advantage of our underfloor heating - Ridgebacks LOVE under-floor heating! They hate the cold, and would rather not get rained on if it can be avoided. They are quite happy, however, to get wet and cold by jumping into the pond!

Our dogs get on really well together, and enjoy work, rest and play as a pack.

Our dogs all live indoors with us, and are an important part of our family. They have two speed settings, 100mph or asleep, with very little in between! People who visit them at home are often amazed at how lazy they are - they tend to be fast asleep on the the kitchen floor - the under floor heating is our secret dog training weapon! That said, I walk them daily, which is a necessity with such an athletic, intelligent breed - they need the mental stimulation as much as the excercise.

We often refer to Kamali as "The Duchess" - despite being our smallest Ridgeback (I'm not sure you can use the word "petite" to describe a Ridgeback!), Kamali is huge on personality! I often describe Kamali as my soulmate, and she certainly is an angel in a fur coat.

Whilst all the dogs know that I am their Pack Leader, Kamali is definitely my 2nd in Command - she'll round the other dogs up if required, and has been known to do it to the kids too - very useful in the park!

She is also supremely confident in all situations, and I would describe her as bomb-proof around children - she seems to know instinctively to be calmer around them, and actively seeks their company.

Kamali whelped her first litter, in typical unflustered style, in April 2009. All puppies had good ridges, with no DS detected. Kamali, as I knew she would be, proved to be a wonderful dam, with the patience of a Saint!

Every boy should have two things ... a Dog, and a Mother who will let him have one.

Gracie is our new kid on the block! The result of the mating of our girl Kamali and Chris Vincent's stunning Frankie, she is settling extremely well into our pack, and is turning into a very confident, cheeky pup!

All of our dogs are brought up and live around our three children of 9, 8 and 5. They are all comfortable with the kids, and I regularly have one or more of the dogs with me at the school drop off and pick up, thus ensuring that they are thoroughly socialised with little people.

I have also been into the kids' school to give talks on safety around dogs, and continually work with my own kids in the home, and any other children that visit to ensure that they know how to behave appropriately around dogs. I feel strongly that children who learn how to "talk dog" from an early age are generally more able to cope with situations involving dogs. Indeed, several of my children's friends who have been frightened of dogs in the past have used my dogs to build up their confidence - watching them gain confidence around dogs where they were once afraid is a wonderful sight.

That said, we are very aware of the size and power of the Ridgeback, and respect that they are not that far removed from the Wolf (as with all dogs) - the children are taught this respect also.

Most Ridgebacks have a strong prey drive, and will, by nature chase small animals/birds etc.

They are also incredibly fast and powerful, so this drive has to be controlled from a very early age, and certainly not encouraged.

They can, however, be taught not to chase cats, chickens etc, with a varying degree of success if you try hard enough! Ours have had to learn to live with our cat Monty and our chickens.

Coco has a particularly strong prey drive, and still does sometimes chase Monty in the garden - she does however know that this is not acceptable, and doesn't actually do anything on the very rare occasion that she does manage to catch him - he normally does more damage to her! Jazz tries to pretend the cat doesn't exist and Kamali tries to mother him, which he finds even more annoying than being chased!

We are based in rural Leicestershire, just outside of Market Harborough, and are blessed with three gorgeous children, and four wonderful Rhodesian Ridgebacks, who keep them company.

I first became interested in the breed when I was taken to a dog show by my aunt when I was about 8 - while chaos reigned all around, several glorious majestic creatures stood calmly looking on - I later found out that they were Ridgebacks, and I said one day that I'd have one. When the opportunity arose, some 30 years later, my darling girl, Kamali came home. I was hooked, and thankfully, so were the rest of the family.

Kamali has been a joy to own - truly one of those dogs that come along once in a lifetime - she's seen me through illness and major surgery, and is truly this woman's best friend.

When I said I wanted another, Peter agreed, but only if he could have a male to even up the numbers a bit, so along came our boy Jazz (named after a Transformer - thank god I don't have to shout "Optimus Prime" across the park though!) A gorgeous boy, who's a complete teddy bear at home, whilst being a wonderfully protective guard too. He has a wonderful bond with our son, Josh, and at home has a lovely, quiet, dependable nature.

Then, along came Coco - Peter renamed her early on as the "Dark Destroyer" - after two really well behaved pups in Kamali and Jazz, we really paid the price when this one came home - thankfully she's calmed down now, but she's still no lady, and if anyone's been up to no good, we know exactly who to blame! She's got an absolutely delightful sweet nature though, and is wonderful with the children - we just think she will stay an eternal puppy.

Then we decided (well, I did!) that we "needed" another to even up the numbers. I knew that I wanted "another" Kamali if that were possible, so it made sense to take a litter from her. Having spent an age planning the litter, we chose a wonderful sire and were so happy when Chris Vincent allowed us to use her gorgeous Frankie (Umhlandla Injabulo for Jematti). The result of this union was a stunning litter of 9 puppies, including our girl Gracie, who has stayed with us. The other 8 puppies have all gone to lovely homes, and we are delighted that the new families are still keeping in touch with us, and that we are getting regular updates on "our" offspring!

The litter was an absolute joy to us, and I enjoyed every minute (although saying good-bye to the babies was tougher than I could have ever imagined!)

I hope that there may be more Africandream puppies in the future!

We are members of :-

The Rhodesian Ridgeback Club of Great Britain. and
The Midlands & Northern Rhodesian Ridgeback Club

We are also members of the Kennel Club Accredited Breeder Scheme.