We have been sharing our life with Ridgebacks for the last 25 years.
Our first dog, named Shona, came to us through the RRCN Rescue program. At the time of her arrival she was a grumpy and a rather-unsocial dog. She was exposed to many outside influences in the first year she was with us, and she was taken along wherever we went.
We had here for 7 wonderful years, during which she was witness to our family growing from 2 to 5 persons. She overcame her initial ‘shyness’ of children, primarily because she decided that these children were a trustworthy food source for her.
Her ‘pack’ grew over time, not just with kids, but also with a 2nd Rhodesian, Rydgeway Shumwari and a Jack Russell named Todje.
With Rydgeway Shumwari, Fuzz to intimates, we bred our first litter.
Out of the combination Fuzz and Mushana Gomana we kept a pup which was named, Thokoza, or Koos/Koosje to the ones who knew and loved her.
Thokoza truly is the founding bitch of our kennel, the latter which is named after her.
Thokoza, means "be happy" in the Shona language, and that is exactly what we wish for all the puppies that we breed.
The next ‘addition’ o the pack was Kimani's Image for Thokoza, in daily life called Kado
[ which means gift in Dutch ].
From the 2nd litter of Koos, we again kept on a female puppy, called Kekhè, who is now 7 years old.
Consequently, we also had to keep on a puppy from the litter of Kado [obviously!], and this is the, now 3 years old, bitch Thokoza Ziezo.
Last but not least, the latest edition to our family is Thokoza Taboe, a bitch that now [summer 2006] is 6 month old, and is out of Kekhè last litter
We also own one more bitch, that lives ‘on her own’ since the house was finally getting full. She is Thokoza Picture Perfect, a bitch out of Ziezo, that lives with a friend of ours in the village in which we live, and that visits us regularly, either for short or for longer stays.
To keep everybody [man and dog alike] on their toes, is the team leader of them all, a Jack Russell called Chip, which considers herself, as any real Jack Russell would, above the law at any time.
On the property, our mutual lives are shared by different four-legged and two-legged creatures and such as a cat, many chickens and 2 horses.
Our main goal in dog breeding is to create "soundness" both in body and in spirit. Our litters are born out of well thought through combinations, are born and raised in the house and are carefully socialized intensively, from day 1 onward.