Together with our two Ridgeback-boys we live in the so called "Waldgarten Schöneiche" (Forest garden Schöneiche) in the Oder-Spree District of Brandenburg, nearby Berlin. This beautiful suburban district seamlessly adapts to the city forest of Berlin. Here the boys are able to run around and fool about as much as they want to and to experience intensive and frisky walk with us.

The begining ...

It all began in a fitness club. There was a big and sublime dog sitting behind the counter. I spoke to him in a friendly tone; he did not react and looked past me into the distance. This is something that has never happened to me before. Its owner, the boss of the fitness club, told me about their extensive walks and the close relationship between him and the dog.
I was very much interested in this breed and so I did a lot of research and was fascinated.
 After a short but intense search we

• I forgot to introduce my husband Wolfgang. He is it, who actual makes it possible to own such a challenging dog, as he is working freelance and, therefore, is able to schedule his appointments by himself

- decided to get a Ridgeback from the nearby kennel "Ihatila". Carlos sadly just lived three years and three days with us, when he died in a tragic car accident. Our pain and the emptiness were so overwhelming that we decided to look for a worthy successor. We found him, Eric, in Katzenbach, Germany at the kennel "From Mistery Castle of Stephanie & Stefan Rüdell" (www.mistery-castle.de).
Eric is a loving, friendly and cuddly dog, who is attaching great importance on the close mental bond between him and his bipeds. Towards grown up dogs he (silently) shows strong self-esteem so most of the times they remain distance.
He woos the ladies with charm and unexpected stamina.
Towards bipeds he reacts calm and relaxed. Once a week he even accompanies me to work, where he lies on his camp, just as unimpressed like the dog behind the counter at the fitness club.
Although he meets numerous other dogs on our extensive walks, he was missing more and more a buddy with the same interests as he is not into fetching sticks or playing with footballs. So we decided to buy a second dog from the same kennel - our funny and keen Hasani.

The dogs from the kennel "From Mistery Castle" are brought up with great love and a high level of competence. They are perfectly socialised and used to children and cats. This was really important to me, as our first ridgeback reacted much stressed out on both.

Many years ago (almost 30 years now) we used to live in Southern Africa for five years with our two sons: Mozambique, Tanzania and Zimbabwe/ Zambia – the home of the Rhodesian Ridgeback. Something we did not know back then. But now it occurs to me, how good the Ridgeback fits into the landscape and to the African temper.

The energy-saving almost floating gait allows the dogs to walk long distances without being out of breath. Eric just pants when he is wooing a lady dog. When he sees something interesting he wants to reach he changes his gait in seconds, just like a hunting leopard.
During the morning he is easy-going, or better saying lazy. Then he is lying in the sun and is treating himself.
Now enough with telling you how great Eric is – please have a look at the hopefully entertaining and informative Eric's Website!