PLEASE READ CAREFULLY BEFORE FILLING OUT THE APPLICATION

First, thank you for your interest in a puppy from Kalahari Rhodesian Ridgebacks. I prefer people fill out a form before talking with them, that way I’ll know more about what they expect in a companion, their experience and plans.

The litter I have planned now is very special. It will be a frozen semen litter from  Ch Kwetu's Kalahari Karavan ROM.( RRCUS Register of Merit) .  I plan on breeding Ch Abebi of Kalahari JC who is sired by our Australian import - Ch Amakhosi Aussie Gold and out of our lovely Savannah - Ch Kalahari Tshani Abeni.... Award of Merit winner RRCUS National Specialty.

The sire, "Rocky", has been gone for many years now, but he did have OFA hip, which was the norm for that time. "Sizzle", the dam, has OFA hip, elbow, MSU thyroid and had her eyes checked by CERF. She has also been DNA'd and rated Normal ( Non-carrier) for the new OFA test for DM.

Our pet price is $800 to approved homes. I charge a fair price from my pups, my dogs are not making my living, I am retired and have a good income. All our pets go on AKC Limited Registration and have a spay/neuter contract that I can forward to you to read. Why limited registration? Because I also rescue RRs and I am alarmed at the growing number of Ridgebacks that have to be rehomed because someone thought they’d breed a litter and get their money back. I train, show, do all the health checks – hips, elbows, thyroid, eyes, DM DNA tests – and none of those things are cheap. Oh, and also add caring for pups 24-7, cleaning, feeding, socializing, microchipping, etc, of my time and effort to raise the best pups I can and you’ll soon realize there is no such thing as a profitable litter and we don’t do shortcuts! ( For this litter, add storage, shipping, surgical implantation, tests, etc for an AI litter. )

More money does not equal a better dog. Do your homework, know who you are dealing with before you buy a dog. I am a member of the Rhodesian Ridgeback Club of the US, I am an AKC judge, I compete in AKC and UKC conformation shows, I compete in AKC agility and both AKC and ASFA coursing trials with my dogs. I am a life time member of Mobile Bay Dog Training Club. I am an official mentor for RRCUS and AKC for Rhodesian Ridgebacks. 

I do require that the puppy not be left alone for over 2-3 hours in the first couple of weeks of it’s life with new owners. Young dogs do not have consistent bowel control until after 4 months of age. This makes the time from 8 weeks to 16 weeks a critical house training period in the puppy’s life. Neither do I want puppies to spend the majority of their life in a crate, as puppies need to exercise, explore and play whenever possible for good mental and physical health. Many people, who must work, schedule vacations or hire a “puppy nanny” to come in and see that the puppy gets exercised and learns good house manners. Some even drop them off at a puppy daycare for the first couple of months. It’s a great way to accomplish good social skills and house training during the first few months of life. A bit of extra effort during the critical period of 8-16 weeks can make a big difference in the life you’ll have with your pet the rest of it’s life.  

Since my reason for breeding a litter is to have something for me to show, I wait until the optimal age of 8 weeks of age to grade them, deciding then which ones will be kept for further evaluation and which can go to new pet homes.  Then I match the families, who have completed an application and who have had a home check, with those pet pups based on the pup’s personality and the new home’s “dog knowledge”. After doing this for the past 37 years, I’m pretty good at it if I say so myself!

I also require a fenced yard, as Ridgebacks have absolutely no sense about cars, are much faster than you are by the time they are four months old and get brave enough to go off and explore without you. Fences should be a minimum of 5 feet as RRs also excel at jumping and are prey driven to go over the fence after squirrels and other fauna. Fences also help to make you a good dog neighbor and provide security from anyone wishing to steal your dog. (There are exceptions to this rule, but you’ll have covered that in your puppy application.) I do not recommend underground fencing as it does not protect your dog from other dogs nor from being stolen and, should they get out, they are unable to return to the yard because of being “zapped”. Since NO DOG SHOULD ever be left unattended in a yard with an underground fencing system – why bother? 

I do not ship as a rule. Why? Because apparently, Mobile. AL is some kind of airplane backwater and few planes are large enough to carry dogs in crate out of here. Besides, I like to meet the new owners and have them meet all the dogs living here, too. 

If you can't use the form application, then email me and I'll send it to you in Microsoft Word. My email address is  kalaharirr@bellsouth.net  

If I do not have a puppy for you and you have a great puppy home, I’ll help you to find a puppy. If you might be interested in an older puppy from either another breeder or rescue, please let me know. 

Please remember that the more specific your request for how you want your dog to look ( black nose, mask, large, etc), the less you are likely to get a pup.... I haven't found out how to put in a request to Mother Nature (LOL) nor is this a puppy warehouse with litter after litter on the ground from which to choose.

Still interested? Then go fill out an APPLICATION. or go back to HOME.

Ch Kwetu's Kalahari Karavan ROM

Ch Abbi of Kalahari JC