Anjaris South is owned by Ron and Mary Hatch. Mary and I have shared our lives with ridgebacks for nearly twenty years. We have been dog owners and lovers our entire life. We picked up our first dog, an Australian shepherd on our honeymoon. We have shared our lives with a mixed breed, two Aussies, a chocolate lab, a poodle and several ridgebacks. There has never been a time when we did not have at least one dog living with us.
We first encountered ridgebacks at Royalton Kennel which is just south of Louisville, KY. We ended up traveling for the Christmas holidays at the last minute and Royalton was the only Kennel in town with an opening. When we dropped our lab off, we met Doc and Ellen Kapen, the owners of Royalton Kennel, and several of their ridgebacks.
For my wife, it was love at first sight. For me it was the answer to an economic/personal challenge. At the time, we had three daughters and Mary was talking about a fourth child. It seemed to me that a puppy would make a great substitute. By spring, the Kapen’s had a litter and we had our first ridgeback, Lilly Roux.
My wife was happy and the discussion about a fourth child abated ~ for a while. A year later, the discussion had returned and I went back to the tried and true strategy and bought another ridgeback. This time from Barbara Sawyer Brown at Kwetu in Chicago. This time, we picked up a little boy named Mathias after the mouse in the Redwall series, one of my oldest daughter’s favorite literary characters. About a year later, the discussion about a fourth child was creeping back into our lives. As fate would have it, we babysat for a friend's todler one evening. Afterwards Mary announced that we had become too old to survive another infant. Yep, ridgeback puppies from good breeders are expensive, but they make great companions and it turned out to be the best investment I ever made.
Fast forward ten wonderful years and we had moved from Louisville to upstate New York and we lost Lilly Roux. Not long after, I called Doc at Royalton inquiring about a puppy. He was retired from breeding and recommended some breeders in the Northeast. We made some calls and made arrangements to meet a few at the Wine Country Show on Seneca Lake. It was our first experience at a dog show. We had a wonderful day, met some delightful breeders and dogs and, by the end of the day, had decided who we wanted a puppy from. Mary met a young male named Ciro that she adored. She loved the way he looked and loved how sweet he was. Thus began our relationship with Annette Ernst, the owner of Anjaris Ridgebacks.
When the litter was ready, we settled on Oscar, a show male. We had no idea how that decision would change our lives. Annette agreed to help handle him for us. His first show was in Hamburg, NY at nine months old. He was an absolute mess. He hopped around the ring like a rabbit and had a ball. Everyone including the judge had a good laugh. Afterwards we were given a number of training tips. A year later and with handling help from the Elmira Kennel Club and from Sam and Karen Mammano, he earned his championship.
Such was our ignoble entry into the world of showing and breeding ridgebacks. Along the way, I learned to handle the dogs in the show ring, we made a lot of new friends, and have had a ball. Oscar is still with us, still hops like a rabbit when he is excited and I simply can’t imagine a better companion.
