Our first Ridgeback was just 10 days old when we spent the change of the millennium in a beautiful bush camp in Timbavati called Umlani. I felt in love with this place years before when I did my practical exams for my Game Farm Management course there in the bush. We had a wonderful time in Umlani and were looking forward to having our own Ridgeback male, which we planned to visit just after our return home.
A couple of weeks later the moment was finally there. We drove to Wipperfürth, Germany to fetch "the little Swiss", that was the nickname the breeders gave our little Bantu. He developed into a wonderful grown dog. And then ... as often said: "what is more beautiful than one Ridgeback? Two of course!" Bantu had obtained his certification of suitability for breeding and his first offspring was born already. Our second Ridgeback had to be a bitch because we wanted to breed our one Ridgebacks. At the end of 2002 Tefle Ilanga came into our family. Tefle means in Swahili start/beginning, we chose the name because we wanted Ilanga (Zulu for sun) also called princess, to be our foundation bitch. To choose a name for the kennel was easy, Umlani was the first and only choice. At the beginning of 2004 we had the name registered and protected by the FCI. Sadly our dream of having a litter with Ilanga and Bantu did not come true. Ilanga remains our sunshine.
Even better than two ridgebacks are three and thanks to the help of dear friends this became possible. Bantu's daughter Anga Sharifa came into the family in August 2005. She is a wonderful mix of both her parents. She has the never-ending energy of her mother paired with the calmness and balanced character of her father. She really honours her name Sharifa (she is different from others).
We live near Zurich in a little village in midst beautiful surroundings, where we can go for long walks over the fields and through the forest just off our doorstep. As puppies our dogs all go to puppy-playgroups, later they attend courses and trainings for young dogs. To offer enough change in they daily routine, our dogs accompany us when we go for bicycle rides, jogging and horse riding. Very important fur us is that our dogs get also challenged mentally with continuously new tasks. We achieve that with regular training in tracking, agility and exams to be certified companion dogs.
Our goal is to breed healthy and sporty Ridgebacks with stable characters and if they ideally pass No 146 of the FCI standards we are more than happy.