About Us
We are Dennis & Joan Boyd
and in our time are
proud to have been owned by eight Rhodesian Ridgebacks.
Zymba, Nelson, Kara, Zola, Sabi, Rifa, Kiya, Africa, Tonka~Tau & Shula
plus a German Shepherd Dog
Kirsty
and
a Japanese Akita Inu
Tsumo
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Back in 1987 we got our first Rhodesian
Ridgeback, Zymba, as a
female
companion for our speyed three year old German Shepherd bitch,
Kirsty.
Although Zymba had no pedigree papers, both her parents were pure
Rhodesian Ridgebacks.
She was a wonderful playmate and companion for Kirsty
and they had endless fun together
indoors and out.
However, when Zymba
had her first season she managed to escape from their daytime back
garden
play area by jumping up onto the windowledge, thence onto the dividing
wall
and down into the front garden, where she climbed over the front gates
and took off down the road
heading into the nearby village. How she was not
knocked down on the busy main road
we will never know....
It was this
fear of her escaping again, whenever she would next come into season, that
persuaded us
to have her speyed midway between seasons.
The time came,
arrangements having already been made, and off Joan set with Zymba to the
vet.
The operation was completed sucessfully, but tragically, Zymba never
came out from the anaesthetic.
She died at the vet's home, where she had
been taken when the practice closed for the day,
later that evening.
We
were devastated.
We can still recall the quisical expression from her big
liquid eyes as she sat beside the vet,
when Joan had left her in,
earlier that morning.
We collected Zymba and next day, wrapped in her
favourite blanket, she was buried in our
front garden. Kirsty pined for
weeks and was lonely.
We felt so guilty - Zymba's last look was one of
"but,
why are you leaving me here ?" ... and to this day the memory still haunts us!
We finally decided that, not only for Kirsty's sake but also as a tribute
to Zymba, we would try
and get another ridgeback.
Through a work
colleague who put us in touch with his sister, Mary O'Carroll
a registered
breeder, we were persuaded to go and visit her.
Unknown to us at the time,
Mary had recently bred a litter.
We were warmly welcomed into her home and
we talked at great lengths about the breed.
We discovered that these dogs -
like many large breeds - were susceptable to anaesthetics...
Eventually,
Mary invited us to come and see the puppies in another part of the house.
As
we made our way there, one dog puppy came running towards us. "Oh! he's
escaped again" she said.
This little 7 week old 'houdini' made straight
for Joan and I and cuddled right up to us.
Not intending to buy a puppy -
well, not just yet, we enquired... "we presume he's already spoken for?..."
"Actually no.. he's not" said Mary.
So that is how, in 1989, that
Nelson, Ch. Bwaga of Kilsinroe - named
in honour of the
release of Nelson Mandela - came to be our first registered
pedigree Rhodesian Ridgeback.
We didn't select a pup - he chose
us!
Kirsty was thrilled with her new friend... she taught him all the
rules of the house.
When Nelson was old enough to go for longer walks we took
him across the fields near us....
but in true GSD fashion, whenever he was
tempted to explore any distance from us,
Kirsty would 'round him up' and
bring him back to us.
For all his life Nelson always yielded way to the
'girls' of the family!
Nelson has been described as a "pure gentleman"..
"a gentle & kindly dog" who best fits the description... "I'm a
lover, not a fighter"
Sadly, on 11th.
September 2003, Nelson crossed Rainbow Bridge.
"Our home is not the same
without him - but he lives on in our hearts, until we meet again
across
Rainbow Bridge."
We registered our SIKULUBANI (c) Kennel
Affix in 1995, and bred our first litter in 2000.
We are Life Members of
The Irish Kennel Club Ltd.
We are members of The Rhodesian Ridgeback Club of
Ireland - Joan being the Hon. Secretary.
We are also members of The Rhodesian
Ridgeback Club of Great Britain,
The Midlands & Northern Rhodesian
Ridgeback Club (UK),
The Rhodesian Ridgeback Club of
Scotland (UK) and
The Southern Rhodesian Ridgeback Association
(UK).
We have attended many breed seminars in the U.K. and in conjunction
with
the Irish Kennel Club (I.K.C.) co-organized a breed seminar in Ireland.
We have attended breed seminars on Basset hounds, Afghan hounds, Irish
Wolfhounds and Beagles.
Amongst the I.K.C. seminars we have attended are -
Construction & Movement, Nutrition and Health
Judging & Stewarding
and Stewarding under F.C.I. Rules.
We are both qualified and approved by the
I.K.C. to judge the Breed at Championship level.
Joan recently was awarded her
Judging Diploma from the Animal Care College (U.K.)
Dennis judged his first Championship Show in October 2006
and regularly
stewards at Championship Shows.
We both teach 'ringcraft' handling classes at the IKC showgrounds.
We have successfully campaigned five of our dogs to their Irish
Championship titles
Ir Ch Bwaga of Kilsinroe
Ir Ch Barachelan Zolabaela at Sikulubani
Ir. Ch Sikulubani Sharifa
Ir. Ch Sikulubani Zakiya
and, additionally, one to his International Championship title .....
Ir. Ch & Intl. Ch. Sofala Sabiki at Sikulubani - Annual Ch. 2003
- the first male Rhodesian Ridgeback in Ireland (and the U.K.)
to achieve this.
Our first 'home bred' UK Champion " Bani " - GB Ch.
Sikulubani Sebakwe to Tukela gained his
title at Windsor Championship
Show, under judge Lindsey Barnes (Diamondridge) in July
2004
Bani is loved, owned and exhibited by Carina Dunn "CJ"
(Tukela)
On the 6th. May 2005, Rifa became our first home bred
Irish Champion and exactly
one calendar month later her sister Kiya gained
her Irish Championship title also.. making
a total of three Champions from
our first litter!
Thank you "Zola" and
"Gus".
October 2005: Joan was very honoured to have been
invited to judge the dogs at
The Southern Rhodesian Ridgeback Association
(Open Show) in England.
August 2008: Joan is delighted to be invited to judge the breed
at
The Rhodesian Ridgeback Club of Austria
at its 30th Anniversary Championship Show.
To view details and information about our dogs, please
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