Immermoed Rhodesian Ridgebacks
We are Christien & Antoon, a couple living in one of the northern provinces of the Netherlands, beautiful Drenthe with its forests and heath. We both grew up in a small village town nearby, both surrounded by German Shepherds. We are a family of four, with our kids Björn (3) and Jutta (1) and our three Rhodesian Ridgebacks Ringo (9,5), Halla (5,5) and Evi (3).
Antoon has his own gardening company for over 10 years now and does forestry and tree working as well.
I, Christien, got my Master of Veterinary Sciences in Ghent in february'18. Now I am working parttime as a vet for companion animals in a veterinary practice nearby.
From childhood on always being surrounded by German Shepherds it would have been odd to choose otherwise, but when we ran in to the Ridgeback by chance in 2013. In 2014 we got our first Ridgeback Ringo, son of the magnificent Leo, because of whom we fell in love with the breed. It had to be this way.. nowadays we cannot imagine having any other breed.
My grandfather had a German Shepherd kennel (vom Glockensprung) in Mönchengladbach in the old days. I often went with him to training with the dogs and he learned me a lot. Later I went with my mother who also got the dog-virus. She had multiple German Shepherds to train with and to try make her dream with her own kennel. Sadly there where always circumstances where she had to choose between breeding anyway or making the decision that the dog didn't stand up to her strict requirements for breeding. She choose the latter, being my example on how it should be done... do it right or don't do it at all!
It's because of this that we want to participate in more health tests than required and that we have a preference for working dogs/dogs with a working mind but not loosing structure and esthetics out of sight.
A healthy mind in a healthy body
We live on the edge of a small village with the forest in our backyard 'Heerlijkheid de Eese'. On our many walks we share the forest with a large number of small game and roe-deer. We always keep an eye on the forest edges for those, since Ringo and Halla are always in the mood for a game of catch ;).
A Ridgebacks favorite spot in the house is directly in front of the wood stove. If they aren´t there you'll find them lying in between us on the couch, never failing to hear anything approaching our doorstep.
In November 2019 we became one step closer to our dream by getting our F.C.I. kennel name: Immermoed (prefix) officially registered. In the progress of registration we were visited by a member of the Dutch Kennel club, Raad van Beheer, for a location check to see if everything was in order for breeding.
Besides our Rhodesian Ridgeback we have two Irish Cobs.
A real life on the countryside ;)
This website is dedicated to our boy Apollon a.k.a Ringo and our girl N'Gai Zamu Excellency Javelin a.k.a Halla. They have enriched our lives and we couldn't imagine living it without them.
Ringo is a very social boy, kind to small children and petanimals as well to elderly or the disabled. He loves to ruffhouse with the stronger ones, always bringing in his tug toy for some action. He loves to tag along when we go cycling or riding on horseback in the forest. Ringo is healthy, has a stable character, handsome appearance and can move as well. This combined with a natural protectiveness of things he considers part of the family makes him everything we could have wished for. He is neither afraid of thunder nor fireworks. Ringo is limited available for suiting Rhodesian Ridgeback bitches. Apollon - Ringo -
Halla is our little spitfire. We waited for over a year for her out of this special combination. From the very start she jumps and sprints incredibly high and fast, strong as her name inclines. She is very muscled, but still beautiful feminine. Halla is very open and social, having a keen sense of smell. She picks up tracks very fast and she points out game naturally. Halla already has had multiple health checks and achieved multiple placements on dogshows. She is neither afraid of thunder nor fireworks. She is our one in a million girl! N'Gai Zamu Excellency Javelin - Halla -
3 Years ago we wouldn't have thought to have a Rhodesian Ridgeback at our side (growing up with German Shepherds), however, we totally fell in love with these regal hounds and we are seriously thinking about taking it to the next level. Our dream came one step closer with our F.C.I. kennelname registration: IMMERMOED (prefix). We also participate in international dogshows, see Shows. Besides future breeding ambitions we are very interested in genetics as well and believe this to be essential for making thoughtful decisions when looking at the Rhodesian Ridgeback (or any breed for that matter) on the long term. I've already taken four years of genetic courses in college but I am interested in more classes/congresses specifically on the Rhodesian Ridgeback.
Most importantly we want a Rhodesian Ridgeback who is healthy and can do something (sports/tracking/coursing for example), rather than having the most perfect showdog. Therefore we want to participate at more healthchecks and tests then aquired by the Rhodesian Ridgeback Society (see Pedigree and health tests) and we would like to achieve some working-dog certificates as well. At the same time we consider a good character very important too. We have kept those things besides breed characteristics in mind when we searched for a Rhodesian bitch and (when the time comes) breeding.
Everytime we watch Rhodesian Ridgebacks at shows or other events we are drawn to the broader type and sligthly darker ones (red wheaten) with a mask. Having more Ridgebacks like these in the future would be our dream...
...And our dream came a little closer with the arrival of a beautiful litter in N'Gai Zamu kennel sired by Mafinga Hombarume and out of Golden Gate Highlands be Forever. Our lovely girl N'Gai Zamu Excellency Javelin - Halla - arrived! We are over the moon!!
We are members of the Dutch Rhodesian Ridgeback Society (R.R.C.N) and therefore we follow their code of ethics.