We bought our first home (5 hectares) in Meyerton Farms +-50 km from Johannesburg in April 1985.  We married in July 1985 and because I did a lot of travelling and Debbie would be left on her own we decided she would need a dog for company (keep her busy and out of mischief).  After much deliberation and going from animal shelter to animal shelter (very stressful) we came across a notice board saying “Rhodesian Ridgeback and Staffordshire Bull Terrier needing good home owners health failing”.  That was our first introduction to Rhodesian Ridgebacks. We then proceeded in contacting the owner who told us that the RR was 7 years old and the Staffie was 6 years old.  We immediately fell in love with both of them and decided to give them a home. That is how we became the proud owners of a registered Rhodesian Ridgeback called Joe “Rebelridge Isilwi” and Porgy the Staffie. Joe was a magnificent specimen; he loved children, Debbie and all women, but was extremely aloof towards males.  With a lot of hard work and patience he came to like me too, but Debbie was always his first choice.

6 Months down the line and now totally taken in by Joe (we loved Porgy too) and Debbie becoming very sad about the thought of Joe getting older and loosing him we decided to look for a female Rhodesian Ridgeback to have a litter with so Joe could live on for ever (how naïve). In 1986 we bought our first bitch puppy from Laurie Venter (Glenaholm). Sadly Joe died 1 year later of a stomach torsion and we never got to use him.