Piper & Zera
Piper & Zera
Best Friends
We just want to make sure all our pups are loved and spoiled
as much as our dogs are.
Charlie, Amanda, Piper, & Conner Arduengo
as much as our dogs are.
Charlie, Amanda, Piper, & Conner Arduengo
How we got started,
My wife and I got our first ridgeback from a shelter in Texas City, TX. We named her Guiness and when she came home she was suppose to have been up to date on all her shots. Guiness was only about 12 weeks old and full of life. We were surprised to see that she was already house broken and fit in well with our other two Rat Terriers. Everything was fine for a few days until we realized Guiness was slowing down and sleeping a lot. She was obviously sick... So off to the vet she went.
At the vet office we were informed that the shelter we got Guiness from had recently been shut down for lack of cleanliness and a bad outbreak of parvo. After hearing that, we thought back to a couple of dogs we saw at the shelter that we thought might have been sick, but we were trying to help at least one dog so we didn't think much of it at the time. We took Guiness home and did the best we could to nurse her back to health, but in the end we had to put her to sleep.
We spend a lot of time with our dogs as they are members of our family first, show dogs second, and bred third. Our dogs have a large back yard to run and play and several little swimming pools to splash around in. We take our dogs to the beach about once a week and let them run and play in the waves. They never wonder off to far, because they are a breed that constantly wants to be where we are. When we get home it's bath time for everyone which really isn't that hard, because their coats don't repel water like some breeds and they are quick to dry. At night they are in the house either in their kennels or left out to sleep next to our bed. Ridgebacks must be socialized and we do this by taking our dogs to the strand in Galveston to let people pet them and get them exposed to other dogs. The dogs love this and we have never observed any timidness or aggression towards strangers or new dogs from our ridgebacks. Our puppies are born in the house and remain in the house until they are sent to loving homes. Therefore they are already well on their way to being house broken, accustomed to new noises (vacuum cleaners, hair driers, and a crying baby), plus the comings and goings of a normal household.
In closing, I would like to give my personal opinion of rescue shelters…we spent $100 to get Guiness out of the Texas City animal shelter. She was not up to date on her shots when she left the shelter, nor was she spayed. After she got sick we spent several hundred dollars more to get her healthy again, but that never happened. We now realize that the initial cost of a pet is the smallest of variables when buying a puppy. If I could do it over again I would have spent 10 times that amount to get a dog from a reputable breeder and saved myself and my family the heartache of having a sick dog and then finally having to put it down. It's horrible that dogs end up in shelters, they are way to great of a creature to be mistreated or cast off when they become an inconvenience. I understand that the folks that run these shelters believe they are doing a noble thing and they just might be for some dogs. However, after my experience with the Texas City shelter, the hell we went through with Guiness, and just the over all lack of care the dogs at this shelter actually got, we will NEVER get a dog from a rescue or shelter again. It's not that we don't care for the dogs that have had horrible owners in the past but we feel that the dogs are the ones that lose in almost every situation. Instead of not for profit shelters and breed specific rescue organizations sprouting up all across Texas and the country their should be a license to have a dog and a punishment for giving up a dog. This will never happen, therefore; for my dogs I have a return policy if things just don't work out or circumstances change. I do not want to ever use my return policy but I would rather take the dog back than see it in a shelter or kicked out in the streets. I do not want you to buy a dog from us if it is not going to be a life long commitment. If you do not want to spend time with your Ridgeback everyday, let your Ridgeback in the house to spend time with the family, or are unwilling or unable to put the time into training your Ridgeback and then blame it's destructiveness on the dog, don't get a dog from us.
Plain and simple, DO NOT get a dog from us unless it will be loved like your son or daughter. We look forward to providing you and your family with one of Gods greatest creatures, and we hope to be your first phone call for any questions, or concerns that may arise from your new family member.
While that was a horrible event in our lives, the few good days we had with Guiness showed us how wonderful this breed is. A few months later my wife and I moved into a new house and wanted to get a new dog. We knew it was going to be a ridgeback so we visited a few breeders in Texas and spoke to a few more. We eventually found the dog we were looking for. His name was Drakkar and I knew he was going to be a large ridgeback as we had already seen his father at another breeders home. We took him to obedience training and conformation training. Soon after we started this training we realized what a waste of money that was because Drakkar is by far the easiest dog to train either of us had ever had. Our training happens twice a day, once before the first meal of the day and again before the second meal. That is all that is required and Drakkar has been doing great around the house, and in the show ring. Over the last couple of years we have acquired some more dogs and have been loving our life traveling to shows, meeting new people, and basically just being around such wonderful dogs.