It finally rained today after more than six weeks of increasingly dry weather and temperatures hovering at 330C. It was not a lot of rain, 24mm to be exact, but very welcome and the grass will start growing again. There is supposed to be more around but this being and el Nino season unreliability and drought are the two most used words to describe the weather.
After tea we took a walk around the garden to see what needs doing. It’s been so dry that even the aloes have lost their vigour and have gone back to dry appearance – their leaves dull and curled. As we walked past the fish ponds I looked down at the graves; yours, Kharma’s, Roxy’s and Molly’s. So many stories.
Poor Molly, I let her down so badly and she was just starting to fit in too. One morning she jumped up on the bed and snuggled in behind me. Themba was instantly jealous and tried to muscle in on the affection.
Pretty Miss Molly
Now of course we have Greeta, the SPCA office dog who liked to greet everyone. She has fitted in really well but is quite a bit older than what we were led to believe and hasn’t ended up being the play companion for Themba that we’d hoped she would be be. We do have to be careful not to leave food close to the side of the counter though. She does have some big scars from the past – who knows what stories she could tell? She bears no grudges and is a pleasant soul.
Themba has adapted well to the role of office dog when he gets the chance. Like you he does enjoy the ride and chasing the chickens who have very quickly summed him up as a threat. Indeed, feathers have flown but there were no casualties to my knowledge.
The Rhodesian Ridgeback Centennial went off better than we were hoping with at least 35 dogs at the Wag Zone on the day. Themba was still recovering from his kennel cough, which fortunately turned out to be mild, so didn’t go. There were few problems, just some “bad language” between males vying for dominance. Someone was filming and put together a video here which I thought was done rather well even if I hardly recognized myself! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYnzm1S-u24&t=8s
Training is going rather well too. I put together a video for the kennels where he and Tia are staying whilst we are in England so hopefully they will do a bit with him whilst we are away. It’s a bit slapdash but I think they’ll get the idea what to do.
We are leaving on Sunday but will drop Themba and Tia off tomorrow midday. Marianne is already in a tizz about leaving him there but he will be fine. Did we leave you there once? It’s Rose van der Ruit’s place outside Ruwa and is some 30ha so there’s plenty of space to run. Who knows, he may even enjoy the break!
I think summer might just have broken winter’s grasp. Last Friday there was ice and frost everywhere at the Wag Zone. Like any good Ridgeback Themba likes his sunny spot by the back of the garage which you also frequented.
I have been busy collecting and tidying up photos for the Rhodesian Ridgeback Centennial which is next Saturday at the Wag Zone. I didn’t have the final say in the photos chosen and the collage below is not the final by a long way but you certainly feature my handsome boy (and Jenni, Kharma, Tina, Roxy and Themba). So far we haven’t had a great response as rather a lot of people are choosing to go away in the school holidays rather than attend an important occasion like this. Odd priorities.
They are all there, the special RRs of mine!
Despite all his training Themba is not great with other Ridgeback males. Two weekends ago I took him along to the Wag Zone whilst I took photos of other dogs and got rather provocative with another male. It was all a dominance thing and no real aggression but I’m not at all sure I’ll take him along on the day, especially as all the dogs need to be on leashes. I’ll decide on the day depending on how many other dogs are there. I know you would have been beautifully behaved!
Dear Zak, We picked Themba up from the airport a week ago. Not quite the same place that you arrived at but he’d also had a long day and was crying a lot so Marianne went to chat to him whilst I started the clearing process.
The customs official was a bit suspicious of the invoice I showed him that gave his value at $75 but he couldn’t really do much about it. The whole process took about 2 hours and this time we didn’t have to wait for their lunch break like I did for you. Luckily it wasn’t too hot and he slept on the back seat all the way home.
Marianne with Themba in his gay pride/rainbow nation harness
Tia was delighted with Themba, Roxy not. This was pretty much as we expected. Roxy wasted no time in letting him know that he was to keep his nose well clear of our bed – this was her territory. Themba was still learning the rules so there were a few tense moments and the occasional bout of yelping but no contact was made so no blood spilt.
By the end of the day he had chewed and gouged my forearm, humped it and demonstrated a bark to be noticed. My boy had arrived.
We did not get a lot of sleep the first night and Marianne got up at some silly hour to let him out for a potty break. She did it again the second night but now it’s easier to clean up in the morning. Themba has proven himself to be quite the Dump Monster but in his defence he is being fed four times a day and what goes in must eventually come out. I do recall, my boy, that you also took a while to house train and one night after a fruitless wait on the back lawn you came back into the house and left a deposit by the TV. I was unimpressed.
Roxy does play with Themba but she can be a bit rough, not like Kharma was with you. She does tend to swat him into the ground and the yelping follows.
On Sunday we were outside the back kitchen door doling out ice lolly treats of frozen chicken stock. You loved them and so did Themba. Then he went snuffling in the grass where Roxy had been eating hers. Big mistake. She made a lot of noise, Themba made a lot of noise, but once again – no blood.
Monday was not a good day. Roxy was defending her bed with formidable growls and Tia was telling him to get lost and not pull her tail. It was dreadfully hot too and I arrived home to a very tense household. I even got hold of Cheryl in South Africa and she said she’d take Themba back if we really couldn’t handle the situation. I decided to sleep on it.
The next day Roxy was playing with Themba as he tried to get onto her bed! He even snuggled onto her mattress on the floor reminiscent of you sharing Kharma’s chair with her. It’s been much easier since. Roxy plays, still a bit heavy pawed and Tia will play and Themba doesn’t go for her tail much. He’s not going back to Jo’burg.
He is a clever lad and responds to his name and my whistle when he feels like it. If there’s food in the offing he’s especially responsive. A lot like you my boy!
On the road watching the girls exercise
He came with us to the farm this morning and watched Marianne and the girls out in front on the road. He’s too small to do any decent walking but he’ll get there soon enough. Then I wonder what sort of adventures we’ll have?
I am Zak 