Photos courtesy of Linda Cörper-Brook and Steffen Schock

ln November 2009, the Ridgeback world suffered a great loss with the death of 93-year-old Rosy Brook-Risse, roundly considered the grand dame of Ridgebacks in Germany, where she first introduced them. ln this document, shared with The Ridgeback Register by her good friend Giovanna Bacchini-Carr, “Rosy,” as her friends called her, shares the details of her pioneering life with Ridgebacks.

The story of Johokwe – by Rosy Brooke-Risse

There we had a “farm in Africa,” and Johokwe was in full view from our house and terrace. It was only natural that I named my kennel Johokwe.

We had emigrated to the land of my childhood dreams in 1949 to leave the war-shaken Europe for an unknown future in sunny Rhodesla. l sadly had to leave my dogs behind and was naturally pining for a new four-legged companion. I had never been without a dog from early childhood on. Maybe the love of animals was nurtured in my blood by my great-grandmother, who had been the lirst president of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, of whom my mother had told me many a fantastic story.

Everywhere, in the countryside and in towns, I had from the start observed a stately golden—red shining dog, often walking beside the pram. pushed by a black nanny. a white rosy baby inside, obviously a dog loving children and going alongside for protection. They carried a strange formulation of hair on their back, tor which they were called Rhodesian Ridgeback. For rne the dog looked impressive, proud and beautiful. So my mind was made up. My dog would be a Rhodesian Ridgeback.

Soon after, I was given a Ridgeback as a birthday present, which had been bought for 3 pound sterling via an advertisement in the paper. The 7-month-old bitch was to be picked up on a certain day at a roadside hotel on the highway. At the deserted hotel, tied to the pillar on the front porch with a heavy cow chain, waited my new dog. She was a pitiful sight and looked at us with yellow eyes out of a snipey lace with flying ears. She had a light wheaten, rather long coat, and her ridge consisted of a bushy line of hair. She stood on spindly legs and was not in the least the proud and stately dog I had seen and expected. But she was my little dog, and my heart went out to her. I went home happily.

 Alas, as much as I tried to train her, if only the basic rules, all was in vain. “Tanda,” which means gentle and sweet-natured, would not learn; on the contrary, she made herself and us most unpopular in the District by sneaking into kitchens through the back door or into chicken runs and stealing anything and everything edible. She was and remained a Kaffir dog, which such types were called in the country in those days.

But worst of all was the development of a boil on her neck, which grew and grew and was evidently painful for the dog. So I went to the nearest veterinarian 40 miles away in town. Seeing my dog, he told me my dog suffered from a dermoid sinus, and there was nothing one could do, and that it was endemic in the breed. The boil would eventually burst and spill its awful contents, the dog would be relieved for a while, but every few months this process would recur. Of course I carried on for a while, but in the end I had to do the inevitable to end the poor dog’s suffering. It was a very unforgettable experience.

But I made up my mind then not to give up and to learn everything I could about this interesting breed. I went to all the shows I could, observed the judges and their verdict and comments, and met many of the old breeders whose dogs’ names you find in many pedigrees to this day. I visited some of the famous kennels in the countny and asked the breeders many questions. Surely I was a pain in the neck, but I learned a lot about the breed, its history and the standard.

When in November 1954 we had to sell the farm and return to Europe for family reasons, we tooktwo Rhodesian Ftidgebacks along on a five-week sea voyage along the African east coast, the Mediterranean and the Atlantic via Gibraltar to Cuxhaven in Germany. We travelled on a combined freight and passenger ship with 15 other people. The dogs lived in their large travel boxes on the afterdeck and had the run of the ship. They quickly got used to life on board a ship and knew every person of the crew and passengers. Whenever we stopped at a harbor along the way for freight, the emigration clerk and doctor climbed up the rope, or Jacob’s ladder – and our dogs were ferociously defending the ship against the intruders, barking and growling, until they had to be locked up. Our ship was well guarded.

These two representatives of a new, unknown breed were the first of their kind coming into Germany in the winter of 1954/55. The young male was from the well-known and successful kennel of Miss Mabel Wellings of Bulawayo, Rhodesia. He was Rhodus of Leo Kop. l named him, as l did with all my males, “Chaka” (the name of a famous Zulu chief). The bitch, “Susan,” had been given to me by a friend. She had beautiful dark, round eyes and was a jolly dog.

l entered these two dogs at a show in Dusseldorf in 1955 and again in 1956 at Dortmund for the first World dog show in Germany after the war. Today, when the Ridgeback has almost become a vogue dog, one can hardly imagine the commotion and excitement these two first examples of a so-far unknown breed from Africa caused among spectators, journalists, photographers and cynologioally interested folk. One was mainly interested in the line of hair on the baok ot this exotic dog, the ridge. The dog won the World championship, even having only his mate as competition, only on account of his exceptional quality.

This wonderful male, Rhodus of Leo Kop (whose father was a well-known champion, Paderewski of Leo Kop), came to a bad end at the age of about 1 1/2 years old when a shot-mad so-called hunter lured him to his hunting lodge near our home with the aid of his two dogs and shot him dead from close range, a mean act. He then dug him a hole with the help of another man, went to the nearest pub, bragging that he had shot the bastard. Eventually, we heard the horrible news from the pub owner. This dog had been trained by a well-known trainer of hunting dogs for some months, who told me later that he had never had a finer pupil in all his career.

The German Kennel Club and many a dog lover were shocked and expressed their sympathy. No article from me in the press to broadcast this cruel act could bring back my precious dog alive.

For many years l was deeply depressed and put off importing a new male from Africa. One day, years later, one of those journalists who knew me and had been fascinated by my dogs called me to tell of a relative who had come from Johannesburg with his family and a young Ridgeback bitch he wanted to sell in Germany. l met the man, and on seeing the 7-month-old bitch, I was lost and bought her on the spot. She was completely starved, skin and bones, but she had beautiful dark eyes. Asking the man why she looked such a sad creature, he said they had not fed her on the three day journey. In those days there were no direct flights.

Of course my love for breeding dogs melted up again. But in those early days, vmere to find a male Ridgeback? After much inquiring I heard from Prof. Brass at me Hannover Veterinary University about a dog that had been left there by a South Afncan student on his journey for more studies in the United States. I made contact and arranged for a mating, which was successfully accomplished. The male was Bandit of Sansougi, a wonderfully stately example of the breed. I had been lucky. Sally had a fine litter, of which I kept a bitch and male puppy. But, alas, there was no market for this exotic breed in those days. You could not even give the puppies away. People had other worries in those post-war years than taking over a strange-looking puppy. How different it is nowadays, one cannot produce enough, and the danger of mass production for money is great.

The male puppy grew into a beautiful specimen. also the female. Both ran under my kennel name. Johokwe. Unfortunately, I could not breed with my dogs.

One day a man who had bought two brtches from Namibia called me asking for my stud dog. He brought them both, and both were ready for mating. From morning to evening he tried his best, until at 6 p.m. he rang the bell to tell us Chaka – this was Chaka II – had mated them both. He paid me 200 Deutchmarks for a stud fee. They were different charges in those days.

In due course the man was blessed with 24 puppies on one day. These dogs were the foundation of the Ridgeback in Germany, and their population grew from that time on. In the mid 1960s, another kennel started with Ridgebacks in Germany, the Umvuma Kennel from Mrs. Anne Miller. Later on I imported several dogs from Rhodesia. I did a lot of showing, with good success. I went to shows around the world to keep informed, also to the Ridgeback World Congresses taking place every four years in another country or continent. They started in Johannesburg in 1984, on the initiative of Brian and Liz Megginson with their famous kennel Shangara.

In 1981, I by chance met a lady with a lovely young Ridgeback bitch at a place on the shores of Lake Maggiore in Italy where I had a holiday home. Of course, as Ridgeback people do, I addressed her and expressed my surprise to find somebody with a Ridgeback in Italy. The result was that we became the best of friends ever after. It was the well-known breeder Giovanna Bacchini-Carr, who had for many years lived in Africa.

When her bitch Rhea delle Cime Blanche, this being her kennel name, had her first litter from the sire Mushana Gororo, she gave birth to 17 puppies, of which she could raise a good number. She presented me with a bitch puppy named Juba delle Cime Bianche. In due course she had a fine litter of 13 puppies from Famous Chaka. The offspring went to many countries where they passed on their good line. Myself, I kept two bitches, who did well in the show ring and had several litters that are still the basis of my kennel to this day.

Breeding has been like a drug to me. Whenever my work allowed the time, I mated my bitches. I paid particular importance to maintaining by careful selection, besides a healthy and balanced good appearance, a sound character, which is to my mind essential for this highly sensitive breed. I took great pleasure in rearing puppies. Now I only have a young male who has had good progenies so far – with wonderful character.

Dogs have given me much pleasure. A life without them is not for me. Their company and friendship are keeping me happy and have given me strength.

I have had and bred many different dogs, but the Rhodesian Ridgeback is something very special, a gift of God. He steals himself into your heart and is almost human. May this exceptional breed never be spoiled and exploited for money.