We are Simon and Caroline, along with our two Ridgebacks and three cats. We live together in Baden, Switzerland, where meadows, forests, rivers, historic town centres and traces of Roman civilisation characterise our landscape. The region is also known as the ‘water castle’ of Switzerland, as three of the country’s largest rivers – the Reuss from Lucerne, the Limmat from Zurich and the Aare from Bern – converge here.

Our passion for Rhodesian Ridgebacks began in early 2012, when our first dog, Nayla, came to us as a puppy and accompanied us everywhere for the rest of her life. The mountains and hiking were her world. When she was unexpectedly diagnosed with end-stage dilated cardiomyopathy at the age of 10, with a prognosis of three months, we were utterly devastated. After some time, we decided to look for a suitable kennel for our next Ridgeback. We found it at Lea Kratzer’s, Kennel Udako in Cologne, Germany. 

Sooner than we’d planned, the adorable little Mr Dunkelgrün was born on 1 May 2022, along with 12 siblings. We fell in love with him the very first time we visited and knew he was the one. On 1 July 2022, Nash joined our family and, as fate would have it, our Nayla was able to witness this moment and, against all expert advice, be a wonderful big sister to Nash for two years before her heart stopped beating forever on 1 July 2024 during our last holiday together in Italy. She was 12.5 years old and left a huge void.

Although we had never planned to have two Ridgebacks in the family at the same time, the two years we spent together with Nayla and Nash were the best thing that could have happened to us. For this reason, we decided back then that we would eventually bring a second Ridgeback into our home.

By the end of 2025, the time had come again, and little Nox, Nash’s nephew, was allowed to move in with us and has been completing our family ever since. It didn’t take long for Nash to take him to his heart, and we are delighted to see Nash so happy with his new best friend.