Author: Sean O'Hara

Tolby competed in his first Rocky Mountain Hound Show. Didn’t win the big prize but he made every cut, including over the #1 dog and the #1 bitch. Here he is competing with Barry Oelrich. Wendy tells me that “he’s moderate in a way that appeals to everyone”.

After going Best of Winners twice in the weekend, Tolby has completed his Championship. Wendy showed him on the second round, on the first round there was a conflict and Mark Russell stepped in, and he won. This dog has won multiple times with random handlers, he’s a natural! Someone definitely deserves a treat! CH […]

Tolby definitely enjoys the time he gets to play and hang out with his show dog friends, but as soon as he gets home, he’s all about his brothers, especially if he can climb in the bed with them.

Kathleen Russell, the amazing breeder friend from Krystal Ridge, who bred our boy Zastrow; sent me to Wendy Oelrich who showed Tolby’s uncle, Cash to #1. This is Barry Oelrich practicing with our now 7 month old Tolby. Both Barry and Wendy seemed pleased with how he did.

We live only blocks from Dick’s Sporting Good Park. Most of the dogs in the neighborhood are being brought inside, and here’s Tolby. 11 weeks old and he started off watching, then fell asleep to the sound of the fireworks. Every dog should be this cool.

Rohan and Theo both grew up with an adult ridgeback around. Zastrow the ridgeback predated both of them. So I think they know what’s coming. In the meantime, they’re going to win the wrestling against this puppy. Theo is a Pembroke Welsh Corgi and Rohan is a Standard Schnauzer. While Backcountry Ridgebacks is dedicated to […]

All of our male Ridgebacks have been named after “Backcountry” locations either at Philmont Scout Ranch or nearby in Northern New Mexico. On the drive back from Phoenix, I stopped by the Tolby Campground sign to get a picture. There is also a Tolby Peak, Tolby Meadow, and other locations. All named after the Reverend […]

The last ridgeback (Zastrow) came home wearing a green collar, but then wore a black collar for most of his life. Tolby grandsire, Ra, was Zastrow’s sire. So pretty excited to bring this kid home, especially as he’s so chill, enjoying a break from the action. Tolby is bred by the amazing Aziza’s Ridgebacks out […]

You really can’t tell the Tolby story without talking about Zastrow. I’ve backdated this post to the date of Zastrow’s death to put it in context. The sudden death of Zas is why the timing worked out on Tolbs. Zastrow was our third ridgeback, also named for a Philmont Backcountry camp. His sire is GCHG […]

Maxwell was our first male ridgeback. We had moved to Colorado and felt like Blaire needed a companion and he was the answer. Max came from Windy Ridge Ridgebacks in New Mexico and he was the ultimate companion. While Blaire was a bit high strung and determined to be the alpha, Max was happy to […]