NWRRC Member Profile

Kathy Thompson

Founding Member 1989

Kathy Thompson, of K-Tai Rhodesian Ridgebacks, was a founding member of our Club, which was formed in 1989! She has served on the board at various times and was a two-term Club President. Kathy says, “I don’t think the club has changed much except for the increase in numbers and the Facebook group. The club still makes education a priority and welcomes new Ridgeback owners. We also still have hard workers and great enthusiasm.” Kathy has been a resource for untold numbers of RR people in the Pacific Northwest and her dogs’ pedigree can be found nationwide. Kathy has been breeding Ridgebacks since 1980 - her foundation bitch was “Tai,” Ch Askari’s Tai of DeGeare CDX TD and a weight pull champion. Yes, you read that correctly: a weight pull champion. Kathy has done a wide variety of things with her dogs, and in addition to weight pull, there’s everything from truffle hunting to lure coursing, obedience, and conformation.

Kathy, 2nd from the right, with her first RR, Tai, upon winning a tracking title.

Kathy says, “I retired about five years ago from my career as a registered nurse, primarily in the area of Public Health. Having never been married or had children, Ridgebacks became my family. I also trained horses for a couple of decades, most recently teaching my neighbor’s two horses to drive. I now have the honor of caring for my Mom, who is almost 98 years old, so each day is a gift. The dogs love her. If they get too rambunctious, Mom just shakes her walker at them!”

Growing up: My family had boxers when I was a kid, which were strictly pets. I didn’t know what a dog show was until I was nearly 30 years old. I obtained my first pup of my own at about 17 years old which was a terrible mistake. I learned all the things one should not do when they own a dog. Having learned from Heidi what not to do, I waited until I bought my first place in North Idaho when I was about 28 years old before getting my next dog, a field English Springer Spaniel.

Ridgebacks: In North Idaho, I was working nights at the local hospital and started riding with another woman in my free time. She had a Rhodesian Ridgeback called Riley that was the smartest dog I had ever met. He would go with us riding the country back roads. At each driveway, Riley would wait. If the ranch dogs ran down to bark at us, he would beat them up. If they left us alone, he would trot to the next driveway. I went back to Riley’s breeders who were some retired show breeders out of California, getting a pup from their last show champion. They offered me pick pup as I was first on the list so I picked the top female. The breeders said she was the dominant pup and would test me, and she was right! Tai taught me everything and I miss her every day.

One of the most surprising things I learned about RRs, starting with Tai, is that they have awesome communication skills with both people and other dogs. It’s something I just don’t see in other breeds.

Kathy sledding with her Ridgebacks and Tai in a weight-pulling competition!

I started out with Tai in obedience and tracking, then conformation and weight-pull competition. She also became lead dog on my sled dog team. She ended up Ch Askari’s Tai of DeGeare CDX TD. Greta, who I recently put an DC on (Note: a “DC” means that Greta has both her AKC Conformation and Field Champion titles!), is 13 generations down from Tai. I put CDs on several other Ridgebacks, started coursing when that opened up and had five generations of Best in Field (BIF) winners. When Rally came along, we did that too. My favorite thing was taking my dogs on long hikes and horseback rides.

Watching the dogs handle the rough terrain for miles taught me more about working conformation than anything else. Currently, I’m doing nosework with Teya and have taught Hunter to hunt for truffles. I’m hoping to train Teya on truffles in the next year.

The primary effect of my medical experience with Ridgebacks was the emphasis on strong, healthy genetics from the very beginning. So many other breeds have been ruined by careless breeding and I swore that I wouldn’t let that happen in my Ridgeback breeding.

I bred Tai when she turned two years old and had her hips done which was the only health screen done back then. She had finished her championship and I connected with the owner of a nice champion Ridgeback that I admired.

Advice for Breeders: Find a mentor with strong ethics as well as a broad knowledge base when you first start. Give yourself grace because mistakes are constant. Third, I made the decision early on that I wanted a breed that didn’t have to depend on man to survive so I bred first for as few health issues as possible, did new health screens when they became available, ensured that all my breeding stock could breed naturally and the dams whelped easily and were excellent mothers. I also studied structure and part of essential type for me is structure that doesn’t break.

Advice for New Ridgeback Owners/Puppy People: Let your dog teach you. Learn body language and use it. Your dog is studying your every slight movement. Other than that, keep them away from roads as I’ve never seen a Ridgeback with any sense around cars.

Breeding great dogs is my passion and my proudest moments are watching pups I’ve bred doing fabulous things with their owners. I dog I bred named Willow is a service dog and others have gotten multiple dogs from me. Some are doing top level obedience and agility.

Another proud experience is to watch people who I have mentored going on to become wonderful, independent thinkers in the breed. I practically burst with pride in watching them grow. These are what fills my heart with joy.

I think the Ridgeback people in the Northwest are a fantastic group of people, worthy of our breed.

Kathy Thompson