Ava makes her ring debut

13th December, 2015

We had a lovely evening at the show last night. At 7 months of age it was Miss Ava's -Kushika Snowball Effect [Nia x Iivar] first show. A big learning curve for her as she only had her first visit to DogsSA and a walk around the show grounds on Saturday night and some practice in a spare ring. A big thank you to Zeke & Elise for their hard work standing and checking teeth at meal times these past few weeks. She showed like an absolute pro, standing like a statue for the judge and was awarded Res CC Bitch before falling asleep on her mat in the tent for the rest of the evening. We were delighted with how well she went.

Beautiful Kara Celebrates her 14th Birthday

25th November, 2015

Special Birthday wishes to beautiful Kara who turns 14 today. Born in our very first litter, she is indeed the true Matriarch of Kushika - we wish her a wonderful day with her family and fellow Ridgies Obi and Maya.

More Lovely Track & Search Results for Hawk

17th October, 2015

Another successful day of trialling for Darren and Hawk as he makes a great start to his Track & Search Excellent Title with a Very Good rating for his TSDX4. Judge was Denise Chrystal.

New Track & Search Title for Hawk

11th October, 2015

Hawk's tracking success has continues with him today blitzing another trial to gain his Track & Search Dog Title with a Very Good rating. Great work Darren and Hawk …Go the Hawks! Judge was Judy Pillinger.

Tiger Gains his Track & Search Dog Excellent Title

5th October, 2015

Not satisfied with a two day Specialty Show in Sydney for our October long weekend, we busily packed up at the completion of judging and headed out for our first 5 hour drive to Wagga, made it to a hotel around 10:30pm, dogs fed and watered, a few hours sleep, then up again at 5am to make the 10 hour drive home to Adelaide. The goal, to get back before 7pm that evening to trial Tiger for his TSDX6 at the final Track & Search trial for the season.

Only half an hour into our Monday drive and only half way through our McDonalds coffees we hit a kangaroo – thankfully a small one, and with no major damage done were able to continue on our way. We toileted and fed dogs at 9am in Hay and with temperatures already into the 30’s got back on the road, now with me driving as Matt was now well and truly suffering from flu. For the remainder of the 7 hour drive home, temperatures hovered around 40C with strong northerly winds, not fun for travelling a large trailer of dogs. Lots of water and toilet stops, plus plenty of pushing-on saw us make it home by 5pm. Tiger was the fortunate one getting ride shotgun (or close to it, sleeping upside down in the back with his head resting on the console between us) in air-conditioned comfort with baby Tora.

After plenty of unpacking at home and a brief rest, we headed off at 6:30pm for Tiger’s Urban Night trial. He was second track on, and I was lucky enough to watch him and Matt working the street track. Despite the temperature sitting around 30C he did a great job, working methodically to navigate the route and find the track layer at the end. He passed with a rating of GOOD and in doing so has completed the required trials to gain his TRACK AND SEARCH DOG EXCELLENT Title – a great end to the tracking season, especially after 2,700kms of driving, three nights of camping (glamping?), soaring temperatures and with his handler Matt sick with flu. Tiger and Matt have competed in all 6 Track & Search Trials offered in SA this year and Tiger has gained passes in all 6 to achieve two titles in one season, his TRACK AND SERCH DOG TITLE (TSD) and his TRACK AND SEARCH DOG EXCELLENT TITLE (TSDX). Having just turned 4 years of age, we have both been delighted so see how much this young man has matured in his tracking this year and are delighted with the committed, consistent and methodical approach he brings to all his tracks. A fantastic end to the tracking season.

Kushika Enjoys Plenty of Success at the Sydney Specialty - Full Results

4th October, 2015

Well, we are finally home safely after an epic (and very hot!) trip to Sydney for the Specialty show. A big thank you to Matt for pushing me on Tuesday to commit to the 15 hour drive to Sydney as I had spent the previous three days in bed with flu, and for packing all the camping gear, dog gear and show gear, and hydrobathing our 7 ridgebacks in order for us to make this trip – without his drive to get all this done, this trip wouldn’t have happened.

Our show team certainly did us proud with all six dogs shown winning or taking placements in large classes. Tiger [Dual Ch (T) Kushika Hole In One TSD] placed 2nd (to the Res CC dog) in the largest of the dog classes, Australian Bred Dog (class entry 13) and also made the cut for Best Headed Dog. Tiger’s mother Ffion [Dual Ch (T) TS Grand Ch Kushika Tirari Emerald ET] was placed third in her debut into the Veteran Bitch (7 and under 10 years) class. Our latest baby Tora [Kushika Pure As The Driven Snö] won the baby puppy bitch class before going on to win BEST BABY PUPPY IN SHOW. Winter [Kushika Airs And Graces (AI)] who is owned and loved by Mercedes Mifsud and family was 2nd in the Puppy Bitch Class - a lovely placing for this young girl on her first trip away with the Kushika crew and only my third time handling her. Winter’s mother Tempa [Ch Kushika Tenyere Tempest] was 5th in the Australian Bred Bitch Class (class entry 12), and Nia [NBISS MRUBISS Dual Ch (T) Kushika Snö Way To Behave] finished off the weekend by winning a large Open Bitch Class and going on to be awarded BEST OPEN IN SHOW. Nia was also cut for Best gaited bitch from a large entry. At the presentations it was announced that KUSHIKA placed 3rd in the Most Successful Breeder awards. We were delighted with the consistency of awards for our breeding, especially given the judging was conducted by two different judges across the weekend. As a result of Breed Specialist Mr D Boyd being unable to travel from Ireland, the replacement judges were International Hound Specialists Mrs Vorjtek (Saturday – dog classes –Junior bitch and dog properties)& Mr Vorjtek (Sunday – balance of bitch classes, GS and Properties) from Slovakia.

A big congratulations to all the principle winners and to the RR Club Inc for all their hard work in putting on a great weekend of showing and a lovely trophy table. As always, it was great to catch up with so many friends from so far away, and as always, it all went too quickly.

Isabella [Starridge Definitely a Keaper (AI)] Awarded Best Baby Puppy In Show in Qld

4th October, 2015

More lovely news from Queensland with Cooper's daughter Isabella [Starridge Definitely a Keaper (AI)] being awarded Best Baby Puppy in Show in Queensland under Judge Mr Greg Eva [Southern Africa]. Congratulations Cyndy on another lovely win for this beautiful young girl.

Tora Awarded Best Baby Puppy In Show at the Rhodesian Ridgeback Club Inc Specialty

4th October, 2015

Tora [Kushika Pure As The Driven Snö] wins the baby puppy bitch class before going on to win Best Baby Puppy in Show. Judges were International Hound Specialists Mrs Vorjtek [Saturday]& Mr Vorjtek [Sunday] from Slovakia.

Venla Awarded Best Baby Puppy In Show at her first Show

3rd October, 2015

Wonderful news from Tuuli Viitamaa with Venla [Kushika Break The Ice] winning Best Baby Puppy in Show at her first ever show [All Breeds Championship Show]. Judge was Mrs J Sewell (WA). Biggest congratulations guys on a fabulous ring debut.

Another lovely result as Tiger works towards his Track & Search Excellent Title

20th September, 2015

Matt & Tiger completed their TSDX5 Track & Search Trial today with Tiger gaining a Very Good rating. Judge was Josie Miller.

Ffion gains her Track & Search Grand Champion Title

20th September, 2015

A fantastic night tonight as Matt and Ffion competed in her final trial - an Urban Night Street Track, passing with a rating of Good and in doing so, becoming the 2nd Kushika Ridgeback to achieve the status of Track & Search Grand Champion. Ffion and Matt embarked on their tracking career back in 2009 and through this shared love they have formed an amazing bond. Truly wonderful for us all the share in this special night - Ffion has had a successful show career in the specialty and all breeds arena, been a wonderful brood bitch to mammoth sized litters and has achieved all there is to achieve in the world of Tracking and Track & Search. She truly is one of the greats.

Hawk Completes his TSD2 with an Excellent Rating

4th September, 2015

Lovely news from Victoria today with Hawk passing his TSD2. He and Darren must have done a sensational job as he was given a grading of Excellent. Darren was delighted with how he worked "like he was on rails" - and those that trial know, these ratings aren't handed out that often to Ridgebacks. Judge was Kim Houlden.

Nia Completes her first Track & Search Trial

23rd August, 2015

Matt & Nia completed their first Track & Search Trial today with Nia gaining a Very Good rating. Judge was Sheila Smith.

Marion Winter Show Weekend Wrap-up

26th July, 2015

We enjoyed a lovely weekend at the Marion Kennel Club shows last weekend. It was our third Championship show weekend this year, and Nia's first since October last year!

Highlights from the weekend included Nia [NBISS MRUBISS Dual Ch (T) Kushika Sno Way To Behave] winning a 16pt Bitch Challenge - only 10.5 weeks after the arrival of her first litter, and Tiger [Dual Ch (T) Kushika Hole In One TSD] winning Open Dog & Dog Challenge from a large lineup. Thank you to Karen for handling Tiger to his 23 point Best of Breed win and for showing him so beautifully in the Group line up. Tiger was shortlisted to final 6 hounds from a lovely strong group lineup. All three Tempa x Guna Minor puppies also showed beautifully with Katie [Kushika Air Above The Tempest AI] winning Best Minor Puppy of Breed and going on to win Best Minor Puppy in Group with her owner/handler Sona. Judge was Mr H Lehkonen (Finland) with group entry of 118 Hounds. Nero [Kushika Air Apparent AI] was also awarded Best Minor Puppy in Group on Saturday under Mr G Carleton (NZ), and Winter [Kushika Airs and Graces AI] also showed beautifully for Mercedes on all three days- so lovely to see the young kids and their new handlers doing so well.

It was a very cold weekend despite the Winter sunshine, and we had some very long days waiting till 6pm for the General Specials so we were very thankful to have hired the marquee. It was lovely to catch up with our interstate friends Karen & Trish for the weekend and see their lovely young dogs doing so well too.

Tiger Shortlisted for Group at the Marion Kennel Club Show

24th July, 2015

Lovely results for Tiger [Dual Ch (T) Kushika Hole In One TSD] today winning Open Dog & Dog Challenge from a large lineup. Thank you to Karen for the taking over to handle Tiger to his 23 point Best of Breed win and for showing him so beautifully in the Group line up. Tiger was shortlisted to final 6 hounds from a lovely strong group lineup. Judge was Mr H Lehkonen (Finland) with group entry of 118 Hounds.

Katie Wins Best Minor in Group at the Marion Kennel Club Show

24th July, 2015

Congratulations to Sonja who did a fantastic job today in showing Katie [Kushika Air Above The Tempest AI] to win Best Minor Puppy of Breed before going on to win Best Minor Puppy in Group. Congratulations Sonja on such a lovely win. Judge was Mr H Lehkonen (Finland).

Tiger Makes a Great start for his Track & Search Excellent Title

11th July, 2015

Matt & Tiger completed their TSDX4 Track & Search Trial today with Tiger gaining a Good rating. Judge was Pat Fickling.

Nia Gains her Tracking Champion and Dual Champion Titles

11th July, 2015

Only 8.5 weeks after the arrival of her first litter, Nia and Matt braved the 'arctic blast' that was covering southern Australia (complete with snow falling on Mt Lofty in the Adelaide Hills!) to compete in her first Tracking Trial for 2015. Almost 11 months since her last trial, and with only a quick practice track the week before, Nia did a wonderful job, despite the extremely windy conditions tracking an unknown person over a distance of 1.2kms with no less than 6 changes of direction and two cross tracks to pass her Test 8 and gain her Dual Champion (Tracking) title. Nia has been a little unlucky over the years to have been balloted out from 2 trials due to large entry numbers, but she has worked consistently with Matt to gain all three tracking titles without failing a test.

Nia will now be known as NBISS MRUBISS Dual Ch (T) Kushika Sno Way To Behave. She is such a versatile Ridgeback and one that always gives 100% in all her endeavors -to us, she really is one in a million. We just love our little red Swedish Nia.

[Photographed December 2015 with end of season sash]

Jarla gains her Track & Search Grand Champion Title

3rd July, 2015

Biggest Congratulations to Trish and Jarla who today reached the pinnacle of their tracking career. Trish and Jarla did a fantastic job of navigating the urban night street track to gain Jarla's Track & Search Grand Champion title. I know it was a very special moment for Trish and Darren at Bartess Kennels as Jarla's dad Buzz took his track & Search career as far as possible at the time gaining his TSDX so I'm sure he would have been smiling down at his daughter Jarla on this great achievement. Jarla's is Kushika's first homebred Track & Search Grand Champion so we too are very proud of all that she has achieved. Big celebrations when you come to Adelaide later this month!

Tiger Gains his Track & Search Title

21st June, 2015

Matt & Tiger completed their third Track & Search Trial today with Tiger gaining a Good rating and his Track & Search Dog Title. Judge was Nid Watt.

Litter 15 Has Arrived

13th May, 2015

We are absolutely delighted to announce that our carefully planned and long awaited first litter for Nia -NBISS MRUBISS Ch Kushika Snö Way To Behave TDX to the handsome Iivar -CIB Fin/Est/Lv/Ltu/Balt/Aust/Est Jr Ch Inyeti's Itika (Imp FIN) has arrived safely. Nia naturally delivered 12 beautiful puppies – 8 girls (1 r/l, 1 multicrown with a DS detected) and 4 boys (1 r/l). All 9 ridged puppies appear to have correct, stunning ridges, and all puppies have minimal white and are free from kinks. A big thank you to Tuuli Viitamaa for allowing us to use your gorgeous boy. Nia has naturally taken to her new maternal duties and is an excellent mum. Looking forward to watching these babies grow.

Continued Success for Tiger in Track & Search

31st May, 2015

Matt & Tiger completed their second Track & Search Trial today with Tiger gaining a Very Good rating. Judge was Josie Miller.

Tiger Makes a Great Start in Track & Search

9th May, 2015

Matt & Tiger completed their first Track & Search Trial today with Tiger gaining a Good rating. Judge was Nid Watt.

Lovely Tracking Results from Victoria for Jarla and Hawk

2nd May, 2015

Lovely news from Victoria today with Darren tracking Hawk to complete his first Track and Search trial with a rating of Very Good. Trish and Jarla also had a good day with Jarla achieving a rating of Good for her Track and Search test 9 Judge was Denise Chrystal.

Show successes for the Air Litter at their first Championship Shows

26th April, 2015

Well the Tempa x Guna babies had their first Championship Shows this weekend and all three did exceptionally well. Nero [Kushika Air Aparent] missed the Open shows a month ago so he was a complete show newbie but stole the show on Saturday with a Baby Puppy In Group award from a lovely lineup of 5-6 babies. Rafa [Ch Kushika Match Point] was awarded Best of Breed. Nero was also Baby of Breed on Sunday and Katie [Kushika Air Above The Tempest] (who wasn't at the Saturday show) won the Baby Puppy Bitch Class over sister Winter. Unfortunately no photos of Katie as Photographer Matt and Ffion were Track & Search Trialling on Sunday where they did a wonderful job of their Test 9 with Ffion passing with a "Very Good" rating. ....Only one more trial to go for her "Grand" .

Ffion makes a lovely start to her Track & Search Grand Champion Title

26th April, 2015

Ffion did a great job today navigating the urban street track, including the section where the tracklayer was picked up and driven a section of the track in the car. She passed with a rating of Very Good. Only one more trial to go Ffion. Judge was Josie Miller.

Thandani x Tiger Litter Arrives

9th March, 2015

We were delighted to be woken today by the news of puppies arriving. Thandani did a wonderful job delivering 11 strong healthy puppies [7 females and 4 males]. Congratulations Stefan and family - can't wait to watch these precious babies grow.

Exciting news as we eagerly await the arrival of Tiger's first litter

14th February, 2015

We Farewell our beautiful Tempa x Guna Puppies

7th February, 2015

Wishing all their new families the very best with their newest members. We are thankful as always for the wonderful families that have registered for our puppies, it's been so lovely getting to know you all and we look forward to following all the puppies progress and catching up with you all very soon.

Kushika is Awarded Advance Rhodesian Ridgeback Breeder of the Year Award Australia Wide

16th January, 2015

A great achievement for all involved - CONGRATULATIONS TEAM KUSHIKA!!!