November 2003
Discover Dogs is the biggest big dog show held at Earls Court in London. "Lamai" a black Thai Ridgeback owned by David Powell and Valerie Wroe is taking part in a training demonstration for the Kennel Club at the show. This is the first time a Thai Ridgeback has been invited to this show. We are very proud that Lamai (meaning "HAPPY") has been asked to attend. Good luck to Lamai, Valerie and Dave. Also our dog "Suki" appears in this month's issue of "Your Dog" magazine after a reader saw the breed at one of the shows over the summer.

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October 2003
Your Dog magazine ring to ask us about doing another breed feature in November after one of their readers saw our dogs at the Wag & Bone Dog Show in August.

August 2003
We attend the "Wag & Bone Show" at Ascot and made a real impression on the show. We also attend the "Thai Festival" which runs over 4 days.

July 2003
Meechi eventually arrives in England. "Kato" our male pick of the litter has now overtaken "Mui" in size. Suki appears in "Your Dog" magazine regarding her and her pups.

June 2003
Due to the article we have many new members to our club.

May 2003
Some of the pups start to overtake mummy Suki in size. "Dogs Monthly" does a breed feature about the Thai Ridgeback in this country. This is the first known publication in England about this breed.

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April 2003
The pups are settling into their new homes with their new families.

March 2003
We receive a letter from the Kennel Club informing us that the Thai Ridgeback cannot be accepted onto the Imported Breed register on 2 grounds: -
1. There wasn't a reciprocal agreement with the United Kennel Club or the Kennel Club of Thailand.
2. There were missing parentage (Great, Great Grand parents) on some of the pedigrees submitted.

The pups are allowed out and have enrolled in obedience training at our local club. We see "Lamai" there regularly.

February 2003
We await the results of the meeting from the Kennel Club regarding the Thai Ridgeback being accepted onto the Imported Breed Register. No letter comes. The pups are much more mobile on their feet and getting into mischief daily. The first pup to leave the nest is a black female called "Lamai" who goes to her new owners Dave Powell and Valerie in London.

January 2003
Meechi fails her blood test for not having enough anti-bodies to fight against Rabies and has to re-apply which means another 6 months in Spain. The pups are growing fast. Suki returns to obedience training.

December 2002
At the beginning of this month Tracey and Tim Eldred brought over the first red female Thai Ridgeback into the UK. Their pup Koi is a vibrant red with a black mask. On 25th December 2002 Suki gave birth to 8 healthy puppies. " males and 6 females. It was the most memorable Christmas to date. We were all in a euphoric shock. Yesterday there were 4 Thai Ridgebacks in the UK and today 12. The pups are as follows: -

1. Kato - male - deep mahogany red
2. Chi-Chi - female - black
3. Lamai - female - black
4. Boo-Boo - female - deep mahogany red
5. Narai - female - deep mahogany red
6. Tala - female - deep mahogany red
7. Nooni - female - deep mahogany red
8. Lupo - male - deep mahogany red

November 2002
Timo and Mui arrive in the UK and become the first red and blue male to enter this country. Suki is starting to get very fat and we are feeding her several times a day with chicken, beef and fish. The Kennel Club discuss the proposed recognition of the Thai Ridgeback onto the Imported Breed Register but request all pedigrees to be submitted first. They cannot proceed until this has been done and will discuss it at the next meeting held on February 27th 2003.

October 2002
Suki isn't showing any signs of pregnancy but it's still a little early.

September 2002
Suki comes into heat and we must travel to Spain to get her mated with our red male Timo. Suki and Timo pair up nicely and we now have to play the waiting game to see if she is pregnant.

August 2002
We go out to Spain to visit all of our dogs and have a great time.

July 2002
Dave arrives in Spain to look after Timo and Mui for the next few months whilst they await their documents to travel on the "Pet Passport Scheme". He settles into a routine with the dogs and they become house-trained within a matter of days.

June 2002
The breeders allow Meechi to travel at 3 months of age and she arrives from Thailand into Spain. My father and brother are there to pick her up from Madrid airport.

May 2002
The breeders won't allow "Meechi" to go at 8 weeks of age onto the plane for a long flight to Spain. We do however receive the red and blue male at Malaga airport in Spain. The red male we call "Timo" and the blue male we call "Mui". Once again we bribe them with chicken and they become our best friends. These 2 Thai Ridgebacks are apparently the first Thai Ridgebacks in Spain.

April 2002
Dave goes back to check up on our little bundle of joy and discovers that they also have a pick of litter red male of excellent temperament. He also sees a magnificent blue male which also has a good temperament. Lucky for us the red male doesn't get on with their stud male and so they agree to sell us him. More reluctantly they also agree to sell us the blue male also. Surprisingly these 2 males get on well with each other.

March 2002
Dave rings the breeders and they tell him that their bitch only gave birth to 2 pups, one male and 1 female. He visits the breeders when the pups are 2 weeks old. The pups look healthy and Dave is very impressed with their attitude towards dog breeding. They are a nice family and share the same ideas with us of what makes a good Thai Ridgeback. They have a small number of dogs and good breeding ethics. Dave reserves us a big female from the litter.

February 2002
Dave leaves Koh Samui and heads back up north in search of dogs. He is invited to meet with officials from the Kennel Club of Thailand who try and help our cause. He visit more kennels but still has no luck. He hears of a breeder who is expecting a blue litter in a few weeks we hold out some hope.

January 2002
David starts voluntary work at Koh Samui Dog rescue to learn more about the stray Thai dogs that roam the island. There seems to be many Thai Ridgeback crosses. He meets the very special "Blinky" a Thai Ridgeback cross who is completely blind who lives in the rescue centre. Still no dogs.

December 2001
Christmas is upon us once again and we have a cosy Christmas here whilst Dave enjoys a break down south on Koh Tao.

November 2001
Suki is doing great with her training and passes her "Silver"
Kennel Club Good Citizen test. We are really pleased with her progress. We receive a response from the Kennel Club in which we are told to wait until it can be discussed at the next available committee meeting which may take several months due to a busy agenda. Tried calling Peter several times and keep getting told he's not around. Eventually catch up with and guess what….he's too busy again! Receive an e-mail from him telling me of an exciting blue litter due in a few weeks and then asking me for £1000 for another pup……WHY???? I still don't know. I start looking for another breeder. I employ David Jones to go in search of the best Thai Ridgebacks he can find in all of Thailand. David (Dave) Jones reports in regularly and attends the big famous "Impact Show". He meets lots of breeders and sees many red and black dogs but no blues. He knows what we are looking for but doesn't find it at the show. He agrees to meet with lots of breeders and goes to several kennels. He sees nice red dogs but with no pedigrees. He has been promised blue dogs but no one seems to breed them.

October 2001
We apply to the Kennel Club to have the Thai Ridgeback put on to the Imported Breeds Register which is the first step in getting the breed recognised. It is the equivalent of the American Kennel Club's "Foundation Stock". Wrote more e-mails to Peter but he doesn't return any correspondence. I end up calling him but guess what…..he can't talk, too busy!

September 2001
We take Suki to her first Thai Ridgeback dog show in Holland courtesy of Dirk and Irene Zwier. We have lots of fun and meet lots of exciting people with the same passionate interest in the Thai Ridgeback dog. Suki gets 1st in her class but unfortunately she is the only one in her class so there wasn't any competition. Tried getting in contact with Peter but he doesn't return my e-mails.

August 2001
On the Saturday 4th August 2001 on the day we are due to go on holiday we are advised to put Minky to sleep due to her suffering. We miss our flight and we are all in shock. I break the news to the children. Peter Checkley promises a new pup but blames the vet for Minky's death. I ask again for contact details of other owners of the other littermates, Peter stalls me by saying he has contacted them himself and no one else has problems. I still ask for the contacts to satisfy my own curiosity.

July 2001
Minky's health deteriorates and she develops open wound lesions all over her body. She is removed from the kennels and moved to the local veterinarian clinic in which she is put into intensive care and monitored 24 hours a day. I ask Peter for details of owners of the other littermates from Minky. Peter says he will send them. Suki passes her "Bronze" Kennel Club Good Citizen test.

June 2001
Our pup from Peter eventually arrives and we call her "Minky". She arrives in poor health, she came in with Kennel Cough, she is very weak, she has several broken teeth, she has a skin problem, ticks and she is very under weight. She is well below average and far from a high quality show bitch. We love her with all her faults and try to start the process of getting her back to health.

May 2001
We take Suki out for long walks everyday introducing her to all sorts of sounds and places as well as other animals. We start basic training with Suki. She makes a real impact in the class. We notice a massive advance in her training in the first few weeks.

April 2001
On 18th April 2001 Suki comes out of quarantine and we introduce to England properly. She is very excited but a little nervous as she leaves the kennel. We start up the British Association of Thai Ridgebacks (BATR) which is the first Thai Ridgeback club here in the UK.

March 2001
We continue with her training in the kennel but we are getting very excited about her coming out next month.

February 2001
We visit Suki every other day and bring her warm chicken every time we visit. We buy her another coat even warmer than before and bring her more chicken. I'm sure she regards us as the "Chicken People".

January 2001
Start of a new year and it is still rather cold. Suki has destroyed her Christmas coat but we still bring her chicken. We still await our puppy from Peter.

December 2000
Suki has her first Christmas in England. Very cold here so we buy her a beautiful fleecy coat. We give her more warm chicken. We still await our blue female from Peter. Suki gets a whole warm chicken for a special treat.

November 2000
I travelled to Thailand for 1 week to learn more about the Thai Ridgeback. Met some great breeders and made some good contacts. Unfortunately met Peter Checkley and paid in advance for a blue female of the highest quality to arrive before Christmas 2000. More chicken for Suki.

October 2000
We begin teaching Suki basic commands and start getting her used to her name. We use warm chicken to entice her.

September 2000
We got our first Thai Ridgeback "Suki" from America. She is the first Thai Ridgeback in our country. She enters quarantine for 6 months and is due out in April 2001. We greet her with warm chicken. She is a real hit for the staff at the kennels and makes a special bond with a girl named Julie.