About Us
Our names are Debbie and Walter Cooper, and we settled in the Denver Colorado area in 2005. We've lived in almost every corner of the country, from Michigan to Miami and San Diego to Philadelphia. Debbie is active in the ridgeback community, both locally and nationally. She is a member in good standing with The Rhodesian Ridgeback Club of the United States (RRCUS), the Colorado Rhodesian Ridgeback Club (CRRC), and previously served as Chair of the Ethics Committee of the national breed club, RRCUS. She participates in Conformation and Lure Coursing events around the country. Professionally, when she is not spending time with Ridgebacks Debbie is an Operations executive at a Fortune 150 Media company headquartered in Denver.
Walter is an internationally known yachting photographer who also uses his talents to capture the essence of our Ridgebacks in many of the pictures you see on this website. He enjoys Lure Coursing, but prefers to cheer from ringside at Conformation events. You can see some of Walter's work on his website waltercooperphoto.com
We became involved with this wonderful breed when we lived in the Philadelphia area and like many first-time Ridgeback owners were simply looking for a companion. However, the breeder we wanted to work with had a lengthy waiting list for “companion” puppies so we decided to take the plunge and enter the show world. We were entrusted by Sandie Gordon and Gail James with a show-potential male who was just so cool he only needed one name… “Cooper” joined our family in April 2002. We enjoyed the camaraderie of the show world, and Cooper quickly earned his AKC Ch. title at just over 1 ½ years of age. We were hooked, and our friendships with our breeders and other Ridgeback people blossomed. Our foundation bitch, Garnet, joined us a short time later. We kept a puppy from each of Garnet’s litters to build our breeding program, and are now breeding our third home-bred generation. Through Sandie and our friend Diane Jacobsen of Calico Ridge Ridgebacks, our second foundation bitch Delta joined our house giving us a complementary line to build our breeding program. We lost Garnet in July 2013 but her legacy continues through her babies and grandbabies, and her offspring have become key parts of other breeding programs. Delta followed Garnet to the Rainbow Bridge in October 2015 but her gentle ways are still with us through her grandson Archer. Debbie is involved in showing dogs from our previous litters as well as those that live in our house.
Walter is an internationally known yachting photographer who also uses his talents to capture the essence of our Ridgebacks in many of the pictures you see on this website. He enjoys Lure Coursing, but prefers to cheer from ringside at Conformation events. You can see some of Walter's work on his website waltercooperphoto.com
We became involved with this wonderful breed when we lived in the Philadelphia area and like many first-time Ridgeback owners were simply looking for a companion. However, the breeder we wanted to work with had a lengthy waiting list for “companion” puppies so we decided to take the plunge and enter the show world. We were entrusted by Sandie Gordon and Gail James with a show-potential male who was just so cool he only needed one name… “Cooper” joined our family in April 2002. We enjoyed the camaraderie of the show world, and Cooper quickly earned his AKC Ch. title at just over 1 ½ years of age. We were hooked, and our friendships with our breeders and other Ridgeback people blossomed. Our foundation bitch, Garnet, joined us a short time later. We kept a puppy from each of Garnet’s litters to build our breeding program, and are now breeding our third home-bred generation. Through Sandie and our friend Diane Jacobsen of Calico Ridge Ridgebacks, our second foundation bitch Delta joined our house giving us a complementary line to build our breeding program. We lost Garnet in July 2013 but her legacy continues through her babies and grandbabies, and her offspring have become key parts of other breeding programs. Delta followed Garnet to the Rainbow Bridge in October 2015 but her gentle ways are still with us through her grandson Archer. Debbie is involved in showing dogs from our previous litters as well as those that live in our house.
Our Philosophy
Although our dogs are accomplished in the conformation ring and on the coursing field, first and foremost they are our family companions. We believe in meeting potential puppy buyers and discussing the breed with them before placing a puppy so we can determine if a Ridgeback is the “right fit” for their personal situation. We are committed to supporting our puppies and their people for the lifetime of the dog (and beyond) so we believe that investing the time up front to understand our puppy owners and their needs is well spent. We breed only infrequently, which for us means we have only one litter per year or less as our goal is quality, not quantity.
We do not, nor will we ever, cull a puppy from a litter unless a serious health issue is found that is determined to significantly compromise the puppy’s quality of life. We put our full hearts into our breeding program and we believe that puppies born with cosmetic defects – including ridgelessness – should be allowed to bring as much joy to their families as our show-potential puppies do. Puppies with these cosmetic defects are placed with a limited AKC registration and contracts requiring spay/neuter at the appropriate age.
We do not, nor will we ever, cull a puppy from a litter unless a serious health issue is found that is determined to significantly compromise the puppy’s quality of life. We put our full hearts into our breeding program and we believe that puppies born with cosmetic defects – including ridgelessness – should be allowed to bring as much joy to their families as our show-potential puppies do. Puppies with these cosmetic defects are placed with a limited AKC registration and contracts requiring spay/neuter at the appropriate age.
