Daico

About Daico

It was late September 2004 when Lieven and I decided to go see the D litter from kennel Mwenyezi Mtawala—the same kennel where our Cwazi came from. The puppies had been born on August 20th, 2004. Their mom being Chiva, Cwazi’s mother, and their dad a male I’d been keeping an eye on for a while because I thought he was so beautiful: Karoskloof TT Simply Red, better known as Bongani.

We had already decided we wanted a second ridgeback, but thought it was still a bit too early. So, we weren’t on the waiting list and all the pups already had owners. It was supposed to be just a “family visit.” But, surprise, surprise… it turned out a bit different 😉

Once we arrived in that familiar garden, where we’d spent so many hours with the C litter, we quickly started regretting our decision not to get a pup from this litter. What a wonderful litter! Two males especially caught our eye: one with a light blue collar, the other dark blue.

We were just about to say goodbye after a lovely afternoon when the phone rang. Ilse answered, and we decided to wait so we could properly say goodbye after the call. To make a long story short, during that call, it turned out a male pup would become available again—either light or dark blue. We looked at each other—Lieven, me, Johan—and without a word, the decision was made.

It was the light blue one who came home with us. He came, he saw, he conquered. In my online diary, I called him “the pup from hell,” nuff said… 😉 At just eight weeks, he was already lifting his leg to pee and growled when move from the couch. He peed on Cwazi’s bed and on ours, refused to be carried (crying so loud he made every passerby in the Soesterduinen think I was torturing him), and kept us on our toes all day long.

A ridgeback puppy like described in the books, exaggerated in everything. Puberty wasn’t much easier. Running, eating, hunting, and chasing after “the ladies” were his top hobbies. His energy was endless. He ran away at one and a half years old when our youngest son left the gate open. Three hours and a thousand gray hairs later, we found him again, wagging his tail as to say, hi there, joining my party?. He wandered as far as his eyes could see to sniff other dogs, track deer, chase hares. He destroyed my shoes, stole steaks off the table, emptied the trash cans. He whined and squeaked impatiently in the car, used the couch as a springboard before you could even blink, and yes, sometimes we wondered where we had gone wrong ;).

He’d almost crawl into me when he was allowed to lie next to me. He walked beside me when he thought there was danger, and as a young dog, always followed me whenever Lieven and I took different paths on walks. He stepped in when dogs fought, and he was Cwazi’s rock, even if sometimes a bit clumsy.

I felt nothing but love for him—and that love just kept growing. <3

He grew up, turning into a (mostly) perfectly behaved adult. Became the perfect companion on our boat trips and camper vacations. After Cwazi passed away, he was the ever-patient godfather and buddy to Cara and later to Emoji, whom he loved from day one. She couldn’t have asked for a better teacher in dog language. While we were worried about whether that old dog could handle a puppy, the two of them became inseparable.

He made us laugh every single day. Even with age, we saw that same puppy spirit in his eyes until the day we had to say goodbye. Exaggerated in everything, especially in his love for us.

Daico lived to be over 14 years old. His sister Danjuma just missed that mark, brother Diezel made it to 13, and brother Dzengo nearly made 13 too.

Looking back, with his amazing character and unbeatable health, we sometimes regret not having “trained” him to be a stud dog—showed him, officially tested for hips and elbows, and all that. But well, if you knew everything beforehand, right? 😉