Hello, my name is Kathrin Sonnenberg, me and my husband Richard stand behind Hillvalley´s Kennel (VDH/FCI).
We live together with our children Sophie (*´02) and Philipp (*´04) , as well as our Rhodesian Ridgebacks Leo and Diva in the southwest of Germany, in the beautiful Palatinate area.
When I was a small child, we owned a longhaired Miniature Dachshound and ever since got 
hooked with dogs. My husband grew up with various breed, including Great Danes, Irish Wolfhounds and an Irish Setter.
For several years we lived without dogs, we just fostered from time to time dogs at home, whose owners were on holidays. At the end of 1999 we felt the time was right for us and started looking for something fitting. Originally, we wanted a Crossbred male, but I came across the pictures of a gorgeous, athletic dog. I did some research in order to find out more about that breed and you already guessed it - it was a Ridgeback! So we went to see a litter nearby and soon we knew: we would like to purchase such a dog! Not before long, early in 2000, Leo moved into our home ... and the adventure commenced ;o).
Looking back, the way we finally got Leo was quite naive ("breeder" etc.), however, that´s how he became a part of our family and it is to his credit, that we were encountered to this wonderful breed. We had to experience and learn a lot, since Ridgebacks are in many ways different from other dogs.
But probably exactly for being different we love them so much and couldn´t imagine a life without our "African friends"!
Photo: Kirstin Janson
