Chili is my first dog, and he has made sure I learn everything the hard way… I had set my mind on a bitch pup from Taina’s upcoming litter, but unfortunately only three bitch pups were born to Tilly. As they were all already spoken for, Taina suggested that I’d take a male. I wasn’t that familiar with male dogs, and had my suspicions at first, but I definitely wanted a pup from Taina, and had already gotten keen on Tilly and the sire Maru. Therefore I didn’t think for too long, and by the end of the summer of 2006, Chili came home.

Despite always being a very independent dog, Chili was a really easy and kind puppy. He slept peacefully through the nights, and never tried to chew or otherwise destroy our apartment or belongings. He did, however, persistently try to chase our cats Hipsu and Piippi, perhaps imitating his ancestors in the art of hunting lions. It was also hard for him to believe that eating kitty litter is neither an allowed nor a very healthy habit. Nowadays he has learnt to be friends with all four of our cats, and he has also learnt to be a good car traveller, due to having to travel frequently back and forth from Espoo to Vaasa, due to my studies.

After reaching puberty, Chili wasn’t so easy and laid back anymore. There were times when I rang Taina or Miia (the owner of Chili’s sire Maru) in tears and desperation, and I can never thank them enough for all the advice and support that they gave me. Hopefully the worst is now behind us; we have done a lot of work with Chili and now life with him is more than wonderful. Of course there are still some days when everything seems to go wrong, but luckily Chili has matured a bit, and with that got some more sense into his head, and hopefully he will continue to get more sense still ;)

At home Chili has always been peaceful and kind; mostly spending his time sleeping and relaxing. When we go outdoors, or to meet his friends or to train, that’s when he starts to show off his energy. A bit too much at times… Chili learns new things really quickly, IF he wants to. Finding the motivation to learn has been our biggest problem yet. At times he gets really enthusiastic about his toys, sticks etc., but then there are the times when he couldn’t care less about anything I try. He usually is into food at least, but even that doesn’t work every time. One can never tell what mood our big game hunter is in today. Luckily most of the time Chili likes to train and do things together with me, and we do have a lot of hobbies, more about them here.

Chili generally likes other dogs very much, girls in particular. When love is in the air in springtime, sometimes the girls get even a little bit too interesting.  You can read more about Chili’s friends from here.

Chili has not conquered only our hearts, but also those of our families. Sampsa’s grandmother and Chili have a special bond; when Chili’s around he gets all of grandma’s attention, and also all the goodies.

Even though it hasn’t always been easy, I have never regretted choosing this particular little lion hunter as my own. Chili has already taught me so much, and will arguably teach me a lot more. He has also made sure that he will not be the last ridgeback in our family, but he will surely always have a special place in our hearts. Our own, lovable lion hunter.