Babajide 'n' Paws

As we premiere, paw's inpired kicks-off with Engr. Ayoola Adeshina Ayodeji , founder of AJAHMI KENNELS, located in Kaduna State, Nigeria, just sit back , relax and be inspired by this interview

What's your occupation sir?

I am a Civil Engineer

When did you get your first dog/pup?
I had my first pup when I was 3yrs old given to me by my grandmother.

How did you come about dogs, have you always loved dogs from your childhood or you learned to love them?

I have always had dog since when I was young and have never lived without dogs, I had my first pedigree dog at the age of 12yrs old given to me by my uncle.

Wow, that's remarkable , so loving dogs came naturally to you:

Yes

What breed was your first dog:

German Shepherd Dog

I presume you come from a family of dog lovers?

I grew up in G R.A. in Lagos State where we had a lot of white people as neighbours and they had in their houses slant back german shepherds, they came from the U S.A. Most of the houses in my Area have low fences and flowers in the compound and most times when I drop from the school bus I always go close to the gate to call the dogs and I could remember one of the dogs that usually came out of the flowers in the compound, she was always wagging her tail whenever she comes towards the gate. Yes ,in my family we love dogs;The passion for dogs in my family came with strong bond for it.

Oh! Great, its clear you have passion and love for dogs, so who enlightened you on the GSD(German shepherd dog) breed?

My love for the gsd came as a result of the breed of dogs I grew up with around my neighborhood which happens to be the gsd breed. Like the saying that says 'whatever a child see's while growing, is what the child picks as thing of interest, be it good or bad'

How many breeds of dogs do you breed now sir?

I have 2 breeds of dogs in my kennel (cane Corso and gsd). .Apart from gsd, I had ridgeback, English mastiff, rottweiler, bullmastiff,mastiff and Doberman pincher.. When someone knows there are different kind of breeds of dogs in your kennel the next thing people will start saying is that you're cross breeding your dogs even when they don't know how you do your breeding. That's when I started the study on which breed of dog to keep, with gsd being my first love in dogs so I decided to go for a breed that is not common and I lay low to grow my line of dogs for breeding after 2 yrs of Nuture and adhering to standard I came up with my lines for breeding proper.

How did you cope with your education while owning dogs?

There was always time to study and and most time's while doing my normal lessons after school hours at home, the dogs are always hanging around the compound and most times they are locked up in the cage when my mum noticed they distract me during my lesson time due to the complain from my lesson teacher ,so my mum decided they should be locked up during those moments and time to play with pet was fixed , so I grew up with the idea.

Oh! Great , so it was more of discipline and time management that made you cope?

Yes.

This is really interesting, the canecorso in Nigeria isn't a common breed?

because the Cane Corso is a very intelligent and recillient.

Wow, didn't know the ridgeback, Bullmastiff, mastiff, doberman and rottweiler were in Nigeria back then, what year was this sir?

1996

When did you own your first canecorso sir?

I had my first Cane corso in 2009.

As far back as 1996, wow, so these breeds could have been gotten in Nigeria back then:

Just few people had them in Bodija in Ibadan then

How many dogs do you own now sir, of both canecorso and German shepherd:

I have in my kennel 8 adult german shepherds , 4 newly imported medium puppies for future breeding and 22 cane Corso.

I know its not cheap feeding these dogs, can you explain how you cope with it?

Initially it was hell feeding dogs. But with well planned and feeding schedule I was able to break even on their feeding ,nutrition and medication. At this stage of breeding , feeding has become things of the past, if should compare how I feed with the way I sell my puppies people will able to pay for my puppies but I only try to pass the baton of breeding and encourage people to own pedigree dogs by creating the awareness on the breeds.

Why did you choose to breed dogs with known pedigree?

My choice is always pedigree, pedigree and pedigree. I will never take anything less than pedigree in a dog, especially for breeding to study and know which bloodlines one is gettng the dogs from.

Am sure a lot of people would want to own excellent quality of these breeds for different purposes, especially for guarding, most would want the cane corso because of its fierce look but would you recommend it to anyone that wants this particular breed?

When it comes to guard dog, I will not take anything less than cane corso. It has been tried and tested even with kids and babies. Cane Corso is an excellent breed to keep ,it can sense an intruder from 600 meters. The kennel is proudly Nigerian ,but we maintain international breeding standards on our line of dogs to get a desired output on our line of puppies ,because in my kennel I buy dog from reputable kennel's in Europe choosing puppies from championship and sieger award winning dogs.

Due to our diligence we noticed the name of your kennel is 'Ajahmi kennels' why choose this name sir and what does 'Ajahmi' mean?

Aja means dog, in Yoruba and I only try to rebrand aja by adding the letter h to it ( Ajah) ,'mi' which means 'my' in English . which literally means 'my dog' in English.

What is the difference between a dog breeder and a dog seller/peddler?
A dog breeder makes sure he/she abides by the rules of dog breeding with regards choosing the right dogs for his/her breeding program depending on what his breeding for with excellent health, conformation and temperament, being guided by the breed standard to give desired results he/she expects from his/her breeding plan and season. While dog sellers/peddlers are only concerned about what he/she will make after any deal that has to do with purchase of a pup/dog not putting into consideration the breed standard and end result nor having interest of both the breeder and the buyer but his/her own interest of making profit.

Since these pedigree dogs (GSD and Canecorso) are in Nigeria, wil it be wise for anyone to import these dogs again when i can simply come to Ajahmi kennels to get the same quality pup I will import from Europe?

Importing dogs is a thing of choice. Some people want to import dogs just because of the sentence 'I imported my dog from abroad. Just like we have dog sellers and dupe's in Nigeria so we have over there in Europe that will either dupe you,cheat you by sending inbred pup to you or send to you a pup that doesn't meet the breed standard and value you paid for, but like I rightly said one can always get pedigree puppies in Nigeria once you are linked to a reputable breeder.

How can an intending dog owner identify an ethical breeder and not fall victim of getting a dog/pup from someone that's crossbred or not up to standard:

There are questions to ask when buying a pup any breeder that will not answer your questions and allow you to see both the sire and dam of the puppy you intend buying, I think the buyer should go elsewhere.

Wow, it must have cost a fortune to import these dogs to Nigeria, like how much do your pups cost sir , for both GSD and Canecorso?

Depending on the age of the puppy, I sell at flat rate for both gsd and cane Corso. Booking starts after 3wks at booking stage puppies goes for 150k without shipping at 12wks 200k.

How can our readers / doglover contact you to buy thier future dogs /pups from you sir?
I can always be contacted on 08093000080,08037002437

Lastly

What is your advise for Nigerians who want to own or breed dogs sir and what year was your kennel founded:

To up coming breeders in Nigeria I will advise them to always have their vision and mission on what they want to go into. Its not about buying just any dog but a pedigree dog. You can be rich but if you don't have Passion and love for dogs you're not worth owning one and being a breeder is not by the numbers of dog you have , but your ability to know what you're breeding for in a dog. Some breed for money while we breeds for the breed standards, go get pedigree dogs with excellent health, conformation and temperament.

Thank you Engineer Ayoola for honoring my call and to our readers, I also thank you and implore that you stay tuned, keep reading pleasurably, keep getting inspired from our POSTS and continue to stay blessed.

(C)BABAJIDE'n'PAWS.

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Its finally here, a series which will feature and enlighten a lot , this project has been in the works for quite some time now and am glad its here to stay, this series is aimed to enlighten the general public , stake holders in the canine industry,(aspiring dog breeders, veterinary doctors about dogs etc) , with the continual growth of dog ownership in Nigeria, its essential to know why you actually own a dog and to inspire a lot out there.
Get ready for a treat, its going to be inspiring, enlightened, educative and a lot of insight with wealth of experience will be shared on this platform by renowned dog lovers and some stackholders in the canine community....

Premiering tomorrow 23-Sep-2016..

Stay Tuned...

         Its really a sad tale, as i got the sad news this morning of the passing of troy, been in contact with the Aladdin rescue team and I say, its been challenging, was present at their place two days ago , met their veterinary doctor administering drip etc... Doing the best he could to restore troy back to health.
          Mr. Tobi and Mr. Ayo of the Aladdin rescue team have been diligent watching over Troy , I can't imagine how they must feel right now, they had to watch troy go through so much pain...
           Troy's stay with the rescue team was brief but he experienced true love and care before his passing, he was just starting to experience the good side of life being rehabilitated and all , he struggled to survive and fought the good fight till the very end...
             To the Aladdin rescue team, please accept my condolence, we have more success stories to tell...
       I am babajide and I say STOP ANIMAL CRUELTY 😢

        With the overwhelming discouraging events of the economy, the best we can do is hope and have faith , hoping at the end of this crisis, it will all end for good, rate of unemployment is piling, people are being laid off from work, prices of basic needs jacked up, governance??? Well, we all know how that is, a lot are suffering and yet some are smiling, is it just me or do I feel there's a way out of this mess we are in called 'ECONOMIC RECESSION'
      It affects us one way or the other but the degree of the effect differ, this crisis has provoked some creative ideas, provoked some to dig deeper , challenged a lot to improve, made some see solutions where most anticipate problems.
         Frankly, I think we should all challenge ourselves to be better, if some can think of a way to hack into the most secure facility in the world, I believe we can find a way to hack into the problems of this country and solve it.
          Challenges are there to make us stronger, it might break you for a while but mending and healing is God's gift to us, a lady I adore so much, went for an interview hoping to get a job and yes she has done her part by graduating from one of the top universities in this country and bagged her self good grads, one would think, yes , she will most definitely get the job, right? but the interviewers were unethical and to top it all , insulted this lady's intelligence like it was nothing, take a moment to be in her shoes, I felt bad and angry when I heard this but guess what , she composed herself throughout the interview but it did hurt....
    Its not going to stop her from achieving her dreams though, because she has hope, she's hard working,smart and she inspires me..☺
     What am I trying to say? Challenges will hit you from different angles but how you handle the situation and how you intend to move forward matters a lot.
       A lot of people have given up on our dear country, a lot don't believe in the system anymore, I can't blame anyone really, why? Because its really hard to believe anything anymore but guess what?
        For every challenge you overcome , there's everything to be gained, knowledge, skill, capital etc name it...
         Never stop believing, be the beacon of hope for your generation, never give up, its just a phase but most important have hope...

I am Babajide and I believe in you, never give up...

hi! welcome to babajide and paws

Troy the survivor.... Got a lot to say , so much history about these dogs very few know.... For the sake of our viewers let's just get to the story.

Troy's a Boerboel born and bred in Nigeria, as a pup troy and his litter mates survived parvo virus, he and his litter mates were tube fed, kept till 12 weeks old before going to there new homes.

Which is the main point of this story, the reason why we must monitor , screen whoever will be going with our puppies, not everyone that buys a pup, loves the pup, we need to get to a stage in Nigeria where we let these pups go with a clear conscience, imagine, caring for a pregnant bitch to whelping , to weaning her pups off her, vet bills, sleepless nights, emotional attachments etc.

Only for someone to mess that hard work up in 1 day.

Hmmmm.... Troy as a pup was let go to his new home with the best intentions , his new home saw him as nothing more than an animal, he wasn't properly taken care of, he was malnourished, no veterinary attention whatsoever, he didn't have a good life at all.

When the breeder who sold troy went to visit , he was almost in tears, troy wasn't looking like a living being , the person who bought him gave a story about troy being sick n all, so the breeder took troy , nursed him back to full health for almost 5months and then returned troy , thinking all will be well, not knowing it was just the continuation of Troy's suffering..

Hmmmm...... Troy suffered greatly in the hands of his owner all because he wasn't barking , he wasn't aggressive (that's what the owner claimed).
Troy only ate, whenever there were left overs , which wasn't everyday, he only drank water when he was chanced too, he was in a devastating state before the breeder and the Aladin rescue team saved him, he was almost lifeless, he was all boneds, he had discharge from his ear, his coat was smelly and thick due to cemented layers of dirty that got moist and stuck to his coat, he was disfigured, couldn't move well, he couldn't even bark well, when ever he tried to bark the sound would almost be faint, his teeth was brown, don't get me started on his breathe, it was simply horrible, I wonder, this dog was in this state and his survived the parvo virus invasion that happened between the late quarter of last year and early quarter of this year, which killed a lot of dogs.....
I was almost in tears when I watched the video showing the state he was in the day he was rescued, I don't know how he felt but I know this, with the Aladdin rescue team he's in good hands, and his rehabilitation has started....

This is one of the reasons why enlightenment is key.
We need to follow up on our dogs and pups, so that what happened to troy wouldn't have to happen again.
Also as an aspiring trainer with the knowledge My mentor Mr. Idowu Abiodun has instilled in me, will do what I can to help troy with his rehabilitation.

Also follow up on his state on well being, before and after being placed into a new loving home...

This is the dream have been talking about, we need to show compassion, even when times are hard....

Dogs are living beings too, don't betray their loyalty...

Watch Out for the live interview of the Aladdin rescue and babajide Coming soon..

Until next time, its BABAJIDE and PAWS bringing you stories that matter in the canine community , our country and the world at large.

Thank you.