Contact
Barbara Sawyer-Brown
651 W. Belmont Ave.
Chicago, IL 60657
773.281.5569
kwetureg@ameritech.net

I have been involved with Rhodesian Ridgebacks since purchasing my first one in 1966. Since then I have bred more than 100 champions. Many of these dogs have ranked in the top ten ratings, and five of these held the #1 position. I am the only breeder in the USA to have produced 7 All Breed Best In Show Rhodesian Ridgebacks. Five more were sired by Kwetu dogs. The 2002 National Specialty Winner was sired by a Kwetu dog as was the OCRRC Specialty won by a Kwetu bred dog. Two Kwetu Ridgebacks won BISS. My dogs and bitches have been top producers and I am proud to share in the success of other breeders by providing them with breeding foundations.

My kennel-name of KWETU depicts our atmosphere. My dogs are house pets...we do not have kennels. KWETU, a Swahili name meaning "Our Home" still remains a small, but serious "hobby kennel" devoted to a search for Excellence.
I am currently licensed by the AKC to judge 14 breeds including (of course) Rhodesian Ridgebacks. I have judged Rhodesian Ridgebacks at Specialty Shows in Australia (twice in ten years), New Zealand and at the Rhodesian Ridgeback Club of the US, Inc National Specialty Show in Ocala Florida in 1994 (elected to do so by my peers). In 1995, I judged Ridgebacks in Sweden. In 1996 I judged a record entry of 185 Ridgebacks in England, and then traveled to Denmark, Holland & Israel, where I also judged Ridgeback Specialty Shows (also record entries). In Holland, two additional judges had to be hired to accommodate the number of entries. I judged a Ridgeback Specialty Show in Naples, Italy (and a Beagle Specialty) in November of 1999 and in Germany and Canada in June 2000, and a Regional Ridgeback Specialty (OCRRC)in California in June of 2001. I was invited to judge another RR Specialty in Australia (2002) but had to decline. I was also invited to judge the first ever Ridgeback Specialty, in Brazil and a second specialty in Israel. In 2003 I judged a satellite show connected with the RRCUS. I judged the RRCUS National Specialty in Sept. 2004. This was the 2nd time I judged the National in America, voted to do so by the RRCUS membership. In 2006 I returned to Italy, this time to the Tuscan region, honored to be asked to return to judge another club show.

I was a founding member and National Director of Rescue for the Rhodesian Ridgeback Club of the US, inc. and Rhodesian Ridgeback Rescue of the US (aka RRUS, inc). I am an Official Mentor of the RRCUS, inc.

My club affiliations are: