POTJIEKOS might just be a first! Often you’ll be told that any mix breed red/tan looking dog is “Ridgeback cross”. And often that simply isn’t the reality.
Born on October 24th 2025, Potjiekos, or Potjie as we call him, was born on the one year anniversary that our rescue’s namesake, Pikelet, passed away.
The rescue was closed to new intakes, we had just weathered our first (and hopefully last) parvovirus outbreak. But then a call came through, a little red purebred pedigree Rhodesian Ridgeback born with a full hard and soft palate cleft was in need of rescue. How could we say no?! After all, Pikelet was a very deep red (in colour) English staffy. A red boy born on this sad anniversary felt serendipitous.
So what is this name “Potjiekos aka Potjie”? In South Africa & Zimbabwe (an colony previously known as Rhodesia) a potjiekos, literally translated “small-pot food”, is a dish prepared outdoors.
And so it felt like a good fit, plus the pronunciation of “Potjie” sounds a lot like “Pikey” but with a Kath & Kim-esque accent “Poiii-key” 😂
Anyway, enough about names and kismet happenings, lets get down to business in telling you all about this beautiful, handsome boyo.
Aside from the obvious (stunning good looks) Potjie is still just a baby at 5 month old. I’ve spoken extensively with his breeder, and while she breeds for good health, breed standards and for possible dog show quality, she did say that the temperament of her Ridgebacks is closer to that of a Labrador. And, I have to agree. Potjie is not a super instinctual ridgeback, he is all legs and ears still, and while he is a great poser for photos, he isn’t the sharpest tool in the big LoP shed. But brains aren’t everything, Potjie has a very gentle, sweet nature about him. He would make a wonderful family dog with young kids, older kids, no kids, many adults, or just one.
He LOVES his crate, mostly because he knows that crate time is treat time. Potjie is very very much food motivated, he has been known to thieve full pieces of toast, sip unsupervised coffee or even wine! He just wants everything in his belleh, and he wants it now!
And while it has become difficult to train Potjie in a house full of foster dogs, he has learnt to sit, and as mentioned, he is crate trained.
Potjie is not a dominant dog, and he gets a little nervous around full on alfa type canines. He really needs another calm, gentle canine sibling (or 2, 3, 4 etc). He loves to play rumble, but not the full on staffy bite face, he is a bit too sensitive for that.
Sometimes this big baby loves nothing more than to be scooped up by his foster mama, legs folded in and snuggled on the sofa. Potjie has a very loving nature about him, he loves one on one human affection.
BEFORE you read Potjiekos’ adoption criteria it is extremely important that potential adopters give great thought and communicate in their adoption application as to what their home set up and routine plan is for the first few weeks/months if they are the successful adopter of this most precious doggo. Potjie cannot be settled in over just a weekend and then left on a Monday home alone while you return to work… There needs to be a plan outlined so that his foster family can feel assured that he is going to be set up for success in his new home.
ADOPTION CRITERIA
Deal breakers:
- Potjiekos needs to go to a home where he has at least one canine sibling, this is only negotiable with foster/forever families we have met previously who are home full-time. This little boy can be a bit of a shy poppet, if he were to be adopted with no other canine siblings to learn from, we think he might end up with behavioural issues due to his lack of confidence.
- A daily routine and some socialising, Potjie is a bit of a scaredy cat and needs a family who are ready to introduce him to the wide world and teach him all the things outside of farm life!
- We’ve had such great success with Potjiekos and getting him to grow into his paws since making the switch from a kibble diet (that most clefts eat) to a complete balanced raw diet, so we would like Potjie to stay on this diet in his new home.
- Puppy training, Potjie is very comfortable in his foster care bubble, however he really needs some more training as he has not yet mastered walking on the leash and other fun such things.
- It is not negotiable that Potjie’s new forever family stay in contact with LoP Rescue and his foster family, this little pup is a very special baby and we hope to stay in his life to support him and his family ongoing.
Non deal breakers:
- A family or human who is home more than not, especially for the first few weeks of adoption so that Potjiekos can settle in and figure out his new environment, routine and boundaries.
- We would absolutely love it if Potjie were to take up some sort of sport like noncompetitive agility or dock diving! He is one clever cookie and having a fun sport/skill to learn would level up his life.
HEALTH
Potjie has a full cleft palate, this is a midline birth anomaly which is visual when you open his mouth. While both his hard and soft palate do have clefts, this has never once effected his overall health. Having been held back in rescue until the age of 5 months, we can confidently say that it is extremely unlikely Potjie will ever need corrective surgery for his cleft. Regardless, as mentioned above, it is our process that all adoptive cleft parents be connected with our T-Zone surgical specialist Vet Dr Arthur House. Dr House will assess Potjie’s cleft and advise after some time of observations and assessment.
ADOPTION DETAILS
**We do our best to review and reply to all applications within 14 days, please be patient.
Please click here for an adoption application.
– Microchipped
– Desexing (at one of our rescue vet’s before he turns 1yo)
– Up to date vaccinations, flea, tick & worming treatments.
– Leash, collar and some other bits and bobs to get him settled
MICROCHIP NUMBER 953010008022211
SOURCE NUMBER RE128924
**Located in foster care in Macedon Ranges, Victoria, Potjie is available for interstate adoption however this comes with the firm understanding that if an interstate candidate is successful, Potjiekos’ new family will need to come to Melbourne to complete adoption paperwork and travel home with him. Interstate candidates please see above in deal breakers/non-deal breakers. Video footage of yard & home will also need to be provided along with the agreement to a possible home check by a local Life of Pikelet rescue volunteer.
***Life of Pikelet cannot provide transportation interstate, we reserve the voluntary transport be focused on our critical care needs of new intakes.
