For as long as I can remember, I’ve been surrounded by animals and by people who care deeply about them. A few years ago, some of my relatives began breeding Ragdolls, and I watched them juggle spreadsheets, handwritten notes, calendar reminders, health records, weights, and registration paperwork - all while trying to maintain the highest standards of welfare.
It became obvious very quickly that breeders carry a huge administrative workload.
And almost all of it is fragmented.
In theory, there are tools out there designed to help breeders.
But when I looked at them, nearly all of them followed the same pattern:
- old interfaces
- outdated workflows
- clunky experiences
- and a basic “lift and shift” of paper forms into software
They weren’t designed around how breeders actually work today.
They were digital paperwork - not modern tools.
As a software developer, I kept wondering why there wasn’t a single, thoughtfully-designed platform that:
- understands the day-to-day rhythms of breeding
- focuses on clarity instead of clutter
- automates the things that are easy to get wrong
- helps breeders stay organised without extra effort
- and supports ethical, welfare-minded decision-making
Most breeders end up mixing spreadsheets, notes apps, PDFs, screenshots, and memory. It’s stressful, time-consuming, and easy to make mistakes despite best efforts.
So I decided to build Ardent - a modern platform created from the ground up specifically for breeders, not as a digital copy of old paperwork, but as a tool that genuinely supports how people breed today.
Ardent’s goal is simple:
to give breeders a clear, organised, reliable way to manage their records so
they can focus on raising healthy, well-socialised animals.
It started as a personal project to help my family.
It’s now becoming a platform I hope can support breeders everywhere.
This blog will share new features, improvements, and thoughts on how technology can support responsible breeding.