sometimes called the African lion hound, breed of large, muscular hound developed in South Africa in the 16th and 17th cent. It stands from 24 to 27 in. (61.0–68.6 cm) high at the shoulder and weighs between 65 and 75 lb (29.5–34.0 kg). Its short, dense coat is glossy and usually tan or reddish tan in color. The ridge down its back is caused by the hair growing in the opposite direction from the rest of the coat. The original ridgeback stock was produced by the crossing of such dogs as mastiffs, bloodhounds, Great Danes, and terriers brought to South Africa by German and Dutch emigrants, and a half-wild, native hunting dog that contributed the characteristic ridge. In addition to its outstanding ability at hunting lions, the ridgeback was prized as a protector of farms from prowling animals. Today it is rapidly gaining popularity as a companion dog. See dog.

Rhodesian Ridgeback
Alternative names
African Lion Dog African Lion Hound
Country of origin
Zimbabwe (Rhodesia)
Classification and breed standards
FCI:	Group 6 Section 3 #146	Stds
AKC:	Hound	Stds
ANKC:	Group 4 (Hounds)	Stds
CKC:	Group 2 - Hounds	Stds
KC (UK):	Hound	Stds
NZKC:	Hounds	Stds
UKC:	Sighthounds & Pariahs	Stds

The Rhodesian Ridgeback is a dog breed indigenous to Southern Africa. Its European forebears can be traced to the early pioneers of the Cape Colony of southern Africa, who crossed their dogs with the semi-domesticated, ridged hunting dogs of the Khoisan people (referred to by the collonists as "Hottentots").

In the earlier parts of its history, the Rhodesian Ridgeback has also been known as Van Rooyen's Lion Dogs, the African Lion Hound or African Lion Dog—Simba Inja in Ndebele, Shumba Imbwa in Shona—because of their ability to harass a lion and keep it at bay while awaiting their master to make the kill.

The original breed standard was drafted by F.R. Barnes, in Bulawayo, Rhodesia (modern day Zimbabwe), in 1922. It was based on that of the Dalmatian and was approved by the South African Kennel Union in 1926.

Appearance

The Ridgeback's distinguishing feature is the ridge of hair along its back running in the opposite direction to the rest of its coat. It consists of a fan-like area formed by two whorls of hair (called "crowns") and tapers from immediately behind the shoulders, down to the level of the hips. Some Ridgebacks are born without ridges, and until recently, most ridgeless puppies were culled, or euthanized, at birth. Today, many breeders opt instead to spay and neuter these offspring to ensure they will not be bred.

Male Ridgebacks should be 25-27 inches (63-69 cm) at the withers and weigh approximately 85 lb (36.5 Kg FCI Standard), however some have been known to reach up to 160 lb, females 24-26 inches (61-66 cm) and approximately 70 lb (32 Kg). Ridgebacks are typically muscular and have a light wheaten to red wheaten coat, which should be short, dense, sleek and glossy in appearance and neither woolly nor silky. The presence of black guard hairs or ticking is not addressed in the AKC standard, although the elaboration of the AKC standard notes the amount of black or dark brown in the coat should not be excessive. The FCI Standard states that excessive black hairs throughout the coat are highly undesirable. White is acceptable on the chest and toes.

Ridgebacks have a strong, smooth tail, which is usually carried in a gentle curve upwards. The eyes should be round and should reflect the dog's color—skin pigment, not coat color: dark eyes with a black nose (regardless of coat color), amber eyes with a liver nose. The liver nose is a recessive gene so therefore is not as common as a black nose; some breeders believe the inclusion of livernoses in a breeding program is necessary for maintaining the vibrancy of the coat.

The original standard allowed for a variety of coat colors, including brindle and sable. The modern FCI standard calls for light wheaten to red wheaten. While the deeper red wheaten was often favored by judges in the past, it seems now all shades of wheaten are being included in the winners' circle including the liver nose. In the show ring, white on the feet and chest is common but it is preferred to not reach the shoulder or above the dew claws on the feet. The FCI standard considers white on the belly or above the toes 'undesirable'. The only disqualification in the AKC standard for this breed is ridgelessness.

Other breeds with a ridge of fur along the spine include:

• Thai Ridgeback
• Africanis of South Africa
• Kombai of Tamilnadu, India

Temperament

Ridgebacks are loyal, intelligent, and gentle. They are, however, aloof to strangers. This breed requires training and dedication and is only for the experienced dog owner. They are strong-willed, relatively intelligent, and many seem to have a penchant for mischief. They do not make a good first dog, though the same traits that make them difficult often appeal to the more experienced owners. Although they can withstand wide temperature variations due to their African heritage, they are sensitive and prefer to be with their human families inside. They were traditionally hunters, guardians and companions.

Despite their athletic, sometimes imposing exterior, the Ridgeback has a sensitive side. Excessively harsh training methods that might be tolerated by a sporting or working dog will likely backfire on a Ridgeback. The Ridgeback accepts correction as long as it is fair and justified, and as long as it comes from someone he knows and trusts. Francis R. Barnes, who wrote the first standard in 1922, acknowledged that "rough treatment ... should never be administered to these dogs, especially when they are young. They go to pieces with handling of that kind."^{[citation needed]}

History

The breed's long history dates back to early in the 18th century when the first European settlers found with the Khoisan tribes a domesticated dog with the hair on his spine being turned forward.^{[citation needed]} Later, to fill specific needs of the big game hunters of the late 19th century for a serviceable hunting dog, tough, resistant to disease, intelligent enough to avoid crocodiles and snakes, with tick repellent smooth coat, tight paw pads to protect against thorns and rough terrain, brave and muscular enough to face a lion or any other big game, but fast enough to stay out of harm's way of horns, claws and teeth. The main person behind this development was Cornelius Van Rooyen of Plumtree, Rhodesia.^{[citation needed]}

The history of the breed is disputed. What is commonly accepted is that Van Rooyen used two ridged, rough-coated bitches from the Swellendam district brought to him by the Rev. Charles Helm in 1879. Van Rooyen crossed these bitches with members of his pack, noting that their ridged progeny excelled at lion hunting.

It is likely that the Great Dane, Bloodhound and Deerhound also contributed to the gene pool along the way.

The Breed Standard is loosely based on that of a enlarged Dalmatian and was first registered by the South African Kennel Club, SAKU (now KUSA) in 1924. At that time KUSA was the only Kennel Club in the territory. The breed was first admitted into the American Kennel Club in 1955 as a member of the Hound Group. It there developed into a lighter dog, for all intensive purposes no longer able to fulfill its function as a working dog.

As hunters, Ridgebacks were sent out in packs of two or more to wear down a lion by taunting and goading it into confusion. Hunters discovered that Ridgebacks would corner or "bay" the lion while the human hunters stepped in for the final kill. (The poor accuracy of the rifles of this time in history required close proximity to the beast.)

The dogs worked in revolving groups to keep the lion occupied until the hunter arrived; the dogs themselves did not usually kill lions, but somehow over the years this fable^{[citation needed]} began and still persists. Female Ridgebacks were often used more than males, as the females tended to be more agile. When not used for hunting, these dogs were family companions, guardians of the family and property, and cattle protectors.^{[citation needed]}

Health

Health conditions known to affect this breed are cataracts, cancer, elbow dysplasia and hip dysplasia. Hypothyroidism is a growing concern, at least in the United States, where it is routinely screened for; the Ridgeback ranks number seven in terms of most affected breeds recorded by the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals. Average lifespan is from nine to 11 years, though they have been known on rare occasion to live to nearly 16 years.

Genetically, the mutation that causes the ridge was recently found by a consortium of researchers at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (Nicolette Salmon Hillbertz, Göran Andersson, et al), Uppsala University (Leif Andersson, et al) and the Broad Institute (Kerstin Lindblad-Toh, et al).^{[citation needed]}

Dr. Mark Neff and his team of researchers at the University of California at Davis have located the mutation that causes a relatively rare, but breed-specific, form of deafness in the Ridgeback. They have also identified the liver nose gene in Ridgebacks.

Dermoid sinus is a congenital condition (similar to Spina Bifida in humans) that is known to affect this breed. It can be very painful for the dog and a very expensive ongoing problem for the owners. It is often referred to as feeling like a thin "spaghetti noodle" beneath the skin. Puppies are often screened at birth by the breeder or veterinarian, by palpation of the subcutaneous dorsal midline from the base of the skull to the insertion of the tail. Surgical removal is an option for affected neonates, puppies and adult dogs. All affected dogs, even those surgically corrected, should be desexed and never be bred from. However, surgical dermoid sinus removal can be extremely cost prohibitive. Because all unremoved dermoid sinuses will eventually abscess, and abscessed dermoid sinuses will eventually cause the dog a painful death, dermoid puppies should be culled whenever surgical correction is not an option.

The Rhodesian Ridgeback Club of the United States maintains a web site devoted to the breed's health issues and ongoing research at www.rhodesianridgebackhealth.org. This group recommends that breeders perform at least four health screenings -- hips, elbows, thyroid and eyes -- with cardiac and hearing tests optional. They also recommend that all Ridgeback owners enter their dog(s)' information in the Comprehensive Rhodesian Ridgeback Health Survey at www.lkhopkins.com/Ridgeback

Modern Hunting Classifications

Although the Rhodesian Ridgeback was originally placed in the Gundog Group by SAKU/KUSA for the first 20+ years, the breed is now classified as a Hound by registries the world over.

The historic and modern hunting uses of Rhodesian Ridgebacks have included everything from upland game birds, to larger 'dangerous game'. While the hunting versatility of the breed has served it well in the field, it has caused much confusion and contention among Ridgeback fanciers about what these dogs are, and are not, as hunting companions.

There is debate whether the Rhodesian Ridgeback is a sighthound or scent hound. Positions in this discussion usually mirror geography (and the body style of dog preferred), with Americans on the sighthound side of the debate and Europeans and Africans on the scenthound side. Perhaps both are correct: the breed does not fit easily in either category. In general, Ridgebacks pursue prey using a method appropriate to the context: by sight when possible, or tracking by scent if the prey is not visible. Further muddying the waters, Ridgebacks have a pre-caudal gland, not found in other sighthounds.

Alternatively, the Hunting Ridgeback Association (HRA) contends that neither classification is correct—that the Rhodesian Ridgeback is neither a sighthound, nor a scenthound, as those types are classically defined. They maintain that the Ridgeback is actually a silent tracking Cur.

Most Curs are denoted by their fast, hard hunting style—a Cur is known for finding game using its eyes, ears and nose. Curs (as a true type, not simply a 'mixed-up' mongrel) were developed by early settlers in both southern Africa and the southern and western United States, as all-purpose, versatile dogs. While many of the U.S. Cur breeds were developed to tree, Ridgebacks are usually a poor choice for a use as a lone tree dog.

Like other Cur breeds, Rhodesian Ridgebacks are currently used by hunters throughout the world to hunt all manner of game. Because of their tracking abilities, many Ridgebacks are used in Scandinavia and Germany to track and drive wild boar, deer, stag, and moose. Because of their predisposition to bay larger game on the ground, Rhodesian Ridgebacks and Black Mouths and other similar Cur breeds are used extensively in Texas, Southern Africa, and Northeastern Australia to hunt wild boar.

External links

National Parent Clubs

• National Rhodesian Ridgeback Council (Australia)
• Rhodesian Ridgeback Club Österreich (Austria)
• Rhodesian Ridgeback Club of Canada (Canada)
• Rhodesian Ridgeback Klub Zagreb (Croatia)
• Rhodesian Ridgeback Club Czech republic (Czech republic)
• Belgian Rhodesian Ridgeback Club (Belgium)
• Dansk Rhodesian Ridgeback Klub (Denmark)
• The Rhodesian Ridgeback Club of Finland (Finland)
• Rhodesian Ridgeback Club of Germany (Germany)
• Rhodesian Ridgeback Club d'Italia (Italy)
• Dutch Rhodesian Ridgeback Club (Netherlands)
• Norsk Rhodesian Ridgeback Klubb (Norway)
• Rhodesian Ridgeback Club of Poland (Poland)
• Rhodesian Ridgeback Club of Sweden (Sweden)
• Rhodesian Ridgeback Club of Scotland (United Kingdom)
• Rhodesian Ridgeback Club of the United States (United States)

Regional Specialty Clubs

• Greater Valley Forge Rhodesian Ridgeback Club (United States)
• Houston Area Rhodesian Ridgeback Club (United States)
• New England Rhodesian Ridgeback Club (United States)

Preservation Groups

• Rhodesian Ridgeback International Foundation
• The African Ridgeback Group (North America)

Working Ridgeback Clubs

• German Working Rhodesian Ridgeback Club (Club ELSA (Germany))
• The Lion Dog Group (South Africa)
• The Hunting Ridgeback Association (United States)

Ridgeback Health Information

• Ridgeback Health and Genetics

Ridgeback Pedigree Information Databases

• Rhodesian Ridgeback Pedigree Search (European)
• POST - Pedigree Online Search Tool (American)

Ridgeback Rescue Groups

• Rhodesian Ridgeback Rescue, Inc.

Hounds
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Sighthounds	Afghan Hound  · American Staghound  · Azawakh  · Borzoi  · Chart Polski  · Chippiparai  · Galgo Español  · Greyhound  · Hortaya Borzaya  · Irish Wolfhound  · Italian Greyhound  · Kanni  · Longdog  · Lurcher  · Magyar Agar  · Mudhol Hound  · Rajapalayam  · Rampur Greyhound  · Saluki  · Scottish Deerhound  · Sloughi  · Whippet
Other hounds	Basenji  · Kombai  · Rhodesian Ridgeback  · Thai Ridgeback

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