A Brief History

The Rhodesian Ridgeback is the only breed of dog originating in South Africa to have gained official status. Unique to the Rhodesian Ridgeback is the ridge of hair growing forward on its spine and its natural antagonism for and courage to face the "king of beasts," the African lion. It is thought that the first ridged dogs were probably related to the Saluka and Pharaoh Hound and were taken by the Hottentot tribe, or "Khoikoi" (the tribal name preferred by anthropologists), on their thousand-year-long migration to Southern Africa. First description of the ridged dogs appears in writings which describe conditions in southern Africa prior to 1505. It was noted that these dogs were fiercely loyal to their masters, brave and hardy.

Undoubtedly some interbreeding with dogs imported from the continent occurred, but it was not until the late 1870s that the ridged dogs assumed any prominence. At that time, near Bulawayo in Rhodesia ( now Zimbabwe), a few of the dogs were obtained by Cornelius van Rooyen, a South African who hunted big game for a living. For thirty-five years he refined his pack of "lion dogs" or "van Rooyen" dogs as they were first known. To the speed of the basic greyhound blood in his first dogs he added the Pointer for scenting ability, collie, terrier and Great Dane to give his dogs endurance, agility, biting power and a short, wheaten-coloured coat. His dogs retained the ridge. They also retained the ability to protect wagon teams of oxen from lions at night and to track and bay lions and other big game by day, either to be shot or captured alive for zoos. After van Rooyen's death a group of fanciers in the Bulawayo area met together in 1924 to standardize the breed. A few days after this meeting a breed standard was draughted, a specialty club formed and official breed recognition sought for the Rhodesian Lion Dog from the South African Kennel Club. Because of the rather fierce connotation the name was later changed to Rhodesian Ridgeback.

Official CKC Breed Standard For the RHODESIAN RIDGEBACK

General Appearance:
The Ridgeback should represent a strong muscular and active dog, symmetrical in outline, and capable of great endurance with a fair amount of speed.

Size:
A mature Ridgeback should be a handsome, upstanding dog; Dogs should be of a height of 25-27 inches (63-69 cm) and Bitches 24-26 inches (61-66 cm). Minimum bench standard. Dogs 25 inches (63 cm), Bitches 24 inches (61 cm). Weight (desirable) Dogs 75 lb (34 Kg); Bitches 65 lb (29 kg).

Coat and Colour:
The coat should be short and dense, sleek and glossy in appearance, but neither  woolly or silky. Colour light wheaten to red wheaten. A little white on the chest and toes permissible, but excessive white here and on the belly and above the paws is undesirable.

Head:
The head should be of a fair length and skull flat and rather broad between the ears and should be free from wrinkles when in repose. The stop should be reasonably well defined, and not in one straight line from  the nose to the occiput bone, as required in a Bull Terrier. The muzzle should be long, deep and powerful. Jaws level and strong with well developed teeth, especially the canines or holders. The lips clean, closely fitting the jaws. The nose should be black or brown, in keeping with the colour of the eyes. No other coloured nose is permissible. A black nose should be accompanied by dark eyes, a brown nose by amber eyes. The eyes should be moderately well apart, and should be round, bright, and sparkling, with intelligent expression, their colour harmonizing with the colour of the nose. The ears should be set rather high, of medium size, rather wide at the base, and tapering to a rounded point. They should be carried close to the head.

Neck:
The neck should be fairly strong and free from throatiness.

Forequarters:
The shoulder should be sloping, clean, and muscular, denoting speed. The forelegs should be perfectly straight, strong and heavy in bone; elbows close to the body. The feet should be  compact, with well-arched toes, round, tough, elastic pads, protected by hair between the toes and pads.

Body:
The chest should not be too wide, but very deep and capacious; ribs moderately well sprung, never rounded like barrel hoops (which would indicate want of speed), the back powerful, and loins strong, muscular and slightly arched.

Hindquarters:
In the hind legs the muscles should be clean, well defined, and hocks well down.

Tail:
The tail should be strong at the insertion, and generally tapering towards the end, free from coarseness. It should not be inserted too high or too low, and should be carried with a slight curve upwards, never curled.

Scale of Points:

Characteristics and Temperament:

The Rhodesian Ridgeback, sometimes referred to as the African Lion Hound, is a native of South Africa. Ridgebacks are sturdy, low-maintenance, short-haired dogs, bred by Boer farmers for two purposes: hunting lions and staying home with the family while other members of the household were out hunting or farming. The breed is a very good people dog, bonding well to a family if introduced into the family in the first 4-5 years of the dog's life. Ridgebacks are usually quite gentle with their family and with people their masters introduce to them but are great watchdogs if people they don't know appear or sounds they don't understand occur around their home. Ridgebacks are very smart, responsive, and trainable. They can easily master the basics of good canine citizenship: down, stay, come, no jump, quiet. They are, like many hounds, independent thinkers. This means that they are not traditionally seen competing for advanced obedience titles (though some Ridgebacks each year DO get their UD titles). Because they are large and intelligent, some obedience training is necessary to keep them under control and avoid their becoming a nuisance.