Rhodesian Ridgebacks

I might have mentioned one or two times that basenjis come from Africa, but guess what!  They are not the only kind of dog that started out there.  Another breed from Africa is the Rhodesian Ridgeback, and today I will tell you some things about them.

If you look at a map that is up-to-date, you will not find a country called Rhodesia on it.  And that is because Rhodesia is now two different countries named Zambia and Zimbabwe.  These countries are kind of in the southeast part of Africa.  They changed their names when they became independent countries, but the Rhodesian Ridgeback did not change its name, which is probably just as well, because it is hard to keep track of names that are always changing.

Anyway, the Rhodesian Ridgeback got started back in the 18th century when this man named Cornelius Van Rooyen got the idea to make a breed of dog that would be good for hunting lions.  So he crossed his dogs with some native dogs owned by the Khoi-khoi people.  These African dogs had a ridge of hair on their backs that grew the opposite way of all their other hair.  I don't know why it grew this way, but I know that this funny ridge of hair got passed down in the genes, and that's why we call these dogs "ridgebacks."

There are some other names for this breed, including Van Rooyen's Lion Dogs, African Lion Hound, and African Lion Dog.  These dogs were good at hunting lions because they were brave and tough, and also they were smart enough not to get eaten by crocodiles or bitten by snakes.  The way they hunted lions was that they were sent out in a pack, and when they found a lion, they kept it cornered and busy until the hunters could come and shoot the lion.

In 1924, Ridgies got their very own breed standard, and they were registered with the South African Kennel Club.  By 1928, they were being shown in Great Britain.  But they didn't get registered by the AKC until 1955.  Rhodesian Ridgebacks are in the Hound Group, just like basenjis are.

You might be interested to know that there are at least three other dog breeds that have ridges of fur on their backs.  These breeds are the Phu quoc ridgeback dog of Vietnam, the Thai Ridgeback, and the Combai of Tamilnadu, India.

Originally, Rhodesian Ridgebacks could be any of several colors, but now the standard says they should be light wheaten to red wheaten.  It's okay for them to have some white on their chest and toes, and sometimes they have dark masks.

Ridgies are intelligent, loving, and loyal, but they don't always like strangers, which is also true of basenjis.  Ridgies like to protect their people, so they can be trained to be good guard dogs.  I have never met a Rhodesian Ridgeback in person, but they seem like they would be nice dogs.  I asked Mom if we could get one, but as usual, she said no.  Sigh.  Some days Mom is just no fun at all.