39 Fun Facts About Rhodesian Ridgeback

In which part of the world was the Rhodesian Ridgeback originally bred?

Southern Africa. Settlers at the Cape crossed the dogs they had brought from home with the half-wild ridged hunting dogs already living there, and the mix became the breed.

What is a Rhodesian Ridgeback's ridge actually made of?

Hair growing backwards. The quirk came from the native dogs of the Cape, which carried the same reversed strip of coat long before the breed had a name.

Rhodesia, the country that gave the Rhodesian Ridgeback its name, is known today by what name?

Zimbabwe. The country changed its name in 1980 but the breed kept the old one, and the Zimbabwe Kennel Club is still one of the two bodies that supply its official world standard.

Which big animal were Ridgebacks famously bred to hunt by baying?

Lions. The work gave the breed its early name, the Lion Dog, and the first breed club, founded in 1922, put that nickname in its own title.

What does a Ridgeback do when it "bays" big game?

Harasses it with darting snaps. The pack feints in and out to pin the animal down for the hunter, and the popular belief that the dogs killed their quarry themselves is a myth.

Which indigenous people's ridged dogs are the forebears of the Rhodesian Ridgeback?

Khoikhoi. Their hunting dogs carried the ridge, and when Cape settlers bred those dogs into their own packs the trademark passed to a dog that otherwise looks European.

Which swift sighthound is named among the breeds that settlers crossed into the Ridgeback's ancestors?

Greyhound. Mastiffs and Great Danes went into the mix as well, which is how the Ridgeback came to pair a sprinter's long legs with the bulk of a guard dog.

The first Rhodesian Ridgeback standard, drafted in 1922, was modelled on which other breed's standard?

Dalmatian. The owners who met in 1922 paraded dogs of every type and size, so the founder took an existing breed's standard as a template and wrote the ridge into it.

Besides big cats, farmers used Ridgebacks to drive which crop-raiding primates off their land?

Baboons. Between hunts the dogs worked as all-round farm guards, clearing wild pigs and baboons from the fields and protecting riders from leopards.

Which big-game hunter's pack of ridged dogs became the foundation of the Rhodesian Ridgeback?

Cornelius van Rooyen tried out two ridged dogs that belonged to a missionary, liked them so much that he bred them into his own pack, and spent some 35 years refining the line.

Which Victorian explorer's 1857 travel book includes one of the earliest pictures of a ridge-backed dog?

David Livingstone. An engraving in his Missionary Travels shows hunters gathered round a dead hartebeest, and the dog beside them has a clear ridge down its back, decades before the breed existed.

Which of these breed-restricted dog sports are Rhodesian Ridgebacks eligible to enter?

Lure coursing. The sport, a chase after a mechanically pulled lure, is otherwise limited to sighthounds, but the Ridgeback's own standard praises its 'great coursing ability'.

In which Rhodesian city did Ridgeback owners meet in 1922 to draft the first breed standard?

Bulawayo. Owners were asked to bring their dogs to the city's kennel club show, and with animals of every size and colour paraded in front of them they agreed on a single type.

The US breed club urges breeders to BAER-test Ridgebacks for the inherited loss of which sense?

Hearing. Deafness in the breed is inherited and can pass from two parents that hear normally, which is why the club asks for a hearing test before a dog is bred.

Which joint disorder do Ridgeback breeders screen for by X-raying a dog before it is bred?

Hip dysplasia. A loose-fitting hip joint can be passed on by parents that look sound themselves, so breed clubs ask for the hips to be X-rayed and scored before mating.

The AKC Ridgeback standard warns against ribs "rounded like barrel hoops" because they would suggest a lack of what?

Speed. The standard wants a deep but not wide chest, because a round, barrel-shaped ribcage belongs to a heavy dog, and this one had to keep up with big game.

In which AKC group is the Rhodesian Ridgeback placed?

Hound. The label is a loose fit, though: the world canine federation files the breed not with its scenthounds proper but in a side section set apart for 'related breeds'.

What are the two whorls at the top of a Ridgeback's ridge called?

Crowns. The standard demands exactly two, identical and directly opposite each other, and a ridge with only one, or with extras, is marked down as a serious fault.

Where does a Rhodesian Ridgeback's ridge begin?

Behind the shoulders. From there it should taper to the hips, and judges care: in the American scoring it carries more points than any other single feature.

When does a Rhodesian Ridgeback's ridge first appear?

It is present at birth. A puppy born without a ridge will never grow one, and the ridge a puppy does have keeps the same proportions for the rest of its life.

What coat colour range does the Rhodesian Ridgeback standard call for?

Light wheaten to red wheaten. The shades run from pale gold to a deep red-brown, and a coat peppered with black hairs or splashed with too much white is marked down.

Which two nose colours are permitted in the breed?

Eyes should match: dark with a black nose, amber with a liver one.

What eye colour should a Ridgeback with a brown nose have?

Amber. The standard wants the eyes to harmonise with the dog's pigment, so the light eye that would count against most Ridgebacks is exactly right on a brown-nosed one.

Where on a Ridgeback's body does the breed standard accept a little white?

Chest and toes. Even there only a little is tolerated: white that spreads onto the belly or climbs above the toes counts against a dog in the show ring.

Which country is home to the other ridgeback breed recognised by the world canine federation, the FCI?

Thailand. Its ridgeback kept the same old type for centuries because poor roads left the dogs of the country's east with little chance to mix with other breeds.

The Phu Quoc Ridgeback comes from an island in which country?

Vietnam. Phu Quoc is the country's largest island, and the dog named after it began as a half-wild hunter and guard for the islanders, not as a kennel-club creation.

Gene studies found that the African and Asian ridgeback breeds owe their ridges to what?

The same mutation. Both carry an identical duplicated stretch of DNA, so the ridge arose once and travelled between the continents with dogs instead of evolving twice.

How is the Ridgeback typically described around strangers?

Somewhat aloof. The standards ask for a dignified dog that is reserved with strangers yet shows neither aggression nor shyness, so the coolness is there by design.

The author of the first standard warned that Ridgebacks "go to pieces" under what?

Rough treatment. Francis Barnes warned it should never be used on these dogs, least of all young ones, and guides still call the big hunter a sensitive breed best trained by reward.

How is the Ridgeback's ridge inherited?

Dominant trait. One copy of the gene from either parent is enough, which is why two ridged dogs that each carry a single copy can still produce a puppy with a smooth back.

Which 2008 BBC documentary attacked a Ridgeback club rule telling breeders to cull healthy puppies?

Pedigree Dogs Exposed. The fallout was swift: the BBC dropped its long-running coverage of Britain's biggest dog show, and the club rewrote its code to say no healthy puppy would be culled.

Which congenital neural-tube defect is the Rhodesian Ridgeback known for?

Dermoid sinus. It is a narrow tube of skin that tunnels inward from the surface, and the very mutation that gives the breed its ridge is what raises the risk of it.

Supplementing which nutrient in a mother's diet has been reported to reduce the Ridgeback's neural-tube defect?

Folic acid. An Australian study of Ridgeback litters was prompted by the finding that the vitamin prevents most neural-tube defects in human babies, and its results pointed the same way.

How is a Ridgeback puppy screened for the thin "spaghetti strand" defect under its skin?

By palpating along the spine. Breeder and vet feel their way down the midline from the skull to the tail soon after birth, then repeat the check before the puppies leave for new homes.

Degenerative myelopathy in Ridgebacks is linked to the same gene as which human disease?

ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease). The same gene, SOD1, is involved in both, and affected dogs slowly lose control of their hind legs much as human patients lose control of their muscles.

Which hormone disorder, common in Ridgebacks, causes weight gain and lethargy?

Underactive thyroid. In Ridgebacks it usually comes from an inherited immune attack on the gland itself, which is why breeders are asked to blood-test a dog before breeding from it.

Like other deep-chested breeds, the Ridgeback is prone to which potentially fatal condition?

Bloat. The stomach swells with gas and can twist shut, so owners are told to feed several small meals a day and to avoid exercise straight after eating.

Which European royal's family welcomed a Rhodesian Ridgeback puppy named Khan?

Princess Charlene of Monaco. She brought the puppy home to her husband and twins in 2021, soon after one of her chihuahuas had died, and she was herself born in Rhodesia, the country the breed is named after.

Which American film star, a dancer and singer, was devoted to his Rhodesian Ridgebacks?

Patrick Swayze. When his 115-pound Ridgeback Cody was dying in 1995 he put a film on hold to stay at the animal hospital, and he called the dog his guardian, his conscience and his friend.