History of the Rhodesian Ridgeback

History of the Rhodesian Ridgeback Breed

The Rhodesian Ridgeback's origins are from an African hunting dog which was used to track big game animals such as Lions and Cheetahs. From early in its origins the Ridgeback has been renowned for its loyalty, mild temperament, yet bravery when bailing up ferocious predators.

The origins of the foundation dogs is believed to trace back to Ethiopia or the Southern Sedan. There is a drawing in an Egyptian tomb (4,000BC) that shows a Hound with drooped ears and what appears to be a ridge on its back. It seems that this was most likely the ancestor of the dog that was domesticated by the Hottentot tribe of Africa.

The first known evidence of the Hottentot hunting dogs is a rock painting near Rasape in Zimbabwe. The painting is of the preparations for the burial of a chief. The Hottentots most prized possessions, cattle, sheep, and hunting dogs are shown.

Diana's Vow - Rock Painting

The Hottentots were pastoral but moved on to establish a new site from time to time. Over about 1000 years they traveled south through Tanzania, Zambia, and Rhodesia (Now known as Zimbabwe). The Hottentots traveled with their cattle, sheep and their ridged hunting dogs.

There are ridged dog breeds in Thailand, Cambodia and other asian areas. It is impossible to tell if the ridged breeds moved from the East to Africa or the other way around. Perhaps they developed totally independently.

The foundation stock of the Rhodesian Ridgeback was developed by the first white settlers in South Africa to fill their specific needs for a serviceable hunting dog in the wild. The Dutch, German, and Huguenots who migrated to South Africa in the 16th and 17th centuries brought with them Danes, Mastiffs, Greyhounds, Salukis, Bloodhounds, and other breeds.

For more than 100 years after 1707, European immigration was closed. Consequently, the importation of additional dogs of these or other breeds became hard to come by and their value was high. The settlers needed a dog that could flush a few partridge, pull down a wounded stag, or guard the farm from marauding animals and prowlers at night. They also needed a dog that could withstand the rigour of the African bush, hold up under drastic changes in temperature, from the heat of the day to nights below freezing, and go a full 24 hours or more without water if need be. They required a short-haired dog that would not be eaten alive by ticks, In addition, the settler needed a companion that would stay by him while he slept in the bush and that would be devoted to his wife and children.

Out of necessity, therefore, these settlers developed by selective breeding between dogs which they had brought with them from home countries and the half-wild dog of the Hottentot tribes, a distinct breed of the South African veld. The dog the created by this selective process has come to be known as the Rhodesian Ridgeback.

The breed standard was originally created in Rhodesia, a British Colony in central South Africa comprising present day Zambia & Zimbabwe, in 1850 and approved by the American Kennel Club in 1956. The wild dogs of the Hottentots is extinct today but the Rhodesian Ridgeback, and the characteristic ridge, thrives.

Further information can be gained by reading the excellent book 'The Complete Rhodesian Ridgeback' by Peter Nicholson and Janet Parker - Published by Ringpress Books Ltd, ISBN: 0 948955 81 3. Some of the extracts and pictures on this page are from this book. I highly recommend it as a textbook on Ridgebacks. It covers everything from; history, ridgebacks from around the world, breed standard and genetics, breeding, whelping, rearing and health care.