Sunday, April 6, 2014

SUNDAY'S DOGS

Guess what?  No dog breeds beginning with letter Q that I could find.   I chose this particular breed  because there was a provisions store near us that had two of these animals.  We used to go there to buy our birdseed and garden fertilisers etc and these were the friendliest and gentlest dogs I had come across for a long time and most of the customers made a fuss of them.

The Rhodesian Ridgeback is a dog breed developed in South 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 Khoikhol.


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

The original breed standard was drafted by F.R.Barnes, in Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), in 1922.  Based on that of the Dalmatian, the standard was approved by the South African Kennel Union in 1927.


The distinguishing feature of this dog is the ridge of hair running along its back in the opposite direction from 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.  The ridge is usually about 2 inches (5 cm)in width at its widest point.  It is believed to originate from the dog used by the original African dog population which had a similar ridge.  The first depiction of a Ridgeback is a wall painting describing the life of the Boers, housed in South Africa in the Voortrekker Monument.

This is a painting of a Rhodesian Ridgeback, by Carl Friedrich Schultz (1796-1866).


This clearly shows the ridge on the dog's back:


The first Rhodesian Ridgeback in Britain was shown by Mrs Edward Foljambe in 1928.  Mr and Mrs William H. O'Brien of Arizona brought six carefully selected Ridgebacks to the US from South Africa.  He and his wife and Mrs Margaret Lowthian of Calfornia began the process of getting the breed accepted by the American Kennel Club.  The breed was admitted into the American Kennel Club in 1955 as a member of the Hound Group.


The original standard allowed for a variety of coat colours, including brindle and sable.  The modern FCI standards calls for light wheaten to red wheaten.

Other dog breeds also have a reverse line of fur along the spine, including the Phi Quoc Ridgeback dog and the Thai Ridgeback.  The Thai Ridgeback is a crossbreed of the Phu Quoc; historians have speculated the relationship between the Rhodesian Ridgeback and the Phu Quoc with suggestions that historically one breed may have been imported to the other's location.

Thanks again to the information I found on Wikipedia.




10 comments:

  1. Hi Mimsie, just stopping by to say how delightful your blog is. Thanks so much for sharing. I have recently found your blog and am now following you, and will visit often. Please stop by my blog and perhaps you would like to follow me also. Have a wonderful day. Hugs, Chris
    http://chelencarter-retiredandlovingit.blogspot.ca/

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    1. Hi Chris...so pleased to have you visit and thank you for your nice comments. I will indeed visit your blog and I look forward to us 'seeing' more of each other. : )

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  2. They are gorgeous dogs. The skinny one's sister had one for a few years and they loved Kit. And she loved them. (Kit was given to them as an adult dog when her owners were moving.)

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    1. They are lovely dogs and I only ever met two of them. It sometimes good to get an adult dog and yet they can fret for their previous owners for quite a while. Our Emma (golden retriever) would prick her ears when she heard a car door but finally settled down and we had 5 great years with her.

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  3. I've seen a few of these in my years and always mistook them for Great Danes until I saw the ridge. Of course now I can see they are quite different from great danes.
    I have my kitten....

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    1. They do have a look of the grate dane but not quite so large perhaps. How's Angel coming along?

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  4. A rather imposing looking animal.

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  5. Hari OM
    Oh Mimisie - my favourtist of all!! Well - one of the top five certainly - you see my darling Jade was half Ridgy, the other half being English Staffy. She portrayed all the positive traits of both and mostly held the Ridgy looks. Loyal, intelligent, fun-loving - but definitely a dog for the experienced canine owner. My Monday post has a piccie if you would like to see that slightly quizzical look in action - Click Here. Hope your weekend was great! YAM xx

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    1. Glad this reminded you of your darling Jade although I doubt you have even forgotten her enitirely. We don't do we?
      Am popping over to your Monday post now....see you there. xx

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