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BRIEF
HISTORICAL SUMMARY
The
Rhodesian Ridgeback is presently the only registered breed indigenous to
southern
Africa. Its forbears can
be
traced to the Cape Colony of southern Africa where they
crossed with the early pioneers’ dogs and the
semi-domesticated,
ridged, Hottentot
hunting dogs. Hunting mainly in groups of two or three, the
original
function
of the
Rhodesian Ridgeback, or Lion Dog, was to track game, especially lion,
and with great
agility,
keep
it at bay until the arrival of the hunter. The original standard, which
was
drafted by F.R.Barnes, in
Bulawayo,
Rhodesia, in 1922, was based on that of the
Dalmatian and was approved by the South African
Kennel
Union in 1926.
GENERAL
APPEARANCE
The
Rhodesian Ridgeback should represent a well balanced, strong, muscular, agile
and
active dog, symmetrical
in
outline, and capable of great endurance with a fair amount of
speed. The emphasis is on agility, elegance and
soundness
with no tendency towards
massiveness. The peculiarity of the breed is the ridge on the back, which is
formed
by the
hair growing in the opposite direction to the rest of the coat. The ridge is
the escutcheon of
the
breed.
The ridge must be clearly defined, symmetrical and tapering towards the
haunch. It must start
immediately
behind the shoulders and continue to the hip (haunches)
bones. The ridge must contain only two
crowns,
identical and opposite each other. The
lower edges of the crowns must not extend further down the
ridge
than one-third of its
length. A good average width of the ridge is 5 cm (2 ins).
BEHAVIOUR/TEMPERAMENT
Dignified,
intelligent, aloof with strangers, but showing no aggression or shyness.
HEAD
Skull
Should
be of a fair length (width of head between ears, distance from occiput to stop,
stop to end of nose, should
be
equal), the skull flat and broad between the ears and the
head should be free from wrinkles when in repose.
Stop
The
stop should be reasonably well defined and not in one straight line from the
nose
to the occipital bone.
Nose
The
nose should be black or brown. A black nose should be accompanied by dark eyes,
a brown nose by amber
eyes.
Muzzle
The
muzzle should be long, deep and powerful.
Lips
The
lips should be clean, closely fitting the jaws.
Mouth
Jaws
strong, with a perfect and complete scissor bite, i. e., the upper teeth
closely
overlapping the lower teeth and
set
square to the jaws. The teeth must be well developed,
especially the canines or holders.
Cheeks
Cheeks
should be clean.
Eyes
Should
be moderately well apart, round bright and sparkling, with intelligent
expression,
their colour
harmonising
with the colour of the coat.
Ears
Should
be set rather high, of medium size, rather wide at base, and gradually
tapering
to a rounded point. They
should
be carried close to the head.
Neck
Should
be fairly long, strong and free from throatiness.
BODY
Back
Powerful.
Loins
Strong,
muscular and slightly arched, powerful.
Chest
Should
not be too wide but very deep and capacious and brisket should reach to the
elbow.
Forechest
Should
be visible when viewed from the side.
Ribs
Moderately
well sprung, never rounded like barrel-hoops.
Tail
Should
be strong at the root and gradually tapering towards the end, free from
coarseness.
It should be of
moderate
length. It should not be inserted too high nor too low, and should
be carried with a slight curve
upwards,
never curled.
LIMBS
Forequarters
The
forelegs should be perfectly straight, strong and well boned, with the elbows
close to
the body. When
viewed
from the side, the forelegs should be wider than when viewed from
the front. Pasterns should be strong
with
slight spring.
Shoulders
The
shoulders should be sloping, clean and muscular, denoting speed.
Feet
The
feet should be compact and round, with well arched toes, and tough elastic
pads,
protected by hair between
the
toes and pads.
Hindquarters
In
the hind legs the muscles should be clean, well defined, good turn of stifle
and strong
hocks well let down.
GAIT/MOVEMENT
Straight
forward, free and active.
COAT
Hair
should be short and dense, sleek and glossy in appearance, but neither woolly
nor silky.
COLOUR
Light
wheaten to red wheaten. A little white on the chest and toes is permissible,
but excessive white hairs here,
on
belly, or above toes is undesirable. A dark muzzle
and ears permissible. Excessive black hairs throughout
the
coat are highly undesirable.
SIZE
The
desirable heights are:
Dogs: 63 cm (25 ins) to 69 cm (27 ins)
Bitches: 61 cm (24 ins) to 66 cm (26 ins)
WEIGHT
The
desirable weights are:
Dogs: 36,5 kg (80 lbs)
Bitches: 32 kg (70 lbs)
FAULTS
Any
departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the
seriousness
with which the fault
should
be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree.
NOTE
Male
animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into
the scrotum.
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