BRIEF HISTORICAL OVERVIEW
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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.
The Rhodesian Ridgeback is presently the only registered breed indigenous
to southern Africa. Its forebears 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.
GENERAL APPEARANCE
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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.
CHARACTERISTICS
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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 is 5cm.
TEMPERAMENT
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Dignified, intelligent, aloof
with strangers, but showing no aggression or shyness.
HEAD AND SKULL -
Cranial Region:
Skull - Should be of fair length (width of head
between ears, distance from occiput to stop,
stop to end of nose, should be equal), flat and broad between the ears;
the head
should be free from wrinkles when in repose, with the stop reasonably
well defined
and not in one straight line from nose to the occipital bone.
Facial Region:
Nose - Should be black or brown. A black nose should
be accompanied by dark eyes, a
brown nose by amber eyes.
Muzzle - Should be long, deep and powerful.
Lips - Should be clean, closely fitting the jaws.
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.
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'.
NECK - Should
be fairly long, strong and free from throatiness.
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 viewed
from the front. Pasterns should be strong with slight spring. Shoulders
- Should be sloping, clean and muscular, denoting speed.
BODY
Back - Powerful
Loins - Strong, muscular and slightly arched
Chest - Should not be too wide, but very deep and capacious;
the brisket should reach the
elbow.
Forechest - Should be visible when viewed from the side.
Ribs - Moderately well sprung, never rounded like barrel-hoops.
HINDQUARTERS - In
the hind legs the muscles should be clean and well defined with good
turn of stifle and strong hocks well let down.
FEET - Should
be compact and round with well arched toes and tough elastic pads, protected
by hair between the toes and pads.
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 attached too high or
too
low, and should be carried with a slight curve upwards, never curled.
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 63cm (25ins) to 69cm (27ins)
and Bitches 61cm (24ins) to 66cm (26ins).
WEIGHT - The
desirable weights are Dogs 36.5kg (80lbs) and Bitches 32 kg (70lbs).
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
proportions
to its degree.
NOTE - Male
animals should have two apparently normally developed testicles,
fully descended into the scrotum.