Rhodesian Ridgeback

These dogs are said to originate from the country of Zimbabwe, situated in South Africa. These dogs are said to have worked as hunting dogs and as a retriever as well. Along with doing the work of hunting and retrieving, these dogs were also good at taking care of children of all kinds. These dogs were used as guard dogs as well, for guarding their property. These dogs are said to be the descendents of a cross between ridgeback dogs that were imported by the Boer settlers in around the 17th and the 18th century and dogs like Khoikhoi, Mastiff and the Deerhound and some say even the Great Dane.

Hunters soon realized that when these dogs were put in to a pack, they did much better in hunting than they did when they were alone, especially hunting of animals like the lion. Thus, these dogs were used for the purpose of hunting lions and thus this is from where they got their other name, the “African Lion Dog”. These dogs worked very well even in the hot weather conditions during the day in Africa as well as the cold and damp nights. These dogs soon became very famous after they were imported to the United States.

These dogs are very large in size. These large dogs are very muscular as well. This is what makes them such excellent hunters and gives them the strength for hunting animals as strong as the lions. They have a very broad head and this broad head of theirs is quite flat in between their two ears. They have a very long as well an equally deep muzzle. This muzzle of theirs comes to a well defines, abrupt, clear yet a soft stop. The color of their noses may vary. It may be black in color, brown in color or even liver in color. Mainly, their noses are colored such that they are according to the color of their coat. They have a presence of a pair of round shaped ears. These round shaped ears are usually brown in color; however, their color depends on the color of their coat. They have a pair of medium sized ears.

These medium sized ears are set quite high on their broad heads. Their ears are drooping don in nature. These ears of theirs are quite broad it at their base and taper towards the end. These ears taper to form a point. They have a pair of extremely straight and also equally powerful and strong front legs. They have a very deep chest. They have a quite long tail. This long tail of theirs is quite thick at the base but then tapers to a point. These tails of theirs are usually held slightly curved in the upward direction. Their declaws are sometimes removed. They have a very short coat. This short coat of theirs is also equally dense in nature. Their hair tends to grow in clearly defined ridges that are quite symmetrical in nature. They grow on opposite directions down the middle of their back.