by Lee Weston
The Rhodesian Ridgeback is a native of South Africa (now Rhodesia is known as Zimbabwe and Zambia). It is also referred to as the African Lion Dog.

The Hottentot tribes possessed a half wild dog that hunted on the African veldt. Due to the nature of the prey, this dog was capable of withstanding the drastic changes in temperature of the climate, the heat of the daytime and the below freezing temperatures of the night. He was able to go a full twentyfour hours or more without water if needed to.

The Hottentot dog was short haired, so that it wasn't eaten alive by ticks. And it was a strong, quiet hunter, rarely barking; it possessed keen eyesight and a good nose for scent. The Hottentot dog had one unusual feature that set it apart from all others, and that was a ridge of hair that ran down its spine, the hair turned forward in the opposite direction than the rest. The only other dog which was found to have this peculiarity was on the island of Phu Quoc, in the Gulf of Siam. What the connection was, if any, has been lost in the passage of time.

In the sixteenth and seventeenth century, the Dutch, Germans, and Huguenots immagrated to South Africa, bringing with them their families, and their hunting dogs. These breeds of dogs included: Danes, Mastiffs, Salukis, Bloodhounds and others.

In 1707, South Africa was closed to emigration from Europe for more than one hundred years. The settlers could no longer bring in new blood lines for their dogs, either for hunting nor for family protection. They discovered that the Hottentot dog, this half wild feral dog, was supremely suitable for the conditions of the African veldt, and a tenacious hunter as well.

The settlers started to cross breed the Hottentot dog with the dogs they had brought from Europe. They noticed that a dog that had the special ridge on its back as a puppy, grew up to adulthood to become an excellent hunter, of good disposition with the family, and a ferocious protector of the home and herds. The settlers became more selective in the breeding, and eventually the Rhodesian Ridgeback became a pure breed.

Francis R. Barnes occupies the most prominent place in RR history as the founder of the Parent Club in Rhodesia and was instrumental in the writing of the first breed standard in 1922-24.

The Rhodesian Ridgeback is the only breed of dog that is known to keep a lion at bay, for the hunter to kill, and still live. The R.R. has also been used very successfully for hunting bobcat, mountain lion, bear, coyote, deer, wild boar and raccoon.