Rhodesian Ridgebacks - Pure or Cross ?

Question

I live in South Africa, Kwazulu Natal and my family has 4 Rhodesian Ridgebacks which were imported as puppies from a friends farm in Zimbabwe (before the madness!). They look very different to the other Ridgebacks that I see here in South Africa. They have the line, double crown but are taller and thinner than some of the Mastiff type Ridgebacks I see in South Africa. Have Ridgebacks been crossed to increase weight ? Ours are more like greyhounds on steroids that love to protect and hunt.

Answer 1

The South African Ridgebacks do tend to be stockier and more Mastiff looking than the ones elsewhere. As South Africa is where the Ridgeback originated from, it could be said that these were the true types.

My rescue Ridgeback is very Mastiff looking compared to some. She has a wide face and a broad chest and a lot of people are initially quite frightened of her. (She's a big softy really!) She also hasn't got a full ridge perhaps a reason why she ended up in a rescue centre. A friend has a Ridgback imported from South Africa who is also a big Mastiff type dog.

I guess that with most breeds there is a variation from country to country. I also have Weimaraners and can see a difference, just from photos of the head, of Weimaraners from the USA.

Here are a couple of pics of my Ridgeback

http://www.flickr.com/photos/38773427@N00/1445890725/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/38773427@N00/1446748862/in/photostream/

Answer 2

Hi! I live in Las Vegas and also have a purebred Rhodesian Ridgeback. He looks like a greyhound on steroids too! He's very tall and slender. I have been to Zimbabwe and that's when I decided to get a Ridgeback, but he looks different from any other RR I've ever seen. I guess there are many different looking Ridgebacks! I hope this helps a little lol.

Answer 3

Ridgebacks are supposed to be tall and thin,but well-muscled.I wonder if the "Mastiff Type" ones that you've seen could have been crossed with South African Boerbels? This would account for the heavier build.Here's the link to a photo of a Boerbel.
http://www.greatdogsite.com/category_detail.php?id=90

Answer 4

I am only familiar with the Ridgebacks we see here in the United States. Without photos, I don't know what the difference is between the imports and the local dogs?

Here is the written standard for AKC registered Ridgebacks: http://www.akc.org/breeds/rhodesian_ridgeback/

Answer 5

Sometimes different regions/places have the same breed, but they start looking a little different.

Same thing happened with Labradors. In England, the dogs are smaller and have less "blocky" heads than they do in the USA. Their temperments are a little different too. I think it's a matter of perference in the area. At least it is with the Labradors.

Both types are purebreed, just the breeders chose different things to concentrate on. Some like the tall "greyhound on steroids" look and bred for that. Others wanted the more blocky dogs, and bred the "blockiest" of them to get blocky puppies.

Answer 6

I haven't heard of any R. Ridgeback "designer" dogs being marketed here in the USA. Maybe you can check with your friend if there has been any selective breeding that he might know about. I can't understand why anyone would want the dog to be any larger. *lions getting bigger?*

Answer 7

There is a lot of inbreeding going on. I believe the tall skinny ones to be the real thing.

They need to be taller to run around in the bush or velt. They breed the shorter ones in SA to be guard dogs (no surprise there) not hunters and companions.

Labradors are now being bred to be taller in UK because the shorter males damaged their 'bits' (will yahoo accept the word?) when running through the heather during hunting work.