Īfter initially greyer, rough-coated litters originating from Helm's dogs, van Rooyen's subsequently crossed offspring turned to redder coats, incorporating the Khoikhoi landrace dog's ridges already carried in Boer dogs within his genomes. Van Rooyen saw Helm's pair of bitches and decided to breed his own dogs with them to incorporate their guarding abilities. 1860, Uitenhage, modern Eastern Cape Province, South Africa), a big–game hunter, was married to Maria Vermaak of Bloemhof by Charles Helm in 1879 the same year Helm brought his two rough-coated grey-black bitches to the Mission. At Hope Fountain, now part of the city of Bulawayo, fellow South African transplant Cornelis van Rooyen (b. Daniel Helm of the London Missionary Society, was born in the Cape Colony, joined the London Missionary Society himself, and moved from the Zuurbraak (now Suurbraak) mission station just east of Swellendam (modern Western Cape Province, South Africa) to the Hope Fountain Mission in Matabeleland, Southern Rhodesia, travelling from October 1874 to December 1875, then bringing two ridged dog bitches from somewhere between Kimberley (modern Northern Cape Province, South Africa) and Swellendam with him to Hope Fountain in 1879 en route to becoming, as it would turn out, a political advisor to King Lobengula, house-host to hunter-explorer Frederick Courteney Selous, postmaster of Bulawayo and well-appreciated tooth-extractor. Charles Helm (1844–1915), son of the Rev. The sequencing of ancient dog genomes indicates that the southern African Rhodesian Ridgeback retains 4% pre-colonial ancestry. These breeds were bred with the indigenous African dogs, including the dog of the Khoikhoi people, which resulted in the Boer hunting dogs, generically called names such as boerhond (Boer hound) in Dutch then its descendant language of Afrikaans, which are the chief forerunners to the modern Rhodesian Ridgeback. Genetic analysis indicates that the Rhodesian Ridgeback and the Great Dane fall within the same genetic clade (group), which implies the Dane's major contribution. The Dogo Cubano (Cuban Bloodhound), an extinct breed used for dogfighting and guarding, was highly emphasized in the composition of the early Rhodesian Ridgeback. īy the early 1800s, European colonists had also imported a variety of mainly European dog breeds to this area of Africa, including such dedicated hunting dogs as Greyhounds, Great Danes, Irish Wolfhounds and Bloodhounds. Within 53 years of the first Dutch settlements in Southern Africa, the Europeans were using these local dogs themselves. The ears have been described both as erect but later described as hanging due to interbreeding with European dogs, but the most distinctive feature was the length of hair often growing in the reverse direction along its back. This dog measured approximately 18 inches (46 cm) at the withers, with a lean but muscular frame. The Khoikhoi people who lived the Cape Peninsula when the Dutch began trading with the area during the mid 17th century, had a semi-wild hunting dog which was described by Europeans as absolutely fearless and ferocious when acting as a guard dog. The Rhodesian Ridgeback at present is the only registered breed indigenous to Southern Africa.Įin Jagdhund - a Rhodesian Ridgeback by Karl Friedrich Schulz c.1834 Barnes, in Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), in 1922, and approved by the South African Kennel Union in 1927.

The original breed standard was drafted by F. These were interbred with European dogs by the early colonists of the Cape Colony of southern Africa. Its forebears can be traced to the semi-domesticated ridged hunting and guardian dogs of the Khoikhoi. The Rhodesian Ridgeback is a large scenthound and sighthound dog breed bred in the Southern Africa region. Two nose colors are permissible, black and liver.

Excessive black hair throughout the coat is undesirable. A little white on the chest and toes is permissible. Short and dense, sleek and glossy in appearance

Dark and light taming bohemian