The Lion Dogs (Rhodesian Ridgebacks)

Member Name: Plumptious

Product:	Rhodesian Ridgebacks
Date:	04/06/01 (2380 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Short fur

Disadvantages: Very large breed

I am now able to announce that Plumptious the Mugcious has taken delivery of a Rhodesian Ridgeback pup.


Ridgebacks were bred for guarding camps and rounding up lions for hunters to shoot. Dogs of this breed vary in size, from slightly taller than an Alsation to about the size of a small mule. The breed they most closely resemble is a boxer, with their smartly flopped ears and satisfyingly large paws.

The most distinctive feature of a Ridgeback is its ridge. This is a thin swathe of fur growing the opposite way round to the rest of its fur. It goes along the spine, beginning below the shoulderblades and ending before the tail. There should be two swirls of fur at the beginning of this ridge. This is known as the crown.
A well defined crown is a desirable feature. One theory for malformed crowns is that overcrowding in the womb can cause a forming crown to be squished and thus not develop properly.

Overcrowding does seem to be a very real threat. My dog was one of a litter of 17. The mother died during the operation, as did two of the pups.
The family who owned the mum were left with 15 pups to hand rear. The master of the family was a tree surgeon, and all the pups were named after trees. All except mine. His name is Forest.

He is the most catlike dog I have ever met. To begin with, he enjoys sunbathing. Whilst most dogs do enjoy basking in the sunshine, they have nothing on him. He’s a serious sunworshipper. Given half a chance, his ideal way to spend a sunny afternoon is out on the patio with the cats.

The breed has a light tan coat, with a white splodge on the chest. The lighter the dog, the more desirable for showing. Unfortunately, these dogs will not tan as easily, and will be prone to cancer.
I am relieved to report that Forest is one of the fortunate ones who can get a tan. His fur stays the same colour, but a black background appears. Yes, instead of going brown like a hu
man, his skin goes black. It will revert back to pinkish in the winter.

He is the most cold intolerant dog I have ever owned. Being an essentially a desert/hot climate dog, he is designed to stay cool. It is not immediately apparent, as they have a very nice coat, but their fur is very short.
Additionally, the lower half of their abdomen is particularly sparsely furred. This may account for why they prefer not to sit on a cold concrete floor, but have a habit of sitting on each other. A pack of Ridgebacks will pile on top of each other when at rest, the way some cats do.

This short fur is definitely a plus as far as I am concerned. My Alsation, who had gorgeously fuzzy fur, was a four towel dog. By that I mean that it took four towels to dry him when he was wet. A sometimes onerous task.

A Ridgeback, with its lesser water retaining capabilities, is a one towel dog. And to me, that’s a good thing.


The local owner of a fully grown Ridgeback seems to have adopted Forest. Consequently, she often arrives in the evening to take me and Forest for a walk when walking her dog. Her dog was rescued from an owner who did not socialise it properly. As a result, it is a bit standoffish, as Ridgebacks can be if left to their own devices. By standoffish, I mean that it is a bit like a cat, and will not necessarily bound joyfully towards you, but will tend to staunter towards you when called.
Having said that, it is still a lovely dog. Very gentle with children, who are drawn to it by its size. She will sometimes leap up at me for a bit of affection. But unusually for a dog, she will do it very carefully, without laying a paw on me, and without licking me. All she does is to lay a wet nose gently against my face.

By the way, if you ever have to train a large dog, this is a desirable thing to have it do. Leaping up and knocking over people is a very definite no-no, and you’ll save yourself a lot o
f grief if you get this rule established.

I am pleased to report that Forest is responding very well to training. Despite the breed’s reputation for being difficult, I have found him more amenable than my Alsation. Obviously, the temperament of individuals will vary, which is why parents and older siblings should be viewed where possible.

Rather than playing with dog toys, Forest seems to prefer cat toys. I therefore make an effort to find large toys for him which are essentially scaled up catstyle toys. He does like chewing, but not his toys. He prefers to throw and shake them, the way my cats do with their toys, bounding around in a manner I usually associate with cats.


There are lots more little quirks of the breed, but I am beginning to see why they are known as the “lion dogs”. It seems increasingly probable that the nickname may not refer to only what they used to hunt. Despite their tremendous size, they are thus far the most catlike dogs I have ever met.

Summary: