Origin: Southern Africa  
         Standard supplied by the Kennel Union of Southern Africa (KUSA)  
         and the Zimbabwe Kennel Club (ZKC)  
      

    UTILIZATION  
        The Rhodesian Ridgeback is still used to hunt game in many parts of the world, but is especially prized as watch-dog and family pet.  

     FCI CLASSIFICATION  
     Group 6 Scent hounds and related breeds  
     Section 3 Related breeds. Without working trial  

     BRIEF HISTORICAL SUMMARY  
          The Rhodesian Ridgeback is presently the only registered breed indigenous to southern Africa. Its forbears can be traced to the Cape Colony of Southern Africa, where they crossed with the early pioneer's dogs and the semi-domesticated, ridged Hottentot hunging dogs. Hunting mainly in groups of two or three, the original function of the Rhodesian Ridgeback or Lion dog was to track game, especially lion, and, with great agility, keep it at bay until the arrival of the hunter. The original standard, which was drafted by F.R. Barnes, in Bulawayo, Rhodesia, in 1922, was based on that of the  Dalmatian and was approved by the South African Kennel Union in 1926.  

     GENERAL APPEARANCE  
          The Rhodesian Ridgeback should represent a well balanced, strong, muscular, agile and active dog, symmetrical in outline, and capable of great endurance with a fair amount of speed. The emphasis is on agility, elegance and soundness with no tendency towards massiveness. The peculiarity of the breed is the ridge on the back, which is formed by the hair growing in the opposite direction to the rest of the coat. The ridge is the escutcheon of the breed. The ridge must be clearly defined, symmetrical and tapering towards the haunch. It must start immediatley behind the shoulders and continue to the hip (haunches) bones. The ridge must contain only two crowns, identical and opposite each other. The lower edges of the crowns must not extend further down the ridge than one-third of its length. A good average width of the ridge is 5 cm (2").  
Some acceptable ridges

     BEHAVIOUR/TEMPERAMENT  
          Dignified, intelligent, aloof with strangers, but showing no aggression or shyness.  

     HEAD  
         CRANIAL REGION  
         Skull  
            Should be of fair length (width of head between ears, distance from occiput to stop, stop to end of nose, should be equal), flat and broad between the ears; the head should be free from wrinkles when in repose.  

         Stop  
          The stop should be reasonably well defined and not in one straight line from the nose to the occipital bone.  

     FACIAL REGION  
         Nose  
          The nose should be black or brown. A black nose should be accompanied by dark eyes, a brown nose by amber eyes.  

         Muzzle  
          The muzzle should be long, deep and powerful.  

         Lips  
          The lips should be clean, closely fitting the jaws.  

         Mouth  
          Jaws strong, with a perfect and complete scissor bite, i.e. the upper teeth closely overlapping the lower teeth and set square to the jaws. The teeth must be well developed, especially the canines or holders.  

         Cheeks  
          Cheeks should be clean.  

         Eyes  
          Should be moderately well apart, round bright and sparling, with intelligent expression, their colour harmonising the colour of the coat.  

         Ears  
          Should be set rather high, of medium size, rather wide at base, and gradually tapering to a rounded point. They should be carried close to the head.    

     NECK  
          Should be fairly long, strong and free from throatiness.  

     BODY  
         Back  
          Powerful.  

         Loins  
          Strong, muscular and slightly arched.  

         Chest  
          Should not be too wide, but very deep and capacious; the brisket should reach to the elbow.  

         Forechest  
          Should be visible when viewed from the side.  

         Ribs  
          Moderately well sprung, never rounded like barrel-hoops.  

     TAIL  
          Should be strong at the root and gradually tapering towards the end, free from coarseness. It should be of moderate length. It should not be attaced too high nor too low, and should be carried with a slight curve upwards, never curled.  

   
     LIMBS  

         Forequarters  
          The forelegs should be perfectly straight, strong and well boned, with the elbows close to the body. When viewed from the side, the forelegs should be wider than viewed from the front. Pasterns should be strong with slight spring.  

         Shoulders  
          The shoulders should be sloping, clean and muscular, denoting speed.  

         Feet  
          The feet should be compact and round, with well arched toes, and tough elastic pads, protected by hair between the toes and pads.  

         Hindquarters  
          In the hind legs the muscles should be clean, well defined, good turn of stifle and strong hocks well let down.  

     GAIT/MOVEMENT  
          Straight forward, free and active.  

     COAT  
         Hair  
          Should be short and dense, sleek and glossy in appearance, but neither woolly nor silky.  

         Colour  
          Light wheaten to red wheaten. A little white on the chest and toes is permissible, but excessive white hairs here, on belly, or above toes is undesirable. A dark muzzle and ears permissible. Excessive black hairs throughout the coat are highly undesirable.  

     SIZE  
          The desirable heights are:

Dogs      63 cm (25") to 69 cm (27")
Bitches   61 cm (24") to 66 cm (26")  

     WEIGHT  
          The desirable weights are:  

Dogs       36,5 kg (80 lbs)
Bitches    32 kg (70 lbs)  

     FAULTS  
          Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree.  

     N.B. 
            Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.