Born at 6:35 am weighing 465g.
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The Rhodesian Ridgeback is also referred to as the "African Lion Hound".
The first known evidence of the Rhodesian Ridgeback is on a painted rock near Rasape in Zimbabwe. The painting was made for the burial of a chief, and it depicts the tribes most prized possessions: cattle, sheep, and hunting dogs.
European settlers brought Mastiffs, Great Danes, Bloodhounds, Pointers, Staghounds, and Greyhounds, when they came to South Africa. They needed a dog that could withstand both hot and cold temperatures, limited water, and rough bush, while performing the duties of guard dog and hunting dog. By breeding the native tribal hunting dogs (dogs distinguished by a ridge on top their back) with the European dogs they brought, they ended up producing such a dog. They hunted by using both sight and scent and were devoted protectors of their families and their farms.
In the 1870's many of these dogs were taken to Rhodesia to hunt lions, where they would chase the lions and keep them at bay until their masters arrived to shoot it. These dogs were so successful they came to be known as Lion Dogs.
By the 1920's there were so many of these ridged typed dogs in Rhodesia, a meeting was held to determine the most desirable traits of these dogs, which is where the breed standard of the Rhodesian Ridgeback we know today came from. After this meeting, any dog with these desirable traits was from then called a Rhodesian Ridgeback because the "Lion Dog" sounded too savage.
