Editing Rhodesian Ridgeback (section)

== History ==
[[File:Carl Friedrich Schulz - Rhodesian Ridgeback.jpg|thumb|right|''Ein Jagdhund'' - a Rhodesian Ridgeback by Karl Friedrich Schulz c.1834]]
The [[Khoekhoe|Khoikhoi]] people who lived in the [[Cape Peninsula]] when the [[Netherlands|Dutch]] began trading with the area during the mid 17th century, had a hunting dog which was described by Europeans as absolutely fearless and ferocious when acting as a [[guard dog]]. This dog measured approximately {{convert|18|in|cm}} at the [[withers]], with a lean but muscular frame. 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. Within 53 years of the first Dutch settlements in Southern Africa, the Europeans were using these local dogs themselves.<ref name="fox6">[[#fox2003|Fox (2003)]]: p. 6</ref>

By 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 [[Greyhound]]s, [[Mastiff]]s, [[Great Dane]]s and [[Bloodhound]]s. The [[Dogo cubano|Dogo Cubano]] (Cuban Bloodhound), an extinct breed used for dogfighting and guarding, was highly emphasized in the composition of the early Rhodesian Ridgeback.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Parker |first1=Heidi G. |last2=Kim |first2=Lisa V. |last3=Sutter |first3=Nathan B. |last4=Carlson |first4=Scott |last5=Lorentzen |first5=Travis D. |last6=Malek |first6=Tiffany B. |last7=Johnson |first7=Gary S. |last8=DeFrance |first8=Hawkins B. |last9=Ostrander |first9=Elaine A. |last10=Kruglyak |first10=Leonid |date=2004 |title=Genetic Structure of the Purebred Domestic Dog |journal=Science |volume=304 |issue=5674 |pages=1160–1164 |doi=10.1126/science.1097406 |jstor=3836878 |pmid=15155949 |bibcode=2004Sci...304.1160P |s2cid=43772173 |issn=0036-8075}}</ref> Genetic analysis indicates that the Rhodesian Ridgeback and the Great Dane fall within the same genetic [[clade]] (group),<ref>Parker, Heidi G., et al. "Genomic Analyses Reveal the Influence of Geographic Origin, Migration, and Hybridization on Modern Dog Breed Development." Cell Reports 19.4 (2017): 697-708.</ref> which implies the Dane's major contribution. 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. The sequencing of ancient dog [[genomes]] indicates that the southern African Rhodesian Ridgeback retains 4% pre-colonial ancestry.<ref name="Bergström2020"/>

The Rev. [[Charles Helm]] (1844–1915), son of the Rev. 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 [[Dog|bitches]] from somewhere between [[Kimberley, Northern Cape|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 Selous|Frederick Courteney Selous]], postmaster of Bulawayo and well-appreciated tooth-extractor.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://panafricannews.blogspot.com/2011/03/relevance-of-anti-sanctions-campaign-in.html|title=Pan-African News Wire: The Relevance of the Anti-sanctions Campaign in Zimbabwe|first=Pan-african News|last=Wire|date=14 March 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.s2a3.org.za/bio/Biograph_final.php?serial=1257|title=S2A3 Biographical Database of Southern African Science}}</ref> At Hope Fountain, now part of the city of Bulawayo, fellow South African transplant [[Cornelius van Rooyen]] (b. 1860, [[Uitenhage]], modern [[Eastern Cape Province]], South Africa), a big&ndash;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. Van Rooyen saw Helm's pair of bitches and decided to breed his own dogs with them to incorporate their guarding abilities.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://rhodesianassociation.com/the-men-who-created-the-rhodesian-ridgeback-dog-we-know-today%E2%80%8F-continued-from-decjan-bundu-times/|title=The men who created the Rhodesian Ridgeback dog we know today? (continued from Dec/Jan Bundu Times) – Rhodesian Association of WA (RAWA)}}</ref>

After initially greyer, rough-coated [[litter (animal)|litter]]s 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.<ref name="fox7"/> They became the foundation stock of a kennel which developed dogs over the next 35 years with the ability to bay a lion, to not attack it outright but to harass it by darting in and out with quick snaps and confusing the animal until the hunter shot it.<ref name="fox10">[[#fox2003|Fox (2003)]]: p. 10</ref> These dogs were used to hunt lions, boars and other big game as well as to clear farmlands of wild pigs and [[baboon]]s, and they can kill a baboon independently of a human hunter's collaboration.<ref name="fox11">[[#fox2003|Fox (2003)]]: p. 13</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Rhodesian Ridgeback: The Origin, History and Standard of the Breed|author=T. C. Hawley|page=24}}</ref>

The original breed standard was drafted in 1922 by F. R. Barnes on founding the first Rhodesian Ridgeback Club at a Bulawayo Kennel Club show, then in Southern Rhodesia (now in Zimbabwe), and based on that of the [[Dalmatian (dog)|Dalmatian]]. In 1927, Barnes' standard was approved by the [[Kennel Union of Southern Africa|South African Kennel Union]].<ref>[http://www.fci.be/Nomenclature/Standards/146g06-en.pdf FCI Breed Standard]</ref> Outside the subcontinent and internationally, the first Rhodesian Ridgebacks in Britain were shown by Mrs. Edward Foljambe in 1928.<ref>''Times'' (London), 11 October 1928, p. 11; 14 August 1933, p. 16</ref> In 1950, Mr. and Mrs. William H. O'Brien of Arizona brought six carefully selected Rhodesian Ridgebacks to the US from South Africa.<ref name="Lamarde History">{{cite web |last1=Cook |first1=John |last2=Cook |first2=Sally |title=History of the Breed |url=http://www.lamardeperro.com/page72.html |website=lamardeperro.com |publisher=Lamarde Perro Kennels |access-date=9 August 2018 |location=[[Shadow Hills, Los Angeles]]}}</ref> He and his wife and Margaret Lowthian of California began the process of getting the breed accepted by the American Kennel Club. Similarly, in 1952, The Rhodesian Ridgeback Club of Great Britain was founded at Crufts to promote the breed around the United Kingdom to show judges, so a standard for the breed might be recognised.<ref name="rhodesianridgebacks.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.rhodesianridgebacks.org/|title=Rhodesian Ridgeback Club of Great Britain}}</ref> In 1954 the first Challenge Certificates were awarded to dogs shown as Rhodesian Ridgebacks at [[United Kingdom]] competitions, toward their subsequent recognition by [[The Kennel Club]] of [[Great Britain]],<ref name="rhodesianridgebacks.org"/> and in 1955 the [[American Kennel Club]] recognised the Rhodesian Ridgeback breed<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.akc.org/dog-breeds/rhodesian-ridgeback/|title=Rhodesian Ridgeback Dog Breed Information|first=American Kennel|last=Club}}</ref> as a member of the hound group.

===Culling of puppies===
Traditionally, many Rhodesian Ridgeback puppies were [[culling|culled]] at birth for numerous reasons, including ridgelessness. Some breed parent clubs and canine registries in Europe have even made the culling of ridgeless whelps a requirement. Contemporary breeders are increasingly opting for surgical sterilisation of these offspring to ensure they will not be bred but can live into maturity as non-showing, non-breeding pets. It was pointed out on the BBC One investigative documentary ''[[Pedigree Dogs Exposed]]'' that the Rhodesian Ridgeback Club of Great Britain's "code of ethics", which is ratified annually by the [[kennel club]], states that "Ridgeless puppies shall be culled",<ref name="web.archive.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.rhodesianridgebacks.org/ethics.html |title= Code of Ethics Page|date=2007-05-22 |access-date=2011-10-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070522040713/http://www.rhodesianridgebacks.org/ethics.html |archive-date=May 22, 2007 }}</ref> and that "mismarked" puppies will only ever be sold on condition that they are never shown, and are neutered.<ref name="web.archive.org"/> The Rhodesian Ridgeback Club defended itself pointing to the statement that follows, "if a breeder finds this morally impossible [to cull the puppy] the puppy shall be homed..." as indication that culling is not mandatory, but preferred.<ref>[http://www.rhodesianridgebacks.org/index.html RESPONSE TO BBC PROGRAMME "PEDIGREE DOGS EXPOSED"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081224153057/http://www.rhodesianridgebacks.org/index.html |date=2008-12-24 }} The Rhodesian Ridgeback Club of Great Britain</ref> It was only after the publicity surrounding the promotion of culling that they reversed their code of ethics to say "no healthy puppy will be culled".<ref>[http://www.rhodesianridgebacks.org/ethics.html General Code of Ethics] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111020181718/http://www.rhodesianridgebacks.org/ethics.html |date=2011-10-20 }} The Rhodesian Ridgeback Club of Great Britain</ref>