Test Your RR IQ




By Denise Flaim

Everyone loves a baker's dozen, especially when the subject is Krispy Kremes. Problem is, you pay for your few minutes of sticky-fingered indulgence with a very incompliant waistline.

While you'll have to go elsewhere for your sugar fix, here’s a different baker's dozen: 13 questions on the Rhodesian Ridgeback. And unlike a jelly doughnut, the only thing this quiz should leave you with is a better understanding of our versatile African hounds.

1.  The Rhodesian Ridgeback's progenitor was a ridged, jackal-like dog that accompanied which African tribe?
a) Khoikhoi
b) Bushmen
c) Masai
d) Zulus

2. Cornelius van Rooyen is credited with creating the first formal breeding program of Ridgebacks in the late 19 th Century. Van Rooyen was …
a) A farmer
b) A big-game hunter
c) An exporter of zoo animals
d) All of the above

3. Which of the following breeds was not used by van Rooyen in the development of the Ridgeback?
a)  Weimaraner
b)  Irish terrier
c)  Greyhound
d)  Collie
e)  Pointer
f)   Bulldog
4. When the Ridgeback standard was first written in 1922, it borrowed heavily from the standard of what other breed?
a) Mastiff
b) Weimaraner
c) Dalmatian
d) Doberman

5. The "Rhodesian" in "Rhodesian Ridgeback" is now obsolete. Rhodesia is now called …
a) Malawi
b) Zimbabwe
c) The Republic of South Africa
d) Matabeleland

6. Which of the following is not described in the Ridgeback's AKC standard?
a) Length of the ridge
b) Placement of the crowns
c) Length of the fan
d) Shape of the fan

7. In what is arguably the seminal work on the breed, "The Rhodesian Ridgeback," author Major Tom Hawley compares the Ridgeback's role in baying a lion to what human occupation?
a) Wrestler
b) Assassin
c) Ringmaster
d) Matador
8. The only disqualifying fault mentioned in the Ridgeback standard is:
a) White above the elbows
b) Incomplete dentition
c) Ridgelessness
d) Timidity

9. At birth, the features of the ridge are …
a) proportionate to what they will be in adulthood
b) too premature to be determined
c) not yet visible

10. According to health and genetics surveys compiled by Rhodesian Ridgeback Club of the United States, which of the following conditions is most prevalent in the breed?
a) Dermoid sinus
b) Hip dysplasia
c) Ridgelessness
d) Entropian

11. Because of its versatility, the Ridgeback has been classified differently by dog registries across the world. Which category has the Ridgeback not been grouped in?
a) Pariah dog
b) Guarding dog
c) Scenthound
d) Sighthound
12. Which of the following activities are Ridgebacks unequivocally not suited for?
a) Lure coursing
b) Herding
c) Agility
d) Schutzhund

13. Which of the following complaints are sometimes expressed by exhibitors in the conformation ring?
a) Judges who erroneously think Ridgebacks need to be “big enough to bring down lions,” and so disregard correctly sized, in-standard dogs
b) Judges who disregard brown, or livernosed dogs, when the standard considers them just as correct
c) Judges who prefer dark wheaten dogs over light wheaten, when the standard considers all shades of wheaten equally correct
d) All of the above

Answers: 1) a; 2) d; 3) a; 4) c; 5) b; 6) d; 7) d; 8) c; 9) a; 10) c; 11) b; 12); d 13) d

This quiz by Denise originally appeared in the May 2003 issue of the AKC Gazette. It may not be reprinted or reproduced without the author's express written permission.