Cornelius Van Rooyen was a well known hunter who lived in Southern Rhodesia in the late part of the nineteenth century. He was particularly well known for hunting lion and it was this that sparked the need for a special sort of dog. Perhaps it was the way lion stalk their prey that led him to want dogs which warned him of just such an occasion.

My friend lived at Van Rooyen's Rest, a 1000 acre farm on the outskirts of the village of Plumtree. The farm was named after Cornelius Van Rooyen who had settled there after retiring from his very active hunting career, many years earlier. He was a well known lion hunter and it was this aspect of his career that involved him in the breed of dogs which became known as Rhodesian Ridgebacks. Mr. Van Rooyen himself does not seem to have played a part in the perpetuation of the breed - his intention appears to have been confined to breeding dogs to assist him with hunting, not breeding for breeding's sake.

Hunting in the early days of Rhodesia was both a sport and a means of providing food. Dogs were used to track down and harry the prey. Whatever Mr. Van Rooyen's reasons were for hunting lion, both male and female lion make formidable opponents.

A male lion weighs in at around 200 kg and the females at 120 kg. A lion hunting alone stalks its victim slowly and silently, trying not to be seen. (If you do happen to catch its eye, the menace of it's intent can be virtually paralyzing). From a distance of about 30m, it abandons cover, bursts into speed, grabs its prey and throws it to the ground. Death comes by biting the back of the animal's neck or sinking its teeth into its throat to suffocate it. With some large animals, where the neck is high off the ground, lions have been known to start their feast on the hindquarters while the animal is still alive.

It's possible that some of the lions Van Rooyen hunted were man-eaters, in which case the local tribespeople would have welcomed the efforts of an experienced marksman with a trained pack of dogs to rid themselves of these troublesome beasts.

The story goes that Cornelius had visited nearby Hope Fountain Mission, which at that time was in the hands of Rev. Charles Helm who had brought with him, from the Swellendan region of the Cape of South Africa, two dogs of small-to-medium build, brown in colour, smooth-haired with a marked ridge of opposite-lying hair along the spine, from above the shoulder almost to the base of the tail. They were probably derived from a breed owned by the O Khoikhoi people, indigenous to that part of Africa, crossed with a larger, sturdier type imported from Europe.

Cornelius crossed his own hunting dogs with those of the Reverend Helm to establish a type that became known as Van Rooyen's Lion Dogs, large, muscular, intelligent and energetic, retaining the characteristic ridge of hair that later earned them the official title of Rhodesian Ridgebacks. They are often of a tan to dark color with a short coat, do not shed much hair and are practically odor free. They usually only bark if they have a good reason to do so.

The actual way in which the dog was used to hunt lions seems to have been to use them in rotating packs to harass the lion and bring it to bay, when it could be shot at close range.

The breeding program of Rhodesian Ridgebacks still exists in South Africa and in other pockets all over the world though sadly it no longer seems to exist in Zimbabwe (which used to be called Rhodesia).

It is not really a water dog but it is adaptable so should you own a Rhodesian Ridgeback and go anywhere with it on the water, you may be interested in buying a Life Jacket or Flotation Device for it – these days commonly known by the initials PFD. They come in various shapes and sizes and protect it against unforeseen long periods in the water. Of course, it is also important that you yourself take the precaution of wearing one.

Possible choices could be:

Pet Saver Deluxe Dog Life Vest
Marine Technologies Cordura Dog Vest
Riptide PFD for adults
NRS Chinook Fishing PFD

You may like to look at these and other articles at
http://www.theboatingstore.co.cc

Some of the information for this article - the brief history - came from the website murenga dot com.