Hi As far as I can make out from other South Africans,there are very few breeds applicable to SA or more precisely the Boers,some of them did bring with them from Holland where they originate,but most of those breeds didnt survive,or there was some tale about some mating with wild dogs.So I asked where then did this breed come from,they said in part Ridgeback but mainly mastiff what mastiff no one knows,its very rare in SA to have pets,they mainly have working dogs,but I like ridgebacks,although there was a report that what they were named for is in fact a form of spinal deformity when they tried to expose pedigree dogs on channel 4,but my argument then is if it is a weakness how could they hunt lions.So the breeding of boerboels is a big mystery as the boers are claiming that the breeding of that breed is down to them the Afrikannas are saying otherwise,but as there are not many breeds,I would say that the ridgeback is somewhere in there,the mastiff I just dont know.Gemini54

not too sure what you are getting at tbh. 2 diffferent breeds and countries. even your south African friends could tell you adoc bout the ridgeback being the African lion dog. It's all quite well known. about the boerbeel and ridgeback. Mastiffs are ancient proto breed already present in that part of the world. afrikaans is the language of the host Bbtw.

Meant to say afrikaans is the language of the boers . hard typing on a smartphone

I think Gemini means Afrikaners KYes. But have to say I also think they are getting a little mixed up in Ridgebacks, Boerboels, Mastiffs, and all sorts here.

And because someone I know who comes from another country tells me something pertaining to that country - I don't take it as gospel. No more than I would expect them to believe I know everything there is to know about all things English, or even all English dog breeds. Nor do I expect the Cypriots I live among to know EVERYTHING there was to know about all things Cypriot!

Hi people talk about facts black and white,but I think most things are grey.When I sat with these people discussing dogs,there truth is a country call Rhodesia,where they had large farms loved ones human and canine,but one morning they woke up to a small army,who had been told by a country call Harara that their farms werent theres anymore,and had to vacate within an hour,already there had been carnage,faithful servants hanged, dogs killed,that is there truth,not a page of facts and figures about where there dogs originated,to them those dogs were there lifeline,and kept them safe,they were not pets but were loved and respected working/guard dogs to us dangerous dogs.So maybe when people talk to you,you dont go to a computer or library.the truth is as they see it and you take what they say not because you are gullible,but becuse what they say comes from the heart. Gemini54

What are you talking about and what has this post got to do with me explaining how ridgebacks were bred in rhodesia for fighting off lions or my friend explaining how the whites used them for attacking the blacks and then your post saying I'm wrong by saying they were crossbreeds then linking to video of a completely different breed? I'm confused. And I told you about my own knowledge and my friend's upbringing . so I am sourcing real people not Google.

Your history lesson above is also common knowledge history from the 80s. what you are talking about is the colonial white government of Ian Smith being overthrown by SAN

Whoops .....continued....ZANU and ZAPU PF then Mugabe wiping out his ZAPU allies then changing name of country to Zimbabwe not Harare, which is actually the capital city then about a decade later the government seizing farms from white owners. Mugabe still is the dictator of Zimbabwe thirty years later.

and I have just not been anywhere near Google

Hi I was trying to highlight how the ridgeback was upgraded if you like to cope with the changes in the countries history,as though they are fleet of foot,they dont really have the mass of the larger dog which is widely used to protect people and property (I never can spell that dogs name or say it) but its difficult to explain what is actually happening without giving a potted history.I dont think people want to add to dangerous dogs but sometimes it cant be helped, due to circumstances so sorry if I offended you Gemini54

You haven't offended me. you started off by telling me my friend who lived in Africa was wrong and then saying ridgebacks have nothing to do with lions . then explained so with information that had nothing to do with ridgebacks. so no, not offended, just confused LOL. What I have posted is what any south African could tell you - you can look it all up for yourself it you like

are you sure you haven't misunderstood what your south African friend told you? Maybe he just told you he knew some people that crossed some ridgebacks with some boerbeels?

I agree but I also think there's a big difference between aggression towards dogs and aggression towards humans. Just because a dog would bite another dog doesn't mean she would do the same to a human. What the media does is they put all kinds of aggression into the same basket. Any dog with a 'fighting' background is immediately stamped a man-killing machine when in reality those dogs have been specifically bred to be extremely tolerant of humans.
Genetically predisposed to have a low bite threshold with dogs and other animals, yes, but also predisposed to have a very high bite threshold with humans.
Which obviously doesn't mean they would never bite a human, but in general it would take more to provoke these breeds to bite humans.

Anyway, I think this is all going a bit off topic, going into african history and all.
Sad fact is that to this point nobody has yet come up with an actually practical solution to the problem of undersozialised and overbred dogs (which in my eyes is the cause of aggression, along with rank reduction programs).