rhodesian ridgeback Q&A WITH DIANE JACOBSEN, DANIELLE SAND, DENISE FLAIM, JOHN ARVIN AND DUDLEY HACKNEY THE RHODESIAN RIDGEBACK
DIANE JACOBSEN I live in California along the coastal area above San Francisco. I grow toma- toes, mostly heirlooms but also some of the colorful hybrids. We have about 200 plants and sell to restaurants. DANIELLE SAND
DUDLEY HACKNEY I live in North Carolina. Outside of dogs, I immensely enjoy cooking and reading all types of literature. 1 Your opinion of the current quality of purebred dogs in general, and your breed in particular. DJ: I have been told by European judges that American dogs in general are stylized. I have to agree that in most respects the dogs are taken to the extreme in style and type. In Ridgebacks, this is also true. I am seeing dogs and bitches that are sighty to the extreme, too much leg and extreme in angulation in the rears. There is a lack of overall balance, substance and bone. DS: I do not profess to be an expert on any breed other than my own. There are many new breeds that I cannot even identify! I feel the overall quality of Rhodesian Ridge- backs varies greatly depending on geographical region. I find the Northeast part of the country, where I attend the most shows, has good overall quality. DF: I judge both Hound and Working breeds, and often the quality is average at best. That said, I have judged dogs in the last couple of months—Mastiffs and Whippets come to mind—in which the best dogs were world class. The quality in Ridgebacks tends to vary, depending on what part of the country you are in. I recently judged a region- al in Michigan where the depth of quality was superb. And I’ve been quite impressed judging Ridgebacks in western Europe in the last couple of years—there were several I would I have taken home in a heartbeat. JA: I don’t feel qualified to comment on the quality of the fancy in general. However, I do hear a lot of comments about various breeds being too big and bulky, and judges not judging to the breed standards. As far as Rhodesian Ridgebacks go, I’m concerned that the breed has changed so much since the 1992 breed-stan- dard changes took effect that it’s almost a different breed. The race to breed excessive side-go into a breed that is slightly longer than tall, capable of efficient movement and great endurance is producing large, over-angulated and mostly unbalanced dogs.
I live in Rhinebeck, New York, in the beautiful Hudson Valley. By profes- sion I am a veterinarian. My passions besides dogs include art, fashion, gar- dening, travel and gastronomy. DENISE FLAIM
I live on Long Island. I started my professional life as a daily-newspaper reporter and editor, and I published sev- eral magazines for the fancy, including Sighthound Review , Modern Molosser and the Ridgeback Register . Now I publish dog books under my Revodana Publishing imprint. JOHN ARVIN I live in New Jersey, land of many Ridgebacks! I’m happily retired from a career in nuclear engineering since the beginning of 2016. Now, most of what I do seems to revolve around dogs!
S HOW S IGHT M AGAZINE , O CTOBER 2018 • 283
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