The Cabinet's ledger.
Nine years of litters, three founding dogs, and a dorsal ridge we never screen lightly.
A guardian and tracking dog, out of Southern Africa.
The Rhodesian Ridgeback descends from the ridged hunting dogs kept by the Khoikhoi, crossed from the 16th century onward with the dogs of European settlers at the Cape. Rhodesian farmers turned it into an all-purpose dog: able to guard an isolated homestead, track for a full day, and hold large game at bay without ever engaging it alone.
That history explains everything else about the breed: the independence, the reserve with strangers, the stamina. An old French saying sums it up better than we could — "Bon chien chasse de race" — a good dog hunts true to its line.
Its defining mark, the ridge, is a strip of hair that grows against the direction of the surrounding coat along the spine. It's also the one genetic feature we watch closely: it can be associated with dermoid sinus, a rare congenital condition that careful screening rules out before placement.
Three dogs, three generations.
Named after writers, as befits a reading cabinet.
Montaigne
Sire · born 2019 · red wheaten
From an Ontario line tracing back to South African imports. Almost monastically calm — he's slept under the cabinet's desk for nine years — yet perfectly sharp outdoors.
Screenings: hips and elbows excellent, heart and eyes clinically normal, dermoid sinus negative.
Woolf
Dam · born 2020 · wheaten
Quebec bloodline, our first breeding female. Watchful and protective, yet remarkably patient with her litters. Mother of Sappho, born from her very first litter.
Screenings: hips and elbows good, heart and eyes clinically normal, dermoid sinus negative.
Sappho
Dam · born 2022 · light wheaten
Woolf's daughter, more playful than her mother, still a bit of a puppy at heart. Her first litter, sired by Montaigne, is planned for summer 2027 — the third generation to enter the ledger.
Screenings: hips and elbows excellent, heart and eyes clinically normal, dermoid sinus negative.
What we check before every breeding.
No breeding happens until both parents have completed these four screenings. Certificates are shown, not summarized.
Hips and elbows
X-rays evaluated by a recognized body, on both parents, before mating — this athletic breed is not spared from dysplasia.
Heart and eyes
Cardiac assessment and an annual ophthalmological exam by a specialist veterinarian, on each of our three breeding dogs.
Dermoid sinus
Palpation and, where needed, imaging along the ridge to rule out this breed-specific congenital condition, before every breeding and again at each puppy's birth.
Written guarantee
A two-year guarantee against serious hereditary conditions, provided in writing when the contract is signed — replacement or refund, your choice.
The ledger continues in 2027.
Sappho's litter — the Cabinet's third generation — is planned for summer 2027. Write to us now to join the waiting list before the puppies are published.