White Markings

According to the Rhodesian Ridgeback Standard

"COLOR

Light wheaten to red wheaten. A little white on the chest and toes permissible but excessive white there, on the belly or above the toes is undesirable. "

Almost everyone I have ever met has their own interpretation of what a "little and excessive" means. I think it is important to think about why the engineers of our breed found white to be problematic. In Africa, the dog needed to hunt, stalk and move through the brush by blending into it as much as possible. White was an issue, at night it allowed predators to spot them, during the day it could highlight and give away their position. So ideally, minimizing white would enhance the dog's hunting abilities. However in the show ring coat and color only count for a paltry 5 points out of 100. Judges understand throwing a splendid conformation specimen out of the gene pool because he / she may have a white sock or a white shield on the chest would be wrong. Since our dogs do not have to hunt to feed either ourselves or them, forgiving white in an otherwise lovely dog is perfectly acceptable. Puppies who may have a large white splotch will "freckle in" until it reduces in size dramatically. I admit, I find white shields, slippers and socks can really accent the personality of a much loved dog. And IF you are very very lucky you may have a RR who lives long enough to develop a white face and stockings like our beloved Jasmine....what an elegant and perfect Champion she was indeed.

Here are some examples of white on some very nice dogs....

Sleeping puppy , Brody with his little white boots.

Mika with an inverted heart shape on her chest, kind of cute don't you think?

Good example of a Small White Shield...

This pretty baby has a slender white blaze on the throat.

The next two photos are of an amazing boy named Kinga, as a baby and now a grown dog. Isn't he the Handsome Boy? Sometimes the white markings are very distinctive, Kinga's star is really cool, I think.