Introduction:
It has been more than 2000 years since dogs had become man’s domestic pet. In the past, man bred dogs for hunting and guarding the property. Dogs can adjust themselves to man better than any other animals. They are easy to be tamed and they are willingly to have relationship with man.
There are many reasons why man loves to breed dogs. First, they are the best loving company who provide friendships, relationship and understanding. Second, they are royal and endlessly faithful. Last, they can alert man when the danger is coming. Dogs have done what mentioned above by nature. Besides, these dogs are also the Cupids for some couples. Like the line, “Love me, love my Thaidog.”
Khun Nor Chatwongthiwa, Rayong province


The Origins of the Thai Ridgeback Dogs:
Translations by Paweena Yantip, written by Jack Sterling
Originally from Asia, the Thai Ridgeback dogs have been Thai domestic dogs for a long time. Their remarkable characteristics are “set-high ears, straight back with distinctive line of hair along the backbone, straight tail, dirty-looked mouth” which makes them look both graceful and scary at the same time.
The Thai Ridgeback dogs have been known among Thai people for several hundred years. Most of them are bred kennel or cage free around the residence area, at the farm or even in the temple area. There are some documents from the old time mentioning about the Thai Ridgeback dogs.
First, “in the era of the King Ram Kham Hang Maharach of Sukhothai Kingdom in the year B.E. 1826, the King had marched the army to fight against Indochin or Vietnam in the present time in order to expand the territory with the help from his skillful warriors from around the kingdom. It is possible that these warriors had found the strange-looking dogs and brought these dogs with them to Sukhothai Kingdom. After being raised and bred as the domestic dogs for some period of time, these dogs had been developed to be the Thai Ridgeback dogs since then.”
Second, in the era of King Song Tham of Ayuthaya Kingdom in the year B.E. 2170, there was the writing about the Thai Ridgeback dogs in Sa-mhud-khoi (a long book made of pulp from trees of the family Uricaceae) that, “these dogs are in the huge bodies. They are taller than 2 cubits. They are in several kinds of colors. They have the distinctive line along their straight back. They are fierce but royal and faithful to their owners. They hunt the smaller animals by digging the holes into the ground. They love to follow their owners to go into the wood for hunting. When they get their prey, they would take it back to their owners. They are royal to their owner’s family. They love their pack. They are brave and powerful. They are never scared of anything or anyone. Anybody who has them in the family always gets royalty from them.”
From the two documents above, it indicates that the Thai Ridgeback dogs are originally from Thailand. They are also recognized as one characteristic of the country. That is why they should be preserved and developed to be better in the future.

The development of the Thai Ridgeback dogs:
Luang Paripon Potchanapisut, the official in the Justice Department in the past, had bred the Thai Ridgeback dogs since the year 1927. He passionately loved and was kind to the Thai Ridgeback dogs for the rest of his life. He was recognized as the "King of the Thai Dogs. He pioneered in breeding and developing the Thai dogs especially the Thai Ridgeback dogs in blue-gray color. By that time, the only blue-gray dog that he had was a bitch with short hair but with no line on the back. Later, he got the blue-gray male Ridgeback dog with the line on the back. He mated this male dog with the female one that he had before. The result was the male puppy in the blue-gray color with the line on the back. His name was Chao Thao (Mister Gray). He was so beautiful with his remarkable characteristics that people started to call him Chao Thao Khong Khun Luang (Mister Gray of Khun Luang). He became so famous that there were many people taking their female dogs to mate with him because they wanted to have the blue-gray Thai ridgeback dogs for their own. It is reasonable to say that all of the blue-gray Thai Ridgeback dogs now a day are Chao Thao’s grandchildren.
The Thai Ridgeback dogs of Khun Luang originally had short hair with straight tail. Then he took his dogs to mate with the dogs from Chantaburi province and Trad province that had the short, fine and close hair. The result was the famous and popular Ridgeback puppies with the short, fine and close hair in several colors.
The Thai Ridgeback dogs have just become a member of the Asian Dogs Organization in the year1987.

There are several objectives in developing the Thai Ridgeback dogs.
In order to preserve the original breed.
In order to study the characteristic in being smart for training and working.
In order to eliminate the characteristic in being fierce so they can get along well with man and be trusted.
In order to develop the good clear physical appearance of the dogs such as the body, the skin, the size and the length of the coat, the color of the coat.
In order to reach the objectives above, there are some methods that needed to be done.
The right mating and choosing the good breed.
The right nutrition to develop the body.
The healthy cage and residence area.
The right health care.
There are several reasons why people are encouraged to breed the Thai Ridgeback Dogs.
To preserve the beauty of the dogs for the people of the next generations.
To develop the better breed with remarkable characteristics.
To be man’s company and the good guard dogs.
To have the competitions to interest other people and for the breeders to have a chance to proudly show their dogs.
To create a job for the breeders.

Where to get the Thai Ridgeback Dogs:
Now a day, there are several Thai Ridgeback dog breeders in the southeast of Thailand, like Trad province, Chantaburi province, Rayong province, Chonburi province and also in Bangkok and Nonthaburi and ChiangMai. These breeders are famous and popular among dog lovers both inside Thailand and aboard. One such breeder is a American named Khun Jack Sterling from ChiangMai. He raises the very best in this breed and has taught many the problems all breeders face with the "seed" in the neck of the dogs. Also about temperment. We all can learn a lot from this man.
The standard of the Thai Ridgeback dogs:
In the year 1946, after the end of World War II, there was a group of committee setting the standard of the Thai Ridgeback Dogs and had set the dog show at Dusit Garden in Bangkok. By that time, this standard had set extensively but it has been improved from time to time.

The standard of the Thai dogs set in the year 1946.
Size of the male- 20-22 kilograms in weight and 55 cm. tall for a dog (measured from the front pastern to the end of scapula).
Size of the female- 18-20 kilograms in weight and 50 cm. tall for a bitch (usually, a bitch should be 2.5-5 cm. shorter than a dog. The dog should be bigger and look more beautiful than the bitch.)
Head - Blunt mouth, not pointed, with board skull that should not be flat or too swell. The gap between the eyes and the face should not be bending. The teeth should be white. The upper teeth and the lower teeth should be at the biting level.
Body - The width from the front legs to the rear legs should be balance with the height. The body should not be too long because it would make the legs look too short, not in a good balance. The chest should be a little bit bigger than the belly. And the belly should not be cramped.
Tail- The tails can be in various shapes, such as curled once or twice to one side of the back or carried up over the backbone in the U shape. The committee at Dusit Garden had set the first standard for the Thai dogs as “straight-up ears and sward-shaped tail”.
Color - The Thai dogs can be in various colors, like black, white, red with the black mouth, beige with the black mouth, the tiger-like color, the panther-like color, pale purple or blue-gray. If the whole body is in one color, the white spot at some parts of the body is accepted such as the white spot in the neck area, the chest, the belly, the tip of each pastern or even the tip of the tail.

Temperament - Honest, royal, intelligent, easy to tamed, obedient.
The standard of the Thai dog set in the year 1987
Head : Wedge-shaped, blunt mouth, board forehead with big jaw.
Nose : Black
Teeth : Shiny white with 20 upper teeth and 22 lower teeth at the biting level.
Ear : Set high, not oblique than 60 degrees, measured from the outside to the core of the ear.
Neck : Strong, not too short or too small, should be balance with the size of the body.
Body : Square-shaped. The length of the body should not be longer than the height than 1 inch. The height is measured perpendicularly from the front shoulder to the front pastern. The length is measured from the outside of the chest to the end of the rump, parallel with the ground.
Chest : Slide down from the belly to the front elbows.
Front legs : Straight and parallel.
Rear legs : Straight and parallel, slightly oblique to the back.
Feet ; 5 toes for the front feet and 4 toes for the rear feet. The gap between each toe should not be too close or too far. When the dog stands, the feet should look like the lion’s feet. There also should not be a protruding toe at the rear feet.
Tail : A sward-shaped, straight, set and carried high when a dog stands, swing back and forth when a dog runs. A slight upward curve is acceptable but curliness is not good.
Color of the nails : Pink, brown, black; harmonious with the color of the body. White is not acceptable.
Gait : Horse-like gait with the straight head that makes the dog looks graceful.
Ridgeback : Perfectly beautiful in various sizes or designs but should be in order.
Skeleton : Strong, in balance with the shape of the body, with unbending backbone.
Weight : Estimate 22-24 kilograms for an adult dog and 20-22 kilograms for an adult bitch. The weight should be well balanced with the height.
Mouth : Blunt but not pointed, not too small
The whole body : Harmonious balance of the body, from head to tail, with a graceful look.
The current standard of the Thai dogs:
Characteristics : The body is almost in a square shape with the length a little bit longer than the height; with high shoulders, unbending back, board chest sliding down from the belly to the front elbows, constricted waist and strong muscles.
Head : Wedged-shape head with a blunt mouth, full cheeks, board forehead and big jaw. The length of the forehead and the nose should be balance.
Ears : Triangular, pointed tips, medium size, set high and a little bit oblique.
Eyes : Oval-shape, not bulging. The lower eyelids should not be droop.
Nose : Round tip and little bit low. The color is in harmony with the color of the body.
Mouth : Blunt mouth with the upper lip and lower lip touch each other closely.
Teeth : Strong, white and clean. The upper teeth and lower teeth are at the biting level.
Neck : Strong, almost round, proportionally long, in balance with the size of the body.
Tail : Carried straight when a dog stands and swing back and forth when a dog runs.
Front legs : Straight and parallel with straight hocks.
Rear legs : Straight and parallel, slightly oblique to the back.
Feet : The feet should be like the lion’s feet. Each toe is close to each other.
Nails : The color of all nails should be in the same color and should be harmonious with the color of the body.
Skeleton : Big and strong.
Color : There are three major colors; blue-gray, petal lotus black (dum-kreeb-bua) and brown.
Coat : Shinny, fine short.
Ridgeback : Big or small, should be beautifully in order.
Height : 21-25 inches for a dog and 19-23 inches for a bitch.
Weight : 21-25 kilograms for a dog and 19-23 kilograms for a bitch.
Gait: Horse-like gait with raising face, straight neck and body.
Temperament : Good-humored, brave, quick, hard working, intelligent, loyal with strong urge for hunting.
In order to reach the goal of each breeder, it is necessary to constantly improve the standard of the Thai dogs in order to get the right size and shape of the body, the size and color of the coat including the favor of the people.