Most days Tala and Juma, my girlfriend’s Rhodesian Ridgebacks, and I head to a farm about a half kilometer from home. We walk along a winding red dirt road that takes us to a pond, where Tala likes to swim.
Tala and Juma are terrific companions. That’s typical of Ridgebacks, which are natives of South Africa. The breed likely descends from a dog that accompanied the Khoi, who migrated to southern Africa about 2,000 years ago, according to a history published in 2007 by Kennel Club Books. The Khoi dog later crossed with mastiffs, Greyhounds, the Deerhound and, possibly, Airedale Terriers.
Ridgebacks are known as lion dogs because hunters would use them to track the cat, which the dogs would hold until the hunter could shoot it.
Tala, Juma and I like our routine, which is good for all three of us. With the arrival of spring, wildflowers are beginning to blossom along the trail. By the ride home the dogs are tired and happy.