"Our beloved breed is characterized by extreme loyalty - but there can be too much of a good thing. Ridgebacks that bond intensely with those they love can find it quite distressing when family members leave without them.

We can only imagine what goes through their minds as we walk out the door: Ridgebacks are supposed to be the center of our worlds, aren't they? What must we be thinking to go somewhere Ridgeback-less?"

"The day my butcher asked me how I wanted to have an entire steer cut up is the day I started to study anatomy. And when I realized that due to poor conformation, the meat yield of some of my lambs was insufficient to be profitable, the honeymoon stage of my farming career was over, and I went to work on improving meat characteristics in my animals. I started by focusing on wide thighs and stronger loins, and I am now working on improving shoulders and fronts. I am not looking for anything fancy or pretty, but for something functional and sustainable. For example, if the front is too far forward on a lamb or a goat, there is less muscle around the shoulders, which means less meat, and therefore less money. A front too far forward usually creates a dip in the back as well, which gets worse after each lambing season and shortens the productive life of ewes.

No, I don't look at my Ridgebacks as meat animals, but I value a lot of the same characteristics in them as I do in my livestock. The principles of good conformation and functionality are the same across all species. Lack of bone creates the same problems in dogs, sheep, cattle and horses. So do narrow thighs, straight shoulders and poor feet. If you don't know anatomy, you cannot understand conformation or function. Period."

Be careful what you wish for, the advice columnist Ann Landers used to say, because you just might get it."

"We're continually amazed at the bad information and bungled terminology that we see on Facebook, email lists and other places where fanciers gather and cross-pollinate. In the spirit of education, The Ridgeback Register offers this look at a handful of dog terms that are often misused, misinterpreted or just plain missed."

"If you aim to be a collector of fine Ridgeback art, you'll need some luck on your side. Our breed is so young that no vintage or antique images exist. And it is so misunderstood that many artists who don't come out of the breed paint Ridgebacks to look like mediocre Mastiffs.

Meet the exception that proves the rule."

"It was as predictable as chocolate and roses on Valentine's Day: Every February, you could count on battling the crush of people and dogs in Madison Square Garden's crowded benching area, scarfing down a stale $5 pretzel for sustenance, scanning the stadium rows for a free seat (and occasionally being ejected by its rightful owner), being serenaded by sardonic catalog peddlers ('Get your Bible of Beagles, your Torah of Terriers ...') and generally immersing yourself in the cacophony and drama that was 'The Garden.'

Westminster, after all, was the show that never changed. But you know what they say about never saying never."

"Ridgebacks have a special connection to Westminster.

Throughout the 1960s and early '70s, as the breed was getting its bearings in the United States and American breeding programs were starting to flourish, the Ridgeback club's eastern specialty was held the weekend before Westminster at various hotels around the city. And even today, other than the national specialty, Westminster is the one show where American Ridgebackers expect to convene and catch up.

For much of the breed's history, an active network of breeders in the New York metropolitan area has ensured that the Garden entry is usually among the show's biggest. And over the decades, Ridgebacks have managed to garner a smattering of Group placements - including one Group 1st - though Best in Show is still a likely a distant grab for the brass ring."

"I have attended three Westminster shows throughout the years, and after each one, I have declared, "Never again!"

The last time I said that was in 1992. Fast-forward more than a decade. My friends would not listen to my refusal to go to Westminster with them, even after I explained how challenging New York had been for me the last time I attended, and how much I hated the "Big Apple." Up until the week before the show, I insisted I was not going. Then I found myself looking into airline tickets, and soon I was sitting on a Delta plane, heading for LaGuardia!"

"Every March, a large number of folk with strange items of luggage and dogs of various sizes are seen making their way by various means of transport to Birmingham's National Exhibition Centre.

To those in the dog world, this is quite understandable: It's March, so it must be Crufts!

Since the United Kingdom relaxed its strict quarantine rules in early 2011, entries from abroad have increased exponentially. A record-setting number of 2,131 overseas dogs from 41 countries were presented at Crufts this year, with Hong Kong, India, Indonesia and Malaysia sending exhibitors for the first time.

Rhodesian Ridgebacks alone attracted exhibitors from Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, the Russian Federation, Sweden and Ukraine, with a male from the Netherlands taking the Dog Challenge Certificate."