While Rhodesian Ridgebacks are not classified as a herding breed by the American Kennel Club, many ridgebacks exhibit excellent herding instincts. It is believed that in the early history of the breed, in addition to their primary jobs of hunting and guarding, some ridgebacks may have been used for herding in Africa resulting in honing of the instinct that seems to be present in some members of the breed today. It is amazing to watch a ridgeback who has never seen a sheep enter a pen and almost immediately know how to move the sheep and group them together.

That is just what happened when Kuyu, at just 8 months of age, entered the sheep corral with Chris Ashton of Enlighten Dogs. Under Chris’s watchful eye and guidance, Kuyu almost immediately knew his job was to keep the sheep together. Kuyu who is usually a very exuberant puppy was surprisingly calm with the sheep. He never once nipped or was overly active with them. Instead, he used his body moving back and forth to keep the sheep together. It was the most remarkable thing to watch! This was one of those times it was Nature more than Nurture that was most active!

Click here to see the video of Kuyu’s herding

In agility the first 3 titles require 3 qualifying legs in order to advance to the next title level. Kanzu advanced through the typical order of Novice, Open and Excellent titles in both Jumpers and Standard classes on his way toward his MACH. Then in order to advance to next level, the Master agility titles, the MX and MXJ require 10 perfect runs at the excellent level. Until recently the only title possible after the MX and MXJ was the MACH.

In July 2012, in order to recognize consistency and longevity, the AKC added Lifetime Achievement titles and began recording ‘metal levels’ to the Master Agility Excellent (MX) and Master Excellent Jumpers With Weaves (MXJ)) classes. For each 25 qualifying runs in each class a new level can be awarded; Bronze, Silver, Gold. When the dog reaches 100 qualifying runs a century title is awarded.

On July 1, Kanzu was awarded the MXG and MJG titles indicating that he had more than 75 qualifying runs in standard and jumpers at the excellent level.

Since receiving his MACH in January, 2012 Kanzu has been competing in the Preferred jump height and had to return to the novice level and has had to traverse all of the new title levels. On July 29, he received his Master Excellent Preferred Title (MXP) and is now eligible to begin work toward his bronze level in the preferred class.

Click here to see Kanzu’s runs from the MXP weekend

The 2012 Top Performers issue of The Ridgeback Magazine includes a beautiful 3 page article on Kanzu and his history- making Grand Champion-Triple Championships. The issue also contains an ad honoring Kanzu’s accomplishments including his three 2011 top 10 rankings in; RRCUS agility, AKC agility and LGRA (Straight Racing).

 
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