A dog breed
originating in Phu Quoc Island off southern Kien Giang province. It is
one of the world's only three breeds showing the rare trait of having a
ridge-back.
Origin
Some authors believe
all ridgeback breeds originate from the same basic pariah stock common
to both Asia and Africa. Note that Phu Quoc dogs usually have longer
coats, deeper chests and more sword-like tails. Phu Quoc dogs also
differ from the Thai ridgeback by the fact that they are heavy barkers,
while Thai dogs are much quieter. Although the Rhodesian ridgeback and
Thai ridgeback, with their much heavier bodies show some
dissimilarities (in morphology and habits) with the Phu Quoc dog, the
theory of a common origin is considered as plausible. Indeed, much sea
traffic passed Phu Quoc in historical times and Phu Quoc dogs may have
been transported from Thailand to Southern Africa.
Vuong Trung Son Co, a company operating a farm in the Mekong Delta
province of Hau Giang has started a breeding program to protect the
breed, starting with 44 Phu Quoc dogs collected on Phu Quoc Island.
Vuong Trung Son Co. has kept profiles for all Phu Quoc dogs at the farm and prevents cross-breeding to avoid hybrids.
A dog training center also works to preserve and protect Phu Quoc dogs.
Mr. Pham Diem Binh, the owner of the center, said his center sold 50
Phu Quoc purebred dogs, including 10 to France, at the end of 2004. The
center is now home to some 500 Phu Quoc dogs.
A dog with a typical pariah dog appearance and a small head, relatively long snout, and thin ears.
The most typical trait is the ridge running along the spine of the dog.
Hair along the ridge is tougher and longer and often stands on end
whenever the dog is excited or go on the hunt.
Other key features
of the breed include: a black tail-tip and a triangular root to the
tail, dark nails and nose, and dark speckles on the tongue. The dog's
tapering belly, straight legs and webbed toes allow it to swim and run
exceedingly well.
Originally the Phu
Quoc ridgeback could be found in four main coat colors or patterns:
spotted, black, yellow, and striped, but today a large palette of coat colors exist.
A mature dog weighs about 20-25kg.
Temperament and Trainability
They are intelligent
and fiercely loyal dogs, unafraid of heights, which make them excellent
hunters. They are very trusting with strangers, which makes them
unsuitable as guard dogs
Source: internet
Phu quoc dogs are also extremely fast runners and excellent swimmers.
