Vietnamese Phu Quc Ridgebacks Make Appearance at World Dog Show

Phu Quoc Ridgeback dogs are a breed of dog from Phu Quoc Island in Vietnam’s southern Province. According to old people on Phu Quoc Island, the dog was traditionally four main colours: spotted, black, yellow, and striped; however now the colours have become more varied. A mature dog is about 20-25 kg, with a small head, long neck, quite a long snout, thin yet long ears and dark speckles on the tongue. The body of tapering belly, straight legs and webbed feet, this allows Phu Quoc dogs to swim and run exceedingly well.

An important sign to recognize a true Phu Quoc dog is the whorls on its back, together with short, thin hair. When facing competitors or running after prey, the whorls become erect, making the dog look brave and strong. They are famous for hunting and protecting houses, for their friendship and loyalty to owners, and their fearlessness against competitors. They excel in swimming and running and are able to leap over high fences. Now, it is quite difficult to find purebreed Phu Quoc dogs, as they have mixed with other breeds.

This is the mother son duo that made the trip to Paris in order to compete at the International Competition. Phu Quoc Ridgebacks are rarely seen outside of their native Vietnamese home even though tourists are always trying to take breeding pairs home with them to try and bring the breed to other parts of the world. However they have proven very hard to breed when not in their native habitat. photo courtesy of Saigon English Daily.

Here is a video not super great quality but you can at least see the dogs and their ridges. I guess they like to climb because at the end of the video they are in their enclosures and all of them are on top of the roof of the dog houses instead of inside them.