Re Ridgebacks
In the early years you didn't get all the type of breeds in South Africa. Basically Africanis (indigenous breed), boerboel (developed out of mastiff ), ridgeback (fair bit of Africanis in it) and greyhound. That was basically that.
All the boergreyhound therefore have % of boerboel, ridgeback and africanis in it.
We had one boergreyhound line with lots of ridgebacks in it ...this speciffic line was very aggresive...good hunter but also guard dog.
Lots of farmers have boerboel, ridgeback or crosses of the 2 mainly as guard dogs.
Some of the show lines today are useless...but you still get super ridgebacks on some farms.
Cheers
David