Its forebears can be traced to the semi-domesticated, ridged hunting dogs of the Khoikhoi, which were crossed with European dogs by the early colonists of the Cape Colony of southern Africa. And while proponents of this theory freely admit that ridgebacks are undoubtedly athletic 'running' dogs, they draw the distinction that ridgebacks do not pursue game by sheer speed, which is typical of the true sighthounds associated with the northern half of the continent. - There is also a group of ridgeback fanciers who believe Rhodesian Ridgebacks should be thought of in terms of the FCI's group 5.8. FCI group 5 includes the spitz and related primitives. But supporters of the theory contend that enough of the foundational stock is ancient, including the greyhound and the Khoikhoi dog (from which the ridged back derives), that even though it was developed relatively recently and for use with modern firearms, the breed can still be considered to be of a 'primitive type'.