Big

Having all the puppies as a unit made them seem larger than they really were next to Halo and Raimi but now the size difference is glaringly apparent. I did not expect Raimi’s size but in using a California stud dog I did anticipate a good sized dog. But Raimi was not the largest puppy ... he even had sisters larger than him at 8 weeks old. Everyone thought Tucker would be a monster dog … he was the heaviest puppy 8 weeks and is now 20 pounds lighter than Raimi.

However Raimi is not fat – he is in exceptional shape with long, flat muscles that you can easily see - which is what you want an endurance working dog. He moves like a puppy still but he has gained more control over his limbs of late. His weight comes from his bone mass. He has incredible bone for a Ridgeback but he cannot be compared to a bullmastiff because he does not move like one … he floats over the ground easily without showing heaviness of limb or structure. Completely correct for a Ridgeback. He is just over 28 inches tall and while that is larger than we expect to see here it’s a typical size for a lot of US areas.

Halo is the correct size for a bitch. She is almost 26 inches tall, pretty well right on the money for the standard. She has been shown against larger bitches and done very well. She is more agile than Raimi given her size but there again The Boy is still a goofy puppy and will not have full limb control til he’s at least 2 or so. Halo’s bitch puppies should not get much bigger than her except the ones with more bone. Rifka in Edmonton and Bella in Victoria may be bigger than Halo because of their bone mass, the rest of the girls should be average sized bitches.

When it comes to size bigger is not better. These dogs were NOT bred to attack so mass was irrelevant. It was agility that kept them alive. Halo’s agility is exceptional and she sure likes to show it off. I’ll get video of Halo “baying” Raimi. It’s amazing. She darts in and out pouncing, leaping back, twisting, biting, snapping, grabbing … and he is helpless because he never knows where the next attack is coming from. Eventually she relents to let him up and then knocks him down again.

Could Giant Raimi do the purpose for which he was bred? Well I’m inclined to say yes for a couple reasons. He does not lack agility given his size and if you watch him move you can see that. Also it was the bitches who were the huntress. The dogs hung back and cued off the bitches so they did not need the lighter bone the bitches possess. They can track and chase as well as a bitch but they are not the brains of the operation. Anyone who has owned a bitch knows how sneaky they are and how friggin’ intelligent. Could Raimi track and bay a lion? The next time I see a lion in my neighbourhood I’ll find out. I guess it’s easy to ask a philosophical question when you can never be proved wrong.