More Info

Did you know?

All dogs can 'get their hackles up,' called piloerection, when excited or agitated. Hair Ridge, which is permanent, is described as having crowns or whorls, with a “fan” of hair pointing toward the head, instead of away from it. There are five known ridged breeds of dog, four of them from Asia, and one from Africa, the Rhodesian Ridgeback, descended from the ridged native dog of the Khoikhoi people of South Africa. Their ridges are caused by the same mutation. Scientists are not sure if these represent independent mutation events, or if these ridged dogs were shared across continents centuries ago.

How it works

One or two copies of this variant will result in a dog having a hair ridge running up their spine. The width and length of the ridge, and the number of crowns can vary. Note: the test cannot currently distinguish between dogs with one or two copies.

Health implications

Hair ridge is associated with increased risk for the development of dermoid sinuses, a neural tube defect. These sinuses arise as the puppies develop in utero, when the skin and spinal cord tissues fail to fully separate, creating lumps, or sinuses under the skin that contain skin structures but are sometimes connected with the spinal canal. If these sinuses become infected, dogs may develop meningitis or myelitis, which are painful and sometimes life-threatening conditions.