Dog Weathervane – Rhodesian Ridgeback Walking

This copper Rhodesian Ridgeback Dog Weather Vane was originally commissioned by a couple who wanted their female Ridgeback to serve as the model. Rather than use it as a weathervane, they intended to display the sculpture in their living room. They also decided that instead of the classic conformation pose with head held high and legs together, it would better reflect their dog’s personality to show it in striding pose.

After it was completed, they sent us a photo along with this note: “We finally hung ‘Kari’ the Rhodesian Ridgeback Weathervane, and wanted you to see her in all her glory over our couch. Dick did a bang-up job hiding the hooks. We are working with an interior designer named Candi Gester. She went gaga over our weathervanes. I sent her the link to your Web site. Don’t be surprised if Candi contacts you one of these days.”

The best part of making Rhodesian Ridgeback Weather Vanes is creating the ‘ridge’ for which the breed is famous. We use a custom designed hammer slanted at a backwards angle to lay in the ‘fur’ along the top of the dog’s back, creating the distinctive markings for which the breed is known. We leave the rest of the ‘coat’ smooth to further emphasize this unusual feature.

Other customers ordering Rhodesian Ridgeback Weathervanes have requested the addition of an optional brass or gold leafed collar and tag onto which we stamped their dog’s names. Since each weathervane is handcrafted to individual order, our customers can also specify gender. If the dog is male, we can modify our shaping techniques to give the dog a more powerful and muscular physique (please see our Rottweiler Weathervane for an example). We tend to a sleeker shape for females, with a more refined musculature. For fine tuning the details, many of our customers send us photographs of their Ridgebacks. We often modify features like the set of the ears or the angle at which they hold their tails, all with the intention of capturing the specific dog’s distinctive personality.

Over the years, we have made a number of wonderful weathervane pairings for customers who have a setting that lends itself to the display of two weathervanes, for example, two side by side cupolas on a barn roof. An exciting pairing would be our African Lion Weathervane with a Rhodesian Ridgeback Weather Vane. Placed side by side on the ridgeline of a roof, above two dormer windows, or perhaps best of all, in a large backyard, you could watch quite a scene unfold. When the wind blows one way, the Lion chases the Ridgeback, but when the wind blows the other way, the dog chases the lion. What fun to look outside and see an epic drama unfolding on a daily basis!