From the available historical evidence, all Hottentot dogs had ridges on their backs. The Hottentot dog must had been thus developed through a careful selection of the ridgeback. The ridgeback trait has never been associated with the ability to survive in nature; therefore, the Hottentot dog with a ridge would have been found along with its non-ridgeback counterpart if the breed was developed solely by natural selection. One also can see that it is difficult to obtain a pure ridgeback population even in the artificially selected population of the Rhodesian. Having many important features of the Dingo/Pariah group, the genetic resource for the selection of the Hottentot dog should be from Asia. This hypothesis agrees with Dr. Hromnik's conclusion.
It is interesting that there is an indigenous breed of Asia that carries a ridgeback. The breed is little known to the western world probably because its country of origin has never been colonized and extensively explored by the western civilization. It is the national dog of Thailand. The breed once was referred to as 'The Phu Quoc Greyhound'. However, its correct name is 'Thai Ridgeback'.
Prehistoric people of the late Neolithic period who lived in central Thailand and those of the metal period who lived in North-Eastern Thailand raised dogs as their domestic animal. Archeologists estimated that the dog has been domesticated in Thailand for about 5,300 years. A prehistoric rock art of over 3,000 years old on a cave wall showing a sickle tail male dog standing by a hunter who was throwing an arrow suggested that the dog was raised to assist in the hunting. Since the dog was so important in the hunting-for-living of the primitive society, the culture of raising a dog must have been a continuous practice for over 5,000 years
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Hottentot Dog 
History 
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