In 1949, a group of enthusiastic Rhodesian Ridgeback owners in the United States organized the Rhodesian Ridgeback Club of America, for the primary purpose of accumulating the data & preparing the documents & pedigrees of dogs in the United States as required to obtain recognition of the breed by the American Kennel Club. Their activities were rewarded in 1955 when AKC conferred official recognition upon the breed.

After this recognition, which made possible the showing of Rhodesian Ridgebacks in show for championship points, there was organized by owners and breeders throughout the U.S., the Rhodesian Ridgeback Club of the United States, for the purpose of sponsoring AKC sanctioned matches and licensed shows. Both of these organizations were actively engaged in promoting the breed through national advertising.

Many Rhodesian Ridgeback owners and breeders were members of and supported both these clubs. In order to combine the activities of the two clubs, they were, on March 6, 1959, combined into one organization under the name of the Rhodesian Ridgeback Club of the United States. The program of the combined clubs incorporated the promotion of the breed with publicizing and popularizing of the breed in the U.S., and forming a close association with the breed clubs in South Africa, Zimbabwe (Rhodesia), England and Canada. On April 10, 1968, The Rhodesian Ridgeback Club of the United States was incorporated in the state of Texas. Finally, on March 9, 1971, the American Kennel Club formally admitted the Rhodesian Ridgeback Club of the United States, Inc. as a member club.

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