From: jag@iti.org (Jacqueline A. Giles)
Subject: Re: Rhodesian Ridgebacks
Organization: Industrial Technology Institute
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1992 17:25:09 GMT

In article <1992Jul27.022834.17450@c3177208.ssr.hp.com> bill@c3177208.ssr.hp.com (Bill Chidester) writes:
>N51LS801@ncsuvm.cc.ncsu.edu writes:
>: What is the temperament of the Rhodesian Ridgeback? Would one be likely
>: to make a good pet for a family with older children? with another dog and
>: a cat? Are there any health problems that are especially common in the
>: breed?
>:  
>: Thanks.
>:  
>: David Austin, NCSU
>
>  I have a 14 week old puppy nestled at my feet as I write -- he's a great
>  dog with the kids and the cats and gets along well with all the dogs he's
>  met.  He was the dominant pup, and the biggest of his litter (did I mention
>  that I went looking for the runt bitch?).  He is very conformant to the 
>  standard, 'cept he's probably going to be too big (40 lbs at 14 wks?) and  
One thing to be aware of, the puppy usually goes thru a
biting/chewing stage at 10 to 16 weeks of age which is very
difficult to deal with.  It goes away.

Also, I had two adult cats when I got my first RR.  I made the RR
respect the cats at a VERY early age, before she was bigger than the
cats.  I did this by making her sit at dinner time until I said it
was OK.  Usually, during the ditting portion, the cats would come up
and start to nose or eat her food.  I never had a problem with
either being too agressive with the other, and they all became great
friends.

>  We previously had a Bouvier and this IS a different dog.  He's every bit as
>  smart as the Bouvier (believe me, that's a compliment) but he's as headstrong
>  a dog as I've ever met.  I've raised many an Irish Setter (which combines 
>  stubborn with stupid:  Never had to deal with stubborn and smart), so it's
>  no big deal for me to get the upper hand.  I'm happy as hell he doesn't go
>  100 lbs instead of 40.  My kids are 12 and 16 and have no trouble making
>  Jackson tow the line.  My wife is, ah, well, older than that; and she can
>  whip the hell out of me.  I have a hunch if you had a patsy in the family,
>  the Ridgeback would be able to cultivate the wimp for all he/she's worth. 
>
>  The dog housebroke immediately, we got him at 9 weeks and crate trained 
>  him.  Except for a couple of liquid indiscretions (he was whining, my 
RRs are obsessively clean, which is why they are so easy to house
train.  Other forms of training do not come as easy since they are
stubborn.

>  wife wasn't paying any attention to him -- it's always your wife's fault),
>  we've had no real messes.  Minor problems with chewing things that the 
>  cat drags into his room, but he hasn't eaten any furniture.  He does like
>  to carry the cats around by picking them up by their backs.  The cats let
>  him.  Nobody ever said cats were smart.
>  
>  He's a very tough dog -- he'll go four six hours without a drink and seems
>  to enjoy sitting on fire ant mounds.  He's currently sporting a rash of 
>  lumps on his back and belly from last weekend's outing.
>
>  When we bought the dog our vet said to watch for "dermoid sinuses", which
>  are cysts that form along the ridge, probably related to whatever causes
>  the hair to grow forwards.  When they occur in a puppy they are invariably
>  crippling or fatal.  They are very rare but very serious.  He had us put
>  a clause in our contract for full refund if the cysts were detected in 
>  the puppy  (He also said he's only seen them once but had to put the puppy
>  down).  Not a likely defect, just one to watch for.  
>
Dermoid cysts are usually detected at a yong age, hopefully at
birth.  I had a puppy that had a cyst that I did not detect until he
was 6 wks old (detected it no Christmas day).  Since he was a one
pup litter, and we had become very attached to him, we had the cyst
removed by surgery which was very successful.  He is a wonderful pet
today, many years later.
>  If you've raised other dogs, especially the smarter, dominant breeds (like
>  GSDs) you'll have no trouble with a Ridgeback.  If your dogs have raised
>  you instead, stay away from the Ridgebacks; they're too big and too smart
>  to have to try and "fix" later.
>

If you want a cute trick dog, then consider another breed.
Ridgebacks (generally speaking) do not fetch.  They would rather
watch their person throw the stick and run and get it...

Jackie Giles - Jacqhari Ridgebacks

(ps. - antoher thing, RRs whine alot.)

>-----------------------------
>  Bill Chidester
>  bill@c3177208.ssr.hp.com
>  HP Orlando


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