Rhodesia Ridgebacks

[Emily]

beautiful dog but not an ounce of hunt in him. The only time I ever heard him open on game was when a bear came up on our front porch. He got along fine with two housecats. Most of the breeding stock in the US is AKC show/pet stock. He was also a good deal less athletic than my redbones--always wrenching his shoulder when jumping too much.. Be sure to ask uestions about breeding and training if you are thinking of doing this...

[WAARHEID]

Ridgebacks were not bred to be large, sight hounds, or catch dogs. They were originally bred to be medium-sized dogs who used their nose to start tracks and bay their game; there are still some breeders loyal to the original intent of the breed...it just takes some effort to find them.

I'm a little late in responding.

Brinkdog, you're on the right way of thinking, they are similar to Cur-dogs in many ways.

RIFLEMAN, you hit the nail on the head, 110% right.

The dogs are supposed to be 26" tall and weigh 85lbs, bitches 25" and 70lbs. Not small by any stretch, but also not the monsters we see in the show ring. But it's not just the ribbon chasers in the show ring who are screwing this breed up... there are plenty of hunters breeding the biggest/grittiest ridgebacks they can to catch hogs. In my opinion, both are doing the breed a disservice.

The Rhodesian Ridgeback is not a true sight hound, nor is it a true a scent hound. It is supposed to be a medium sized track-and-bay wagon-hound (see F.C.I. group 6.3 where the Ridgeback and the Dalmatian are placed together as two versions of the same special type of scent hound). Like a good north-American Cur-dog, they should be versatile and driven enough to drive livestock, track and hunt to the gun, and protect their owners family and property.

[stevemac]

Ridgebacks were not bred to be large, sight hounds, or catch dogs. They were originally bred to be medium-sized dogs who used their nose to start tracks and bay their game; there are still some breeders loyal to the original intent of the breed...it just takes some effort to find them.

I'm a little late in responding.

Brinkdog, you're on the right way of thinking, they are similar to Cur-dogs in many ways.

RIFLEMAN, you hit the nail on the head, 110% right.

The dogs are supposed to be 26" tall and weigh 85lbs, bitches 25" and 70lbs. Not small by any stretch, but also not the monsters we see in the show ring. But it's not just the ribbon chasers in the show ring who are screwing this breed up... there are plenty of hunters breeding the biggest/grittiest ridgebacks they can to catch hogs. In my opinion, both are doing the breed a disservice.

The Rhodesian Ridgeback is not a true sight hound, nor is it a true a scent hound. It is supposed to be a medium sized track-and-bay wagon-hound (see F.C.I. group 6.3 where the Ridgeback and the Dalmatian are placed together as two versions of the same special type of scent hound). Like a good north-American Cur-dog, they should be versatile and driven enough to drive livestock, track and hunt to the gun, and protect their owners family and property.

totally agree with the sentiments above the ridgeback has been a misunderstood hunting dog for many years. In this country they are right out of favour with the pig hunting crowd as, as far as most of them think a big strong dog like that should be able to catch a pig by its self then load it on the truck. as has been mentioned above this is far from the hunting style of the rhodesian ridgeback. At this point I would like to add the ridgeback is not and never will be a sighthound no matter how much the lure coursing comunity and the AKC want it to be.

Over the 30 years That I have owned bred and hunted this breed I have seen the ridgeback in this country move from a moderate to cold nosed hunter to the present day (with just about all lines in this country carring american blood ) to a warm to hot nosed hunter my own dogs are indeed a blend of american and australian lines.
I must admit as I have got older the warmer nosed hunting that my dogs do means a lot less running for me and this is much appereciated.

Is the ridgeback a lugging or catch dog NO Im not saying that will not catch smaller pigs or foxes and the like but have the brains to bail-bay on the larger tougher pigs putting just enough presure to keep the pig at bay.

http://huntingpigdog.com/index.php?page ... -ridgeback

[Pops]

wonder what would have happened to a ridgeback that caught on an african lion?

[sawtooth]

I'd like to see some crosses with 1/4 RR 1/4 blood hound and 1/2 solid hunting tree dog

[Emily]

wonder what would have happened to a ridgeback that caught on an african lion?

the old Great White Hunter books show packs of ridgebacks holding one or more lions in a tree, and describe frequent losses of one or more hounds in the pack from lions fighting back..

[WAARHEID]

wonder what would have happened to a ridgeback that caught on an african lion?

There are accounts of Ridgebacks that survived tying up with leopards, but a lion? Hardly. That Ridgeback would win the Darwin award. There are accounts of lions casually swatting a dog, the dog landing several feet away, dead before it touched the ground.

The history of the breed is actually full of these unglamorous specimens - the dogs that ran away from the lions with their tails between their legs, and the dogs that invariably died while attempting to catch. The precious few that would bay hard, but loose and darting, those were the sure enough African lion dogs. The rest would get culled by the hunters... or culled by the lions.

A lot of the guys hounding lions in Africa these days are using more cold nosed trailing hounds, a lot of Gascognes.

[Pops]

yeah Matt i was being fececious (full of crap). i was just trying to point out that trying to make the ridgie a catchdog is contrary to what the afrikaan hunters created. a catchy dog is sure enough dead on a lion but hopefully a good smart one would be able to bay the bigger cat while still having what it takes to stretch a leopard or smaller cat.

[WAARHEID]

Are you still runnin' Ridgebacks Pops?

Have you ever thought about contributing a few pictures to the HRA field gallery?

[stevemac]

Check out my topic on hog hunting all those pigs were found stoped and bailed (bayed) by my ridgeback

Not the only dog I my team but a very important member.
stevemac

[Pops]

nah i don't run ridgies. it's not cost effective. for the price of one ridgie that may or may not hunt worth a crap i can get 2-5 cur dog pups that will most likely turn out. i must admit i'd love to have the money to develop a cat focused line for running bobs & mt lion.

[stevemac]

Wouldn't we all pops. and undo the damage done to the breed over the years.

[three rivers catahoulas]

There was a guy here in CA breeding them, he used them for hogs here. I hunted with a few guys that have had them, they make ok Catch dogs, but they are a sight hound not a sent hound. I talked to a guy that is an outfitter in Africa, and we got to talkin about dogs and how we hunt our hounds over here and how they do it there, The ridgeback was one of the dogs we talked about. I told him the reason my buddy got the two ridgebacks he has " Because they hunt African Lion" well he told me, what most folks dont know is, they start with 45-50 dogs and come home with 2-3, they are a well used dog there because they are a dime a dozen, kinda like the Labs here in the US. But any way, the ones I have hunted behind couldn't hold a candle to any hound breed or any curs for that matter. But thats just me, I didn't care for'em.

[Arkansas Frog]

check on Texas Boars.com. check with Mr Mason or Longshot.

[Pops]

actually the guy to talk to is right here. WAARHEID has hunted more pure ridgebacks than anybody else i know. if i remember correctly he has been asked to speak by various ridgeback clubs around the country to teach the members about how to train their dogs for different hunting pruposes. AND i believe he is part of an organization that helps to bring hunting lines into the USA from africa & eastern europe. but i could be mistaken.