Abandoned Rhodesian Ridgeback needs home...

Elizabeth · #1 04/09/05, 03:26 PM

If anyone is interested in acquiring a Rhodesian Ridgeback there is a lovely female rescue in need of a good home. Post here, or email/pm me for more info.

These make great homestead/farm dogs. I raised one from a puppy 20 years ago, and now have my second one- the current one is an older rescue whom I adopted a little over a year ago. I highly recommend them! And, adopting a rescue would save the exhorbitant asking price of a puppy that most breeders want. I will definitely have another rescue Ridgeback at some time- right now is bad for us or I would take this one myself.

Elizabeth · #2 04/09/05, 04:06 PM

In answer to some of the questions I have recieved-

The dog is 2 1/2 years old, a purebred, registered female. She has done some lure coursing and has won BOB. Unfortunately, the stupid owner thinks she is not fast enough and has given her up. She is at another breeder's kennel awaiting adoption. Her name is Jade and she is said to have a very sweet disposition.

Corgitails · #3 04/09/05, 04:32 PM

Has breeder been notified? If so, will pass along to RR rescue. PLEASE, get her spayed before she's adopted out, if possible!

Cait

Elizabeth · #4 04/09/05, 06:24 PM

Corgi- the dog is intact, but the breeder will not release her to a new home until she has been spayed- not sure of the details, but believe they were waiting for the owner to deliver the registration papers and sign a release before they could take her to the vet. That is all supposed to be happening this weekend.

Corgitails · #5 04/09/05, 07:55 PM

Excellent.

Passing onto my ridgeback contact. (I know they won't touch her if she's not been fixed or plans are not in the works to do so.

)

goatlady · #6 04/09/05, 08:38 PM

Just a quick personal experience with a Rhodie and the farm - They do love goats and not in a good way. Goats are cousins to gazelles which Rhodies are genetically tuned into as FOOD! Lost 4 good milkers within 15 minutes after my daughter's Rhodie went throught a window, over a 5' fence and then he took the last goat over another fence with him! He was a good dog, just doing what his genes told him to do!

tinknal · #7 04/09/05, 08:44 PM

I have a RR cross and would second the advice on goats (funny, but he doesn't bother deer). That said, he is the best poultry protector I've ever seen. He doesn't even seem to see birds, he totally ignores them, but he is hell on 4 legged varmints. He doesn't just chase them away, he kills them.

Elizabeth · #8 04/09/05, 09:03 PM

Goatlady- I really sympathize with your loss. That must have been a truly awful
experience. But, I would argue with your comment that RR's are tuned into gazelles as a food source. Ridgebacks were bred to hunt lions. They do so by surrounding the lion and holding it at bay until the hunters arrive to shoot the lion. They were not bred to hunt gazelles as their food source- though I can't say that they have not been trained by someone, somewhere, to hunt gazelles, but that was definitely not the purpose for which they were bred.

They do, however, have a very high prey drive, and if untrained, may direct that drive in inappropriate ways. But, as I mentioned in my original post, I am on my second RR while living in a rural area. The first RR I had was one which I got when she was 11 weeks old, and I spent a lot of time training her- we first showed in obedience, till she got bored with that, then went on to compete in flyball and to train in agility. I had cats, chickens, sheep, pigs, and I don't know what all else while that dog was alive and she NEVER showed any aggression towards any of my livestock or other pets. The dog I have now is one who I adopted a little over a year ago when she was 9 years old. I know very little of her background, except that she lived in a suburban environment. She nearly went through the windshield of my car trying to get my 2 cats on the first day that I brought her home (she had never been around cats before, and some RR's will respond to a moving cat in a bad way, as you put it, if they have not been trained to NOT chase them. But hey, what is a cat to a RR anyway, if not a miniature lion, lol). After a couple of days of training the dog got used to the cats and stopped bothering them in the house- it took a few weeks before she stopped trying to chase them outside, but even then, she wasn't trying to hurt them, just responding to the prey drive to CHASE. Now, the dog sleeps in the same bed with 2 cats and they all get along great. As I said earlier, they were never bred to kill their prey. They were also bred to protect the family livestock- after all, they were bred by farmers in Africa and were intended to be an all-around farm dog, who could also hunt lions, and, not just for sport- the lions were serious predators to the farmers' livestock, and the dogs would also kill other predators in the line of duty. But they should never view livestock as their prey.

I wonder whether your daughter's dog had been properly introduced to the goats and trained to not chase them? Regardless, he should not have gone after them, but that is not something that happens commonly amongst RR's as far as I know. I know a number of RR owners who live on farms/ranches and have never heard of a similar incident from any of them. Again, I am so sorry that you had such an awful experience, but I would not condemn the breed due to the actions of one dog when I know of so many wonderful RR's.

What happened to your daughter's dog after the goat incident?

Elizabeth · #9 04/09/05, 09:09 PM

Sorry Tinknal, I wasn't ignoring your post- we must have posted at the same time. Are you saying that your dog also bothers goats? This is weird to hear, because while we do not have goats, my RR has accompanied us to our neighbors when we looked after their goat herd and she never even looked at the goats, well, she did check them out, but after she got a whiff of them she ignored them.

I admit that I have had a couple of great RR's, lol, but I don't think they are the exceptions to the rule as far as the breed goes- I don't think I am that lucky, lol. If so, I am heading to buy a lottery ticket!

Elizabeth · #10 04/11/05, 05:08 PM

Jade has found a new home

Thanks to everyone who replied and/or inquired about her.

goatlady · #11 04/11/05, 09:41 PM

I am familiar with Rhodies and their use as lion hunting dogs BUT they had to get their own food (not lions) so they, being originated in AFrica, would run down gazelles/antelopes for their dinner. Goats are in the antelope/gazelle family. Don't think those African folks fed the Rhodies dog food! LOL The dogs found their own or died so the successful antelope catchers bred.
I really don't think I condemned the breed at all, just stated a factual experience. As to what happened, Issac lived here for over a year on a long lead on an overhead running wire. As an aside when he was a pup he used to babysit my cats babies, and when they would bet out of their box, he would gently mouth them up and back into the box. After he and she moved he went after the electric meter man one too many times and was put down. He was a 1-woman dog and really didn't like men at all. Dumber than a post. Went through obedience classes 3 times!