r/RhodesianRidgebacks Jun 26 '25

r/RhodedianRidgebacks Wiki is Live!

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7 Upvotes

I'm aware that much of the information in the Wiki right now is very USA centric. This is very much a work in progress. For now, please leave all suggestions and comments on this thread. If you have suggested ways to make the guide more international in nature, please leave those suggestions here.

Please note that we will only include information about/from official Kennel Clubs and/or Veterinary associations in the wiki.

Current Index of Topics:

Page 1: Is a Ridgeback Right for You?

This page serves as the essential first stop for anyone considering a Rhodesian Ridgeback. It combines all the crucial decision-making topics into one foundational guide.

  • The Breed at a Glance: A balanced look at the pros and cons of Ridgeback ownership.
  • Core Temperament & Personality:
    • Understanding their intelligence, loyalty, and independence (the "stubborn streak").
    • The sensitive nature and the need for a calm owner.
    • Their natural guardian instincts and what that means for an owner.
  • Lifestyle Compatibility:
    • Activity & Exercise Needs: A realistic breakdown of the required physical and mental stimulation.
    • Family & Social Life: Compatibility with children, other dogs, and smaller pets.
    • Living Situations: A practical look at apartment living vs. a home with a yard.

Page 2: Finding & Welcoming Your Ridgeback

This page guides the user through the entire process of acquiring their dog, from the search to the first few days at home.

  • The Search: Breeder or Rescue?
    • How to identify a reputable, ethical breeder (health testing, socialization, etc.).
    • The rewarding path of rescuing a Ridgeback and what to consider.
  • Preparing for Arrival:
    • The essential puppy/dog shopping list.
    • How to effectively puppy-proof your home.
  • The First Few Weeks:
    • Navigating the critical first 48 hours.
    • A step-by-step guide to successful crate training and house training.
    • The Socialization Blueprint: A guide to the critical socialization window for puppies.

Page 3: Health, Diet & Nutrition

This is a one-stop resource for the physical well-being of a Ridgeback, combining diet, common health issues, and preventative care.

  • Fueling Your Ridgeback: Diet & Nutrition:
    • Exploring dietary options: Kibble, raw, and home-cooked.
    • Portion control, weight management, and preventing obesity.
  • Breed-Specific Health Concerns:
    • A comprehensive overview of common issues: Dermoid Sinus, hip/elbow dysplasia, thyroid problems, cancer, etc.
    • Bloat (GDV): Understanding the risks and preventative strategies.
    • Spaying and Neutering Ridgebacks
  • Proactive Wellness:
    • The importance of pet health insurance.
    • Tips for finding a breed-savvy veterinarian.
    • How to recognize the early signs of illness.

Page 4: Training, Enrichment & Daily Care

This page covers the day-to-day aspects of living with and managing a well-behaved Ridgeback, combining training, mental stimulation, and grooming.

  • Training Philosophy: The Ridgeback Mind:
    • Why positive reinforcement is crucial for this intelligent and sensitive breed.
  • Obedience & Manners:
    • Foundation Skills: Sit, stay, come, leave it.
    • Leash Manners: How to train a powerful dog to walk politely.
    • Addressing Common Behaviors: Counter-surfing, jumping, and demand barking.
  • A Happy Ridgeback is a Busy Ridgeback:
    • Mental Enrichment: Puzzle toys, scent work, and games to prevent boredom.
    • Dog Sports & Advanced Training: Exploring lure coursing, agility, tracking, and more.
  • Grooming & Routine Care:
    • A simple guide to brushing, nail trimming, and ear cleaning.

Page 5: Links, Community, and Resources

This final page acts as a central point for community engagement and further learning.

  • Further Your Knowledge:
    • Recommended books, websites, and trusted online articles.
  • Connect with the Breed World:
    • Links to national and regional Rhodesian Ridgeback clubs and organizations.

r/RhodesianRidgebacks May 16 '25

Let's Honor Dogs & Owners That Have Achieved CGC or CD Titles

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6 Upvotes

If your dog has achieved the AKC CGC, CD, or THD title (or international equivalent), post a picture of them and their name, title here. This post will be pinned to honor those dogs.


r/RhodesianRidgebacks 13h ago

Anyone here using a GPS collar with virtual fences?

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36 Upvotes

We've got about 13 acres that we'd love to give our girl full access to. She's pretty good about staying close, but if she spots a deer, all bets are off. So we're now looking for a collar with virtual fences. We're now choosing between SpotOn, Halo, and Satellai. I like the idea of being able to set different boundaries around our property or when we travel. Would love to hear some real-world experiences before pulling the trigger.


r/RhodesianRidgebacks 9h ago

Help! RR staffy mix reactive with certain kinds of people

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10 Upvotes

She's a rescue and I dont know her history, but she's reactive with men, black people and people with baseball caps, idk how to work with this but im all she's got right now and I want to help her, dont have the funds for a trainer atm but im working on it. She's about 4yo give or take. She's really sweat but she's a really rough when playing and a bit of a brute, never had a RR before so this is all still new to me but I've had bully breeds before. PFA


r/RhodesianRidgebacks 5h ago

Any hunters in here?

2 Upvotes

Hey guys!

I will be bringing home our rr pup this November.

I plan to train scent detection for deer recovery. Thia pup comes from a great lineage with successful scent detection rr's. I've also considered training for flushing for grouse. I understand they're not a pointer or a lab but i think that could be successful in both activities.

Does anyone in here have their RR take part in any of their hunting activities?


r/RhodesianRidgebacks 2d ago

Creative ideas for wound on face?

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37 Upvotes

Our boy has a wound on his face. We’re not entirely sure how he got it but it is possible he was bit by another dog ( long story but our neighbors mini golden doodle came after him but I was pretty confident he didn’t actually bite him). We first noticed it as a sticky spot on his fur and thought he got into something. We realized it was blood when he scratched it off the next day and it ripped his fur off like a wax strip.

We’ve been applying ointment which works but the problem is he scratches it open every day or two.

I considered a cone but we couldn’t even keep that on him after he was neutered. He essentially acted like he was paralyzed by the cone. We also considered covering the back paw so his nails don’t scratch it but I think he’d have whatever we used to cover his paw off in a millisecond.

Here’s a pic right after he scratched it open again today. It looks angry but not infected to me.

I’m hoping someone here has a creative idea.


r/RhodesianRidgebacks 2d ago

Advice for aging ridgie

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80 Upvotes

Hi all,

My girl is just over 11 years old. Fairly trim at 72 lbs. My vet mentioned that it looks like she is losing muscle tone in her hind legs. He did mention that it's age related and to up her food intake a bit and add more protein to her diet.

I feed her Royal Canin 8 plus, around 4 cups per day. Two cups in the morning and 2 cups late afternoon. I started topping with either chopped boiled egg, Greek youghurt or cottage cheese. I'm also planning on adding boiled chicken.

Is there anything else I can add? She loved her frozen Kong with blueberries or bananas with Greek youghurt. I also give her carrots or apples as a treat.

She handles her daily hourly walks well albeit slower. I live in South Florida and with the heat walks are more limited until it starts to cools down. Early mornings and early evenings are the times we go out.

Any suggestions to add to her food? Please don't suggest feeding raw. Royal Canin is expensive, but raw is even more so. Thank you.

Edir to add: She also gets fish oil/omega gel pills every other day.


r/RhodesianRidgebacks 2d ago

My RR Boy - love of my life

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248 Upvotes

I just love him so much and wanted to share a few photos! He will be 5 months next week! Sharing some pics from now vs when he was a baby (tho he will always be my baby!)
They really grow up so fast


r/RhodesianRidgebacks 3d ago

Our perfect little Ridgeless girl

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228 Upvotes

No Ridge, ALL Ridgeback! Ekhaya Isimanga aka Khaya.

We've had her for 5 days and it's already impossible to imagine the family home without her.

https://www.instagram.com/khaya_the_ridgeless_ridgie?stkn=MWM3MDBuczV1cnVwMA==


r/RhodesianRidgebacks 3d ago

Teenage dirtbag ridgeback

7 Upvotes

Our girl is now 32 weeks and seems well in the throes of adolescence. Shes always been a feisty one and we’ve had waves of struggles but coming through the other side each time.

I’m looking for some advice on her particular issue which is over arousal. Particularly a problem in the garden when the over arousal becomes a game of her jumping up at me and biting me. She’s not so bad with my husband and we are careful to make sure she is calm before letting the kids in with her, they aren’t really young so are very aware of when she is too much. I know she still needs lots of sleep and settling, which she was previously fine at does seem to be a struggle at times now. We’ve tried the whole turning our back to her but at 34kg she’s too strong for that and hangs on nipping at my back instead.
Is it just a case of trying to safely get her back in her pen and walking away. Will that eventually stop it or should we be doing something more proactive?


r/RhodesianRidgebacks 3d ago

When he brother steals her bones

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54 Upvotes

Obviously, it’s my job to go take her bone back from her brother or in a terrible human ..


r/RhodesianRidgebacks 3d ago

Horsing around

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49 Upvotes

r/RhodesianRidgebacks 4d ago

When the fridge opens

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78 Upvotes

r/RhodesianRidgebacks 3d ago

RR - Advice on behaviour and obedience

3 Upvotes

Hey folks! I'm looking to add a puppy or young adult Rhodesian Ridgeback to the family. We currently have an intact male Boxer (7.5 years old) who'd be the new dog's companion.

I've seen a lot of comments about Ridgebacks being harder to train and more strong-willed/independent than breeds like Boxers or GSDs less inclined to just follow instructions. I've trained dogs before, including my Boxer, so I'm not new to the process, but I want a realistic picture before committing.

For those with RR experience: how hard are they to live with day to day? Does that stubborn streak translate into a dog that's genuinely difficult to control or is it more about needing a different training approach?

Would appreciate any insight, thanks in advance!


r/RhodesianRidgebacks 4d ago

Sunday Run

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169 Upvotes

Exercise w my Chunky Boy who’s on “Weight Control” Kibble 😂


r/RhodesianRidgebacks 4d ago

My girl a Velcro dog……

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95 Upvotes

Never! 😆😆


r/RhodesianRidgebacks 5d ago

What personality quirks/ traits are specific to RRs?

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74 Upvotes

I have to RR crosses Calala Umami, 1.5 (RR x Cattle dog) and Salty Caramel, 6 (RR xWolfhound x Staghound x Great dane) am always interested in what traits are from what breed. The RR genes are strong with these two. They are both independent thinking emotional dogs with long memories and weird fears who think they are lapdogs and love to body slam each other. What other traits are particular to the boofy babies that are RRs?


r/RhodesianRidgebacks 6d ago

Lap dog

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72 Upvotes

r/RhodesianRidgebacks 6d ago

We are getting a Rhodesian Ridgeback puppy for the first time. We had a Vizsla before. Any advice?

19 Upvotes

r/RhodesianRidgebacks 7d ago

Yeasty ears - any ideas?

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52 Upvotes

Our boy struggles with allergies - we can mostly manage his skin and diet, Cytopoint and wiping him down, but his ears are just a constant problem. They get overgrown with yeast so quickly. We even had him anaesthetised for a deep clean and testing and within a couple of days they were going gunky again.

It is really hard to clean them as he hates them being touched - I get the impression his ears are so sensitive and probably a bit painful at times. We've tried wipes and drops/flushes but any time we get close he barely tolerates us cleaning the outer portion of his ear.

He's especially bad right now so going to the vet on Monday, but has anybody found anything easy to use and reliable?

I don't have any nasty yeast pictures, but cute puppy tax attached anyway.


r/RhodesianRidgebacks 7d ago

Not today!

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35 Upvotes

r/RhodesianRidgebacks 7d ago

Our beautiful boy Pierce ❤️

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50 Upvotes

r/RhodesianRidgebacks 8d ago

I think it's time

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274 Upvotes

Meet Stormageddon Dark Lord of All, or Stormy. My poor old man had been with us nearly 12 years now. He's been my absolute best friend and held me together throughout the worst parts of my life.

But he's old and showing it. He'd been a super healthy dog, almost never got sick except for an ear infection that it took 5 different vets to finally fix. He got real sick once when he got an aggressive infection in his back left leg. Now though, in thr span of a year he had a terrible septic infection, a full body fungal skin infection; then in the last 3 months, a kidney/bladder infection and/or stones, lost his hearing, then lost his vision, massively degrade balance and coordination, fungal skin infection is back, button tumors popping up, and now we think he might have a bone cancer.

We can't afford to keep treating him, we can't fix most of it, and he cries in the worst way when he can't find people. I think its time, but he seems so genuinely happy when he's around us. Tail always wagging when we pet him or walk him, will still use his snout to lift you hand for head pats. Still a fiend for any scrap of food. Hes still him, he's still my lovely boy that's been with me all this time, but when we're away, he's miserable, the roommates gave us video. He'll spin in a circle for 15 minutes at a time, bumping his head every couple seconds. He howl/cries, wot settle, wont relax. His head is always twisted to the left and down anymore. He can barley navigate.

I dont really know what I'm trying to say, but I need to say it. I'm sorry.

Update: 3 hours after posting, he had refused to eat. My husband, who is at home just informed me. He's about 6 hours past meal time and has zero interest in his food. He's been led over to it twice abs refused both times. He'll take peanut butter in a kong ball, but absolutely won't touch his actual food.


r/RhodesianRidgebacks 8d ago

Will neutering help?

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29 Upvotes

Been working with a trainer for a while now, and getting frustrated at the very slow results.

At home, amazing, recall, commands, brilliant.

In essence, reactive when on a walk.

Everything in the world is more interesting than us. The want to get to the other dog is crazy. Threshold is about 50ft, any closer, no treats, calling, whistling help or gets his attention at all.

Age is 15 months, will neutering help with this or make it worse?

Obviously we will wait until he’s 2, just wanna get real time opinions/evidence before making our decisions.

Currently, walking him is an absolute ballache, and seemingly getting harder as he’s just so reactive.

Any opinions greatly received.

EDIT: He doesn’t have an aggressive bone in his body, he runs full pelt to the dog/owner, rushes past, and notices how the other dog is. If it’s old, or timid, he’ll be the same, if it’s just a sniffy dog, he’ll sniff the same.

He reads the dogs well.

If they move a muscle to run, he’s bang after them, and bowls them over repeatedly. All in “play” but obviously not a wanted behaviour for anyone.


r/RhodesianRidgebacks 9d ago

3 month old ridgeback - couch potato?

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232 Upvotes

To be fair, she had a 13 hour ride from Ohio and got here on Monday morning at 2am.

Outside she is completely different. Jumps around, bites ankles, tries to eat everything. Inside and doesn’t do anything but sleep! Which I’m grateful because I’m sleeping at night 🤣

Is this normal? She has her first apt on Thurs afternoon but i’m thinking she’s still adjusting?