I have a 4 1/2 mo. old Rhodesian Ridgeback male. He is very large, 56 lbs already. He is a great dog and learning his basic commands of sit, down, starting to stay some. He has good prey drive and is very confident, not dog or people agressive and not afraid of anything yet, even our motorcycle engine reving. I would like to try the protection training and have the building drive video.

My worry is he is funny about being touched sometimes, growling fiercely when being moved over, or when I try to touch his feet or sometimes body, and still licking me sometimes as he growls. Whenever he does this I keep touching him giving firm NO's until he quits growling and lets me do what I want, praising him when he is quiet and submits.

He also pulls alot on the leash when walking, I have tried a few different collars, not sure he is old enough for the prong, and now am trying a harness type easy walker. This seems to work, he does not pull, but when I tried to put it on him for the 3rd time, he instantly growled and fought. I firmly corrected him "NO" and did the cheek-eye thing till he quit growling and submitted, but it was a fight and he actually took my arm in his mouth at the start, but no actual biting. Then I distracted him with treats and firm no's for any sign of a growl and was able to get it on him.

He also has "gone off" on other family members when he doesn't want to move. He sounds very fierce, but has never snapped or tried to bite. We always put him in his place, and he always moves. I crate him when I am not home, but he spends most of his time with me. My kids are 15 & 16.

Should I be worried? The growling/fierceness is getting less, especially with me. Should I be giving firmer corrections than just the cheek holding-eye contact NO's I am using? I want him to be protective.

Sorry this post is so long. Any advice would be helpful. This is the first protective breed dog I have owned.

It's good the kids are older, sounds like they are not as enthused or involved in pack struture (as my kids weren't) for him to see them as a higher rank than he is.

Someone else could probably "diagnose" his behavior better than I could but it's definately a larger problem in training. I'd keep him on a leash with you in the house. Also have the kids take turns keeping the leash. Wherever the leash holder goes, so does he. He gets an immediate correction for acting up. I just read some other posts about not correcting the drive out of a pup so I'm just learning about this and don't want to give bad advice on that one.

As for continuing your actions when he growls, I do that with my chow. I think it raises the chance of a bite but sometimes other methods will only make matters worse and like Ed says, you decide when it's time to fight and for what reasons. I know he's young and some say they don't show aggression at this age but I think they do. Had we found this site when Bruno was 4 months we might not have the problems we do now.

Good luck.

Hi Shody, Welcome to the forum!

Your pup is just adorable - makes me really want another! Our Rhodesian is 2.5 y/o this summer. Eric had some good suggestions on your growling issues and I'm sure others will as well - he is still quite young, but it sounds like you just need to keep calmly reinforcing your leadership with him. I think most would agree that he is too young for a prong and serious correction for issues that are really just related to "mindless puppy" behavior. That said, this is a pushy breed, but not a particularly aggressive one, and you don't want to let him think he can get his way with you now - it'll only get 100 times worse as he grows.

I do want to note, as you mentioned that you wanted to do protection training with him, I have read (and from my experience and research on the breed, I agree with this) that RRs should NOT be "trained" in protection work, as it is formally defined. RRs are <b>naturally a very protective breed</b> and you will see this come out as your boy gets older - DON'T WORRY. They are also HOUNDS, and one of the most fiercly independant in the category. They will always be compelled to think on their own, can be extrememly stubborn AND they are very drivey, which can make simple obedience training a real challenge. Unlike a true working breed dog, they do not live to please their handlers - if they feel the need to take defensive action, they will, but it has been said that they are "too intelligent to call off". And I've read some sorry accounts of a few people who have attempted bite work with them - they do not do well with it.

If I misread your intent for this pup, I apologize. If NOT, then I don't mean to dissapoint you but I would sincerely suggest that you focus on socializing and obedience training your RR to the best of your ability (with an emphasis on socialization) and let his protective nature come out on its own - and IT WILL. If you're looking for a dog to do real "protection training", you may want to look for a different breed.

Just my 2 cents.
Either way, you've picked a great pup, they're amazing dogs, and you should find some really fantastic support here.

~Natalya

Thanks for the advice. I have had some issues with my personal safety, I have a stalker and someone,(probably him, they can't find out who he is) has been in my yard during the night a couple of times, left the gates open so I would know...

I decided I needed a large protective dog to make me feel safe in my own home. My husband works graveyard and I am home alone a lot now that the kids are older. I thought it would be good to protection train him, I don't have my heart set on it. I really just want to be able to alert him if I feel something is amiss, and have him look scary, you know? but not be afraid to protect me against an aggressive attacker. I would have no problem with him biting someone threatening me. I want him to protect me. If he will do that natuarally, I wont worry so much about the training, although he loves the drive work! How far should I go, or should I stop this all together?

More ridgeback people!

First of all, let me say I am also new to the breed. I agree that he should be on a drag line, and rank should be firmly established. They are stubborn even as puppies - but it just gets worse! Try to establish leadership now before the testing starts - mine has just started to see if he can train me out of crating him. He doesn't challenge me on the things I've been particularly firm about (not that I wasn't firm about crating him, but I didn't work as hard as I should have to get him used to it).

I would also practice going over his whole body more frequently so that he gets used to being touched and handled. While Jenga was never aggressive towards us when we touched/handled him, doing so frequently has made him very laidback about touch. I spend a little time each day going over him. With Digger, who is foot-shy, I get him to chew liver pieces out of my right hand while I move towards his feet with my left, and I stop before I think he's being pushed too far. We took it slow, and went from not getting below his "knee" to being able to touch between his toes. Now we're trying to get him to let us touch his nails.

Don't know if that helps, but thought I'd throw that in just in case.

I haven't really heard much about ridgebacks doing protection work other than cautions against it from sources I can't vouch for or against...although I do know that there are a few ridgebacks out there that do pretty well in tracking.

Have fun, he's a pretty boy.

Sorry to post two things in a row, but after reading this, I have more to say!

 Quote: shody lytle

I want him to protect me. If he will do that natuarally, I wont worry so much about the training, although he loves the drive work! How far should I go, or should I stop this all together?

An argument I hear often here is that unless you protection train him, you can't rely on him to attack an intruder or to let go when you need him to, etc. That doesn't mean that they won't protect you unless you train them, just that you won't know what they'll do until you're in the situation.

I have a golden retriever mix who kept the police out of my house when someone called to report that there may have been a robbery at my home (my door was left wide open by mistake). He stood in the doorway giving a low growl, but did not advance...as they stepped closer, his growls were louder and he started to bark, but still didn't leave his post. He wasn't going after them, just telling them they weren't allowed to come in. The police called the house, we came to the door, said, "It's okay, Digger!" and he turned to a fully body wag in an instant. I would never have expected him to do that, but he did.

For all I knew, Digger would have greeted those officers with open arms...or he could have attacked them, and ended up euthanized. I think my point is, that if you don't do the training, you won't know what your dog will do until you see it happen.

I think there are many much better breeds for protection training. As far as expecting natural ability, the odds are in your favour. Jenga (my ridgeback) tries to get me to turn around if we're approaching someone who looks unsafe (we live downtown, lots of creeps)...but if cornered, his hackles go up and he'll growl. That's as far as it's gotten with him, people usually back off after that. But still, I can't know for sure what he'd do in a serious situation.


EDIT: I don't know whether you should do protection training or not, just throwing that out there. As Natalya said, there are a lot of ridgeback people who say they aren't suited to it...I don't know the sources well enough to say whether they're right about that or not. I've also never known a ridgeback that did protection work.

 Quote: Shody Lytle

Thanks for the advice. I have had some issues with my personal safety, I have a stalker and someone,(probably him, they can't find out who he is) has been in my yard during the night a couple of times, left the gates open so I would know...

I decided I needed a large protective dog to make me feel safe in my own home. My husband works graveyard and I am home alone a lot now that the kids are older. I thought it would be good to protection train him, I don't have my heart set on it. I really just want to be able to alert him if I feel something is amiss, and have him look scary, you know? but not be afraid to protect me against an aggressive attacker. I would have no problem with him biting someone threatening me. I want him to protect me. If he will do that natuarally, I wont worry so much about the training, although he loves the drive work! How far should I go, or should I stop this all together?

Shody, it sounds like you have a good dog for what you need - more a deterant than an actual weapon... (scary story about the stalker , and I hope this pup brings you some comfort). I know people who got one for just what you described, and they've worked out just fine with no formal training. Your RR will grow to be a large, imposing adult with a pretty intimidating growl and deep, intense bark. He should let you know immediately if someone is in your yard - without prompting, and his presence alone should deter whomever it is pretty quickly.

The beauty of the RR is that they (intelligently) base their actions on only what they believe the situation calls for - if it is just a stranger in your yard, they will likely bark and charge, but only if the stranger continues to advance or threaten will they escalate their reaction. They're extremely sensitive and judicious about their protective actions and are not one to bite first, ask questions later. I don't doubt for a minute that your boy would bite if he needed to, but the nice thing is that he probably won't bite if he DOESN'T need to - which could be a liability to you as a homeowner. Mine has charged and body slammed one person who he perceived as a threat, though it was only an unannounced guest (and clearly became nothing but a NERVOUS guest), so the event ended in tail wagging and kisses. I'm certainly glad he wasn't trained in bite work, or felt the natural desire to bite at that moment - his reaction may have been misguided (which happens from time to time), but it was not overly excessive.

I agree with Heather that unless you train a dog for certain things, you won't know how it will react under certain circumstances - however, from MY experience, our RR knows exactly how much force to use, and when. Never had an experience that tested him to his limits, but from what I've seen, I'm more than confident that my dog would defend me with his life.

I can't speak to whether or not you should be working on drive and focus (though this can be usefull for lots of activities other than just protection work, like agility and obedience), I just wouldn't merge any real defense training into it. Again, that's just my opinion.

~Natalya

 Quote: shody lytle

I have had some issues with my personal safety, I have a stalker and someone,(probably him, they can't find out who he is) has been in my yard during the night a couple of times, left the gates open so I would know...

I decided I needed a large protective dog to make me feel safe in my own home. My husband works graveyard and I am home alone a lot now that the kids are older.

This is more off dogs but directly related to your concern.

Although a dog is one of the absolute best detterrents against home invasion there are many other things you can do to "Enhance Security"

Keep lights on outside during the night.

Have your husband take your car to work sometimes.

If you come home at night, drive past your house first and look to see if anyone is around.

Keep entrances free of obstructions such as bushes or places your friend may hide.

Lock your gate.

Carry some sort of loud noise maker ie. whistle etc. They attract attention from others.

Plant thorn or unfriendly, thick vegetation under your windows.

Be alert (The world needs more lerts). Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Any questions PM me but good choice on a dog, they work the best.

Thanks for all the advice, I can see I cam to the right place! I think maybe I will continue a little on the drive & focus but steer it to obedience. I would never want to turn him into a dog that I could not trust. He does tend to lack focus right now, although he is still young. We call him ADD dog,(sorry, hope I didn't offend anyone) and could use focus! Eric, we have done some of the things you listed already, (some I hadn't thought of), as well as purchased a stun gun. Thanks for the good tips.

Shoddy, check your PMs