For a while it seemed that they were popular in Toronto. There were several of them at the beach I went to. The one I knew best personally, ate an entire 6 foot leash, with the collar still attached. He had surgery and was fine. He was a big, goofy-type dog... really nice too.

eta - those photos are all great! You have a picture perfect house to match your photogenic dog too! Does Oscar have a ridge? It's not very pronounced in the photos it seems...

Hmmm....my ridgeback experiences.
Well, I spent from 1977 to 1981 in Rhodesia and then South Africa and I was lucky enough to see ridgebacks on the various ranches.

They averaged the size of a Great Dane bitch and I was surprised to see the size difference between the native African breeds versus their American AKC counterparts.
They also seemed to be a much "tougher" dog and provided needed warning to the ranchers about incoming lions or terrorists ( remember that Rhodesia at the time was fighting a guerilla war against the communist terrorists, or the "ct's", as they were called ).

One interesting thing was that the ct's would spread lion fat on themselves to spook the village dogs that would normally be barking out a warning ( every village in Africa that I saw had street dogs everywhere... ) , instead when they got a whiff of lion scent, the dogs would take off and head for the hills...hence the lion fat made for an effective camouflage measure by the terrorists.
However.........the ridgebacks would go into a virtual frenzy from the lion scent and charge the ct's, often causing them significant damage even with the ct's being armed with AKs and belt-fed PKM machineguns.

Ahhhh..those were ol' good days

Well, Will... looks like you have another breed to add to your PPD attempt list!

Where do you suppose Will could get a supply of lion fat for this experiment?

I know a RR locally. He is a noble goofball. I adore him.

Gosh Will -- your average animal loving american sure doesn't know about THAT!

I enjoy Natalya's pictures of Oscar on the site. He is beautiful. My brother has a female RR. She is a wonderful dog. They aren't interested in doing any training of any kind with her, other than insisting on good manners, but she is a great house dog and companion for their young son.

RRs have always been on my short list of breeds I would like to own someday, if I ever get anything besides Dobermans.

 Quote: Meredith Hamilton

Where do you suppose Will could get a supply of lion fat for this experiment?

Heheh, he'd find a way :wink:

I've never had the opportunity to meet one in person, but they've always been on my list. My friend's friend had one, and my friend said he was fiercely loyal.