Hi. My name is Kim and I have 3 dogs. Cerberus, is an 8 year old unaltered male Rhodesian Ridgeback/Rednose Pitbull. I have been around him since his birth and been his only owner. Thora is a 3 year old spayed female, also Rhodesian/Pitbull. I have had her since her birth as well. I recently brought home Tantrum, born on Valentine's day, he is a male and is also a Rhodesian/Pit.

I am happy to have found this forum as I have recently had some problems and hope I can get some experiences from others who will share their thoughts.

Welcome

I am curious though, how does one com across three different RR/Pit crosses? If you have had them since birth, are you breeding them? If so, may I ask what the cross is for?

Where are you from in SoCal?

Again, welcome

Welcome, Kimberley

You have a nice, interesting and powerful looking dog, this is the 1st time I see a mix of a Rhodesian Ridgeback and pitbull.

Welcome Kimberly!

 Quote: JessicaKromer

I am curious though, how does one com across three different RR/Pit crosses? If you have had them since birth, are you breeding them? If so, may I ask what the cross is for?

And I'll second these questions - I have a purebred RR, Oscar, and quite love the breed. I'm also a fan of pits, but very curious about your crosses. If one is intentionally, repeatedly breeding such a mix, is there a specific goal in mind?

The boy in your pic is a very handsome fellow.

Do post your questions and concerns, this forum is chock full of amazing training, behavior and health resources - I'm sure you'll find excellent support!

Cheers,
~Natalya

Cerberus, the male in the photo was bred on accident. His mother got out of the yard while in heat and went to the neighbor dog, who is the R/R. Cerberus was given to a friend of mine who had to go over seas in the service. Being he was not "mine" I was just "watching" him, I didn't have him neutered.

As Cerberus grew and I discovered he has a great temperament, very smart, loves people and everybody I knew wanted one of his pups.

I had to move and the place I moved into had a female in heat. The guy who was asked to please make sure the two dogs are kept apart, thought we were kidding and told us later they were stuck.

(So, breeding him was not intentional and I understand frowned upon with dogs of mixed breeds, which is why we spay and neuter our pets!)

I think it would be a wonderful breed to cross by somebody who is a professional at that sort of thing. I had always hoped to find a female who was half/half to breed with Cerberus. I even thought about buying more dogs to make more... but realistically that would just be crazy for me, I don't know anything about any of that and there are so many dogs in shelters already.

Okay, I don't want to ramble. I hope I have answered your questions, if not please let me know.

I am in San Diego.

I am not sure I understand the question, what the cross is for?

My question is to figure out to why one would purposefully breed this same cross multiple times, if it was intentional. Was there a goal in mind, who was buying the pups, and what the purpose was (a better OB dog, a better weight pulling dog, a better sport dog, a better something&hellip, did you own the female and sought out the male or owned the male and sought out the female, or if these were all accidental breeding of the same two dogs?

RRs, while not “rare” are not a dog that can be found on every block, like say a GSD, Pit or Lab. To get this same mix multiple times, it would have to be either irresponsible keeping practices (either on your part or that of a person who has custody of the dogs), intentional (which should have a goal or purpose), or one was always on the lookout for this very unusual cross.

Based on your answer above it seems like a combination of the first two options on two of your dogs; not sure about the third pup. Is Cerberus the father of both Thora and Tantrum? (I like that name, Tantrum. Goes well with my pup, Havok ) If so, is he altered now? I understand that many years ago, you couldn’t as you were “watching” him, but if he has bred unintentionally, perhaps twice, then I think it is your duty to have him altered. There are too many issues with pet overpopulation in our state, and helping the activists cause by giving them more ammo is the last thing we want to do right now. Both breeds are wonderful as they are, and creating a mix really serves nothing but to create more pets.

Now if one is very involved in an activity (SCH, weight pulling, OB, tracking, lure coursing, therapy, S&R, etc&hellip and are very knowledgeable about both breeds, their strengths, weaknesses, and even MORE knowledgeable about the two dogs in question, their strengths and weaknesses, AND one had a very specific goal for the resulting pups (not just a good temperament, there are MILLIONS of dogs with very nice temperaments) that fill a spot that is lacking in some way, AND was willing to cull pups that don’t meet that goal (one must be able to recognize this too) by either permanent means or alteration, THEN I can see a reason to intentionally mix two breeds. WOW! If that wasn’t the run on sentence of the century! Connie, I need your editing skills!

Either way, welcome to this forum. There is a TON to learn about responsible dog ownership, from nutrition, training and just general living! The pic of the pup in your first post is beautiful. He has a look that says, “Watch Out!!!” Looks like fun!

I love SD. I get down there every couple of months for a week. I always stay in La Jolla or Poway, but lately at the Hilton on Mission Bay. My pups love to swim in the river where it comes into the beach at Dog Beach; we go nearly daily while down there! When my Rob is retired, we plan on making that area our primary residence. For now, we are up in the wine country just North of Santa Barbara.

You mention that you are having some issues. If you start a new topic, we would all love to help and give advice. Lots of heads working on the same solution usually comes up with the correct answer eventually!

Thank you so much for your response.
This could turn into a lengthy response, so I am glad to see yours was more then a few sentences too.

In brief, my female, Thora, is the daughter of Cerberus. So, I own the male. Tantrum is also from a litter that Cerberus "sired". And yes, I should have had Cerberus neutered, instead, I had Thora spayed. The mother of Thora, is a "Colby" pitbull (I don't think that is a specific breed, but a breeder?) So, Thora is a mix of 3/4 Pit and 1/4 R/R, if there is such a thing as % of specific typed of blood lines? Tantrum is the same ratio with a different mom.

In detail, (I would rather everybody just stop reading at this point)

A friend came over one evening and told me that he had a new female pitbull and wanted to see if she could play with Cerberus. I went out to his car, met the dog, she was very friendly, I asked if she had been spayed, he said yes. So, I put Thora into the bedroom and introduced Cerberus and Jo Jo thru the chain link. No aggression, playful body language, kept them both on leash and opened the gate, they got along great, played chase around the yard for a good 15 minutes while I stayed out there with them.

Poor Jo Jo acted like she had not been out to run in forever. Cerberus would smell her, she would let him for a second, then take off. He wasn't trying to mount her, but he was sure making sure she was female. About 15 minutes later, I went back out to check on them, as they had stopped running thru the house, they were stuck together. I cried. I was angry. I was absolutely pizzed!

This story gets worse, Jo Jo did not belong to my friend, but to a friend of his. He took the dog from the place he was living. (my friend has a drinking problem, but I never thought he would do such a thing)

So, the owner reclaims Jo Jo and moved. (he was also a room mate at the house my friend lived in) I told everybody I knew, I even posted on myspace to people who were from the same area, that I was looking for a dog named Jo Jo and her owner.

About a week after the pups are born, I get a text message from somebody who had located them. Although I was lied to, my dog fathered the litter and I felt responsible for the situation. (I should have had Cerberus neutered)

I met with the owner and told him I wanted to help, I bought good dog food for Jo Jo. I asked them to please not let any of the pups leave till they had their shots. I offered to pay for all the shots.

When people found out my dog was the father, all but 3 puppies had homes. I kept one of those, gave one to my brother, who wanted one "if Cerberus ever made pups" We agreed to sell the last one to help pay for the shots and I suggested having Jo Jo spayed.

It's not that I have not thought about having Cerberus neutered, I absolutely agree it is the responsible thing to do. Because he is so big, the low cost clinics are not low cost.

Cerberus age had been a concern, I was told it was something that should be done when they are puppies. Conflicting info regarding the reasons to regarding overall health, aggression, opinions from men including the "original" owner. (who I told after 2 years that the dog was mine now)

Anyway, here is a link, I posted some more photos. I wanted to share how amazed I was with genetics. I had never experienced puppies from birth and Thora is a carbon copy of Cerberus.

But I will start a new thread about it.
http://members.cox.net/bigdoggs/dogs.htm

Welcome
He is a beautiful boy!

Just as an FYI
I neutered my boy between 2 and 3 and saw no change at all in his temperament or personality.