He is called lucky

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This past week I met another dog named Lucky! A man came into one of the dog parks I frequent with a dog. Being a Rhodesian Ridgeback person, I asked the guy if his dog was a RR? The dog had the right head shape, ears, big paws, long tail, the long legs, the right body shape, and the right coloring, but no ridge. Yes, a ridgeless ridgeback.

Many dogs are bred to be sold for the breed, such as RR. I don't know the current price of buying a RR, but upwards of $2000. In any litter of RR, there can be one or two that is born without a ridge. These dogs can't be easily sold because of no ridge, but are often given away, sometimes to a shelter. This Lucky dog was given to a kill shelter! A RR rescue group saw it and rescued it, and the man who adopted him decided that he was lucky to be adopted.

There are not a lot of RR out there. If there are any, I immediately connect with the person who brought them. There used to be a ridgeless RR named Sergio that I saw often, but he moved with his owner. There is another RR that I see periodically named Blitzen, meaning lightening in German. He is a big dog and has not been neutered. Lucky has been neutered. Lucky is not even a year old yet, just a puppy.

It just happened that the day I saw Lucky, Blitzen was also at the same dog park. Lucky and Blitzen immediately began running around together. Ridgebacks are runners. They are not fetchers. They have no interest in chasing balls or frisbees. They are hunters and were bred to hunt lions and to protect people from lions. They are best in packs.

RR are also typically a one person dog, meaning that they have a favorite person. They will be friendly in a group of people, such as a family, but the person who feeds them, takes them out, and especially gives them treats, are their people. Anyone who is unkind or abusive to a RR, will never be their person, and they never forget when they are mistreated.

I always speak to dogs when I see them. I call them by name. I always speak to Blitzen, but he is pretty aloof with me, unlike other dogs who will come right up to me, some even when I haven't seen them in a while. He aloof, because I'm not his person and I haven't given him treats. That would win him over.

RR are great protectors. If someone comes in the door of the home of a RR, you hear a deep growl and bark. Otherwise, they are sweet dogs.

Most people have just one RR, because they can be large dogs. Blitzen must weigh 120 pounds. Lucky weighs around 75 pounds.
 
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I take a Fox Hound named Bernard to the park a couple days a week. He has the biggest smile I have ever seen on a dog. You see all of his teeth! One day he walked up to a man and gave him a great big smile. The man said, "He showed me his teeth!" I said, "Doesn't he have the biggest smile you've ever seen on a dog?" "Oh, that was a smile?" "Yes, that was a smile. And you can see all of his teeth when he smiles!"

Bernard only gets upset with unneutered male dogs but gets extremely excited about garbage trucks and city buses. I have tried many times to get a photo of that smile, but he is too animated for me to get one.
Bernard smiling!


Bernard's smile.JPG
 
I’ve only known 1 aussie that was aggressive. We’ve had several since childhood and all good dispositions.
One of the dogs that I watch is an Australian Shepherd. She is temperamental and protective of her space. She doesn't like other dogs to come up to me. If I put water in a dish, its like it belongs to her and she doesn't want any other dogs to drink it, even though the dish isn't hers. I always tell people that she is a female dog, instead of using the proper term. People who walk by her house get barked at and she runs the fence line while barking at them. She does the same when she stays with me.

She accidentally bit me a while ago when she was going after another dog and I grabbed her to stop the fight. Because her fur is so long, it is not easy to grab her collar, and I have started grabbing her by her fur if she is getting into it with a dog who dared to come into her territory. I would prefer to not grab her that way, but I need a way to stop her.
 
One of the dogs that I watch is an Australian Shepherd. She is temperamental and protective of her space. She doesn't like other dogs to come up to me. If I put water in a dish, its like it belongs to her and she doesn't want any other dogs to drink it, even though the dish isn't hers. I always tell people that she is a female dog, instead of using the proper term. People who walk by her house get barked at and she runs the fence line while barking at them. She does the same when she stays with me.

She accidentally bit me a while ago when she was going after another dog and I grabbed her to stop the fight. Because her fur is so long, it is not easy to grab her collar, and I have started grabbing her by her fur if she is getting into it with a dog who dared to come into her territory. I would prefer to not grab her that way, but I need a way to stop her.
Try one of peanut’s shock sticks.
 
Try one of peanut’s shock sticks.
Since she is not my dog, I'm not sure that I should do that. She also has thick fur. When we were talking about spraying dogs with squirt bottles, her owner said that doesn't work for her. What does bother her is loud noises.

@Peanut , do you know what he is talking about? I'd like to research this. I was also thinking of shock collars, but with her thick fur, I don't know if that would work for her.
 
Since she is not my dog, I'm not sure that I should do that. She also has thick fur. When we were talking about spraying dogs with squirt bottles, her owner said that doesn't work for her. What does bother her is loud noises.

@Peanut , do you know what he is talking about? I'd like to research this. I was also thinking of shock collars, but with her thick fur, I don't know if that would work for her.

I need a hot stick used when working large livestock... I don't know how they compare to shock collars for dogs.

https://www.homesteadingforum.org/threads/hot-stick-recommendations.38058/
 
Basic obedience training can cure all problems!! No need for extremes!!
Her owner worked with an behavioral trainer and I worked with the behaviorist and the dog. The dog gets more extreme when her owner has been gone, traveling. I stopped taking my own water dish when we go to parks, and use the ones that are there due to the suggestion of the behaviorist. In the parks when and where there is no water access, few people bring water, but their dogs all want and need to drink when I pour water into the dishes. (I keep gallon jugs of water in my trunk because I need to take care of the dogs) It is like I am feeding her and everyone wants to eat, only it is water, and every dog wants and needs to drink. She views the water as hers, because I bring it.

This summer, I changed parks that I take her to because there is an aggressive man who frequents the park we had gone to for a few years and I had been told that he hates her. Earlier this year I saw the guy yelling at a guy, getting in his face, chest bumping him, throwing his backpack over the fence, all over a water dish. When I described the behavior to others, they knew who it was. He was a bit aggressive with me one day and the dog's owner and I agreed that it was time to find another park to go to.
 
Taze the wannabe man...!!!
 
Since she is not my dog, I'm not sure that I should do that. She also has thick fur. When we were talking about spraying dogs with squirt bottles, her owner said that doesn't work for her. What does bother her is loud noises.

@Peanut , do you know what he is talking about? I'd like to research this. I was also thinking of shock collars, but with her thick fur, I don't know if that would work for her.
It was a Joke, a Hot Stick might be too much for a small dog, now a pit bull may be big enough.
 

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