Greetings from Holland, though I am originally from Canada.

Houndsman, I rarely see mention of Rhodesian Ridgeback dogs when talk surrounds decoy dogs.

Why is that? My experience in Africa would suggest that they would fit the bill quite nicely

Thank you

I agree with you totally, I have a 9 mo. old Rhodesian Ridgeback female that I am getting ready to start on coyotes. They use them in Africa to decoy big game such as lions. They are fast, agile, super trackers,with lots of stamina and brains. Would love to hear about your experiences with them in Africa.

they were fantastic for tolling lion and other large predators and buffalo. they also made great guard dogs at camp during the evening.

Instead of mixing up pitt bulls, curs, staffordshires and pound mutts to create what a few consider american decoy dogs,i cant believe that the perfect canine for the job has already been developed. gents, to breed cur dog to pitt to mutt to hopefully create a decoy dog is like reinventing the wheel

are you importing a hunting strain from africa? where does one even start here in the states without getting a "show dog"?

I'm curious to work with Bigtrucker's ridgeback female, this fall. My fear about them is their size, with an estimated 70-85 pound estimate. Just too big for what I'm working on.

Tony

Since all the experts chimed in statin that the "Ridgeback is the best". I have one ? for the "experts". How much control do you have with these dogs????? Any dink can run after and fight a yote, if they got speed to catch it, but with decoy dogs you need them to go out, and come back, luring the coyotes into you, not just running them out of the country. I have been around only one ridgeback, and it was about worthless.She would see a yote, and run it out of the country, and we would spend half a day trying to find her. I'll keep my catahoulla cur crosses, and keep killing 200+ yotes a year. You can have your "Ridgebacks".

excatly, outcross them enough with hunting stock and you might end up with a decoy dog. not something thats gonna break its leg jumpin off a show bench

Bad day at the office Duane?? I didn't read where a single expert chimed in statin that "Ridgeback is the best"....at all. I see a gentleman from Holland curious why it's not a breed that is talked about much in the the US. Another member stating that he has a pup and would like to here experiences in Africa with them, another stating that they are curious and that he thinks they are too big, and another that thinks that the US ones have been bred for show.

I think the gentleman has a valid question.

Tony

Tony, Don't you think some might feel this is coming on a little strong for a new member with 5 posts?

Also stirring it up in the Electronic Callers section.

Some might think there may be more or less than meets the screen here.

????????

I guess I never looked at it that way, plus didn't know about the ecaller section issue. Always been a glass is half full kind of guy.

An easy IP address trace from the admins ought to shed light on the verification of the new member.

Thanks...

Tony

BTW: EH, welcome to Predator Masters.

Or Memorex? IDK.

I work hard never to knock another mans dogs or act like mine are anything special, besides the fact that they work for me. Each area of the country and the coyotes, ranchers and livestock that inhabit it is so different that what is the best in one section is probably not ideal in another. I've said this before Tony and Duane should be given some leeway. They make our hobby a professional paying part of their life. We don't have to agree with them but we should allow them to express a strong opinion every once in awhile without getting all personally insulted.

Jack in Missouri

i had some ridge backs for hog hunting, even had alittle in some dogs i hunted coyotes with but i havent ever had one with more then half ridge that i would have wanted on a stand with me. i will stick to my mixed up pack of turd eaters cause they work for me, most people wouldnt even want to feed mine buts thats fine with me

is it that hard to teach a ridgeback to "tone" back?? if you cant get it to come back on command i wouldnt blame the breed on it. but maybe there is something about them that makes them not heed to a shock collar. i dont know.

i understand the size comment. i would think a big dog may hurt more than help.

if a ridgeback is all a man has i would say go after it. better than having nothing there to give you companionship. if nothing else, just teach it to go out and walk around but not chace coyotes. have a buddy that has a cur dog that does not decoy them back in but will wonder around within a 100 yards and they seem to come in and investigate the dog and he kills alot of them. so i bet there are a million different ways to do it.