glynn, thats the deal, you can teach about any dog to tone back, and all of mine are, but the good ones i have had dont need to be toned, they come back because they know when they need to. if a ridgeback is what a guy has then by all means hunt him, i just know that the ones i had were just like pits, all catch, i dont think i would have wanted to try to decoy with them. i know alot of people want a decoy dog to go out and kill a coyote or be kill crazy or whatever, i still say i want a decoy dog to have scars on his butt, not his head, he gets bit i want it to be while he's coming back not because he runs out and just fights, i got some dogs that will sure fight a coyote bad but they aint my best decoy dogs by a long shot.

trapper, i understand wat u are saying. i didnt realize that a ridge was so agressive. never been around them. i just didnt want to kill noones hopes and dreams on having a decoy dog if all they had were a ridge. maybe that person will have to tone them back everytime. if it works a little bit, atleast they have a little something.haha

I know that control of any dog is the key. I have never kept a dog that I couldn't control. The first thing I always do with any dog I get even if it's a grown dog is start with yard breaking. I always wait a minimum 2 wks before I take it hunting.I have had alot of hunting dogs over the yrs. when I decide I want to go, the last thing I want to do is try and find my dogs. I have been with a lot of guy's that we had to do that with their dogs. We didn't hunt together much after that. I have no problem with dogs of any breed. There are 6 Generations of my family that are or have been Professional dog Trainers. Let't stop for a minute, it probably goes back farther than that because my name is Mike Trainer. With that said I reserch breed traits and characteristics and pedigrees. There are things about the Ridgeback that really stand out for the line of decoy dogs I want to breed. The Female that I have is from African hunting bloodlines. She is super alert,smart, super beeper, whistle trained. will not pull on lead,heals, sits and stays. I can control her in any situation. She ready to start hunting now at 9 mos of age. I have worry at all of her running out of the country. Now you know that I bought "Trucker" from Tony. I plan to breed her to "Trucker" in a couple yrs. if all turns out right. I think the Vern Dorn Gunner cross with the Ridgeback will be what I want for a good coyote dog I may be wrong but now you all know what my plans with the Ridgeback are.

jglynn, i dont know if they all are, just the ones i been around.

trucker, i wasnt running your dog down, i was just talking about the ones i had hunted behind, hope you have good luck with yours, no matter what its fun to have a dog with doing anything

Been so long since I've been on here that they deleted my old account, formerly Ridgley. Yes, I realize this is a 10 year old thread. I stumbled across it while searching for something else and was curious to hear how it worked out. As a Ridgeback owner for 25 years and with a current pack of 9. A few comments obviously come from people with little experience of the breed, so hopefully I can clear that up. They don't use them to decoy lions, they use a pack of them to hold a lion at bay until the guy with the gun arrives. They are certainly not all show dogs, there are many breeders that use them as working dogs, whether that be hunting, herding, search and rescue, blood trailing, etc., they are actually when they have a job to do. Personally I use/have used mine for blood trailing and bird hunting. They have an extremely high prey drive and are nearly uncontrollable when they get on the trail of something. Recall is always a challenge with them. As for the question of using one for a decoy dog, I don't think they would do well for that task because, as mentioned, they have an extremely high prey drive and would likely take off after a yote and completely ignore your commands. Outside of decoying and waterfowl retrieval, they are extremely intelligent and can handle just about any task you put them to. They are also sensitive dogs, believing the punishment should fit the crime. If you use a heavy hand in your training you will ruin the dog.

From what I understand there are very few good ones over here. The good ones are in Africa and typically don’t stay alive very long I believe is what the guy said.