Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I posted about our beloved Katie down below. Finally, our dreams came true and on New years eve, we adopted a young male ridgeback cross. He's about a year old. He had been in a pet shelter in Topeka. We got him from the RRUS.

Yesterday, he attacked and killed our nanny goat. It was very frightening. I watched it happen and tried to stop him, but couldn't. He latched onto her throat and would not let go.

Normally, he's very cuddly and sweet. He loves to be in the house with people. He's house broken and pretty responsive to commands.

But this. We raise horses and I don't think we can keep him. I want to have him PTS. My husband thinks we can rehab him and teach him not to go after livestock.

What is the reality of this? Can he be rehabbed? What would it take? Would we ever be able to trust him again?

What do we do? We've already fallen in love with him, but I'm so uneasy now.

chris

>>I posted about our beloved Katie down below. Finally, our dreams came true and on New years eve, we adopted a young male ridgeback cross. He's about a year old. He had been in a pet shelter in Topeka. We got him from the RRUS.
>>
>>Yesterday, he attacked and killed our nanny goat. It was very frightening. I watched it happen and tried to stop him, but couldn't. He latched onto her throat and would not let go.
>>
>>Normally, he's very cuddly and sweet. He loves to be in the house with people. He's house broken and pretty responsive to commands.
>>
>>But this. We raise horses and I don't think we can keep him. I want to have him PTS. My husband thinks we can rehab him and teach him not to go after livestock.
>>
>>What is the reality of this? Can he be rehabbed? What would it take? Would we ever be able to trust him again?
>>
>>What do we do? We've already fallen in love with him, but I'm so uneasy now.
>>
>>chris

>>>>>>>>>>>

Good grief, do not have him put to sleep! He does need to be in a home where he will not have access to animals he could kill. But this is not a bad dog, just a dog following his instincts. He could be trained not to do it when a trained handler is supervising him closely, but as far as roaming freely with your livestock, he would be the wrong dog for that. It shouldn't mean a death sentence for a 1-year-old dog, though.

Contact the pet shelter and see what they want to do--you may have signed a contract that if you don't keep him he has to come back to them. Also go to www.akc.org and look up the rescue contact person for the breed and contact him or her. It really sounds like this dog is placeable in a home without the temptations of livestock. He's probably the wrong dog for you, but he has done nothing to deserve to die, and could be a fine dog for someone else.
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series at www.veterinaryforum.com

I know it must be horrible to see your pet goat killed by your pet dog... but it meant no more to your dog than a cat killing a mouse, and should not lead to his DEATH!

I agree completely with Kathy. Return him to Ridgeback rescue and tell them he can't be trusted around livestock, and needs a different home.
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Christie Keith
Caber Feidh Scottish Deerhounds
Holistic Husbandry since 1986
www.caberfeidh.com/
Dogged Blog

Contact RRUS and they will take him back.

Cheryl

The rep who worked with us said no. They won't take him back. We'd be willing to keep him here while they find a home for him, so he wouldn't have to be fostered.

chris

>>The rep who worked with us said no. They won't take him back. We'd be willing to keep him here while they find a home for him, so he wouldn't have to be fostered.
>>
>>chris

>>>>>

I'm so very disappointed that a person would call themselves a rescue and then refuse to take a dog back when that is definitely what any reputable rescue would do. If she can't do the job right, she needs to quit calling herself a rescue.
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series at www.veterinaryforum.com

if you don't have info about another rescue org in your area, you can go to Petfinder & type in your zip code & get a list, certainly you can find someone to arrange for a foster home. be totally honest, so no one else will have the same problem. am sorry you had such a bad experience, but you do realize the dog has lots of good points. please be careful.

Oh, yes,Rocky has lots of good points. He's a very loving and loveable dog! He gets along well with our other dogs and has not once offered to chase our inside cats. I think he'd make a good pet, just not a good farm dog.

chris

The person who is the contact for KS is Sandy. Sandy had warned Chris to monitor the dog around the livestock until she could figure out if the dog would be tolerant of the livestock. Sandy is on vacation and out of the country until 1/17/05. She did speak with Chris the day after it happened and Chris told her she would keep the dog until Sandy got back. None of the rest of us in RRUS were aware that there was a change in the situation or that the dog needed to be moved before Sandy got back. Chris please contact me at mlanzoloft@earthlink.net or call me 775-673-6997.
Michelle Armstrong, Secretary
Ridgeback Rescue of the U.S.

Michelle, see my apology to RRUS above. I did not understand that S. would take care of things when she got back. I THOUGHT she meant she couldn't take him back period.

I posted on this board looking for ideas about possibly retraining Rocky to accept livestock and it was suggested to me that it was not likely it would work.

Things kind of snowballed from there.

At any rate, Rocky is with a foster person now and has a chance at a good non-farm life, which is what we wanted. I'm glad things happened rather abruptly today because my husband was really starting to waffle about rehoming Rocky. He was very much in love with this dog. The longer Rocky stayed, the harder it would have been to separate them without trauma.

Yes, we were careful with Rocky about being introduced to livestock. At first things seemed to go OK. He ran and played in our fenced in back yard (where the goats also live) and didnt seem to pay them any attention. He always came when we called him. Most of the time we had him on a leash, but when we let him off the leash, he seemed pretty obedient.

he had one little tiff with the goat a few days before the incident, but then ignored her. He seemed to pay her no attention at all. Naturally, we assumed he was getting along with them OK.

When it happened, he was right at my feet while I was taking photos of the ice storm. The next thing I knew he was gone and dragging down the goat. It happened in the blink of an eye. There was no growling, no warning at all.

At any rate, what's done is done. Rocky is back in RRUS custody. We have learned a valuable and expensive lesson, and I'm sure we all will move forward from here.

We truly wish the best for Rocky and hope he has a wonderful life with someone. He's a neat dog except for the livestock thing. He gets along with cats and other dogs and people quite well.

We thank you for your help, and again, I apologize for the confusion.

chris

We just needed to get in touch with you and had no other way than this message board. Your signed paperwork hadn't arrived yet. The person who keeps the paperwork sent her daughter to the mail box in the ice storm last night to retrieve the mail and it was there. About the same time webmaster sorted through all the Kansas/Missouri applications and came up with yours. We didn't know your last name. While Sandy had kept us all informed of what was going on she neglected to tell us your name. She sent the pictures you had sent her of Rocky and your grandson, then an email about what happened with the goat and was looking for help with a place for Rocky to go and then once again that your were going to keep him until she got back from vacation. We never thought to ask for further information since we thought everything was set until she got back.

Good luck with your next dog. I have to agree with Christie it maybe better to start with a puppy. If you decide that a ridgeback is the right dog for your situatation there are breeders listed on the rrcus website www.rrcus.org
Michelle Armstrong RRUS

Thanks for your help, Michelle.

chris

Chris,

What state do you live in? What is the coordinators name that you dealt with in KS. What human society did the dog come from?

Cheryl Cooper
Site Coordinator, Rescue & Adoption
PetHobbyist.com
phkeeper@pethobbyist.com

Do you have a photo? I am talking to some folks who might be able to help and they have asked for a photo.
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Christie Keith
Caber Feidh Scottish Deerhounds
Holistic Husbandry since 1986
www.caberfeidh.com/
Dogged Blog

Yes, we do, but I have a terrible time posting photos here!

Can I email you one?

I've been in contact with the national RR rescue and they have agreed to take Rocky and find him a suitable home. An area rep is contacting me tomorrow to arrange to pick him up.

I'm so relieved. He's really a sweet dog and so handsome. He just can't be around livestock... sigh....

chris

>>Yes, we do, but I have a terrible time posting photos here!
>>
>>Can I email you one?
>>
>>I've been in contact with the national RR rescue and they have agreed to take Rocky and find him a suitable home. An area rep is contacting me tomorrow to arrange to pick him up.
>>
>>I'm so relieved. He's really a sweet dog and so handsome. He just can't be around livestock... sigh....
>>
>>chris

>>>>>>>>>>

Hallelujah! Three cheers for the national Rhodesian Ridgeback rescue!
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series at www.veterinaryforum.com

nm