Anyone With Rhodesian Ridgeback Advice?

[Lukenufc]

Does anbody have experience with training a rhodesian ridgeback? I have a beagle cross RR and it is proving impossible to get her to listen to me, ive been told its a dominant thing and she does see me as the leader,she doesnt get any attention from me until she does something like sit or give paw aslo doesnt get to eat until I say so, ive tried eating before her, walking through doors before her, and a few other things but im no further forward.

Some of the problems im having with her are:

1) pees in the house when I leave (not so much now)

2) refuses to look at me when im telling her to do something

3) pulls terribly on the lead, doesnt listen when out

Thanks in advance for any advice!!

[stormchaser09]

from my limited experience( ie friend with a beagle and a sort of neighbour with a ridgeback) those are beagle traits more than ridgeback ones.

[mydiamond]

I have no experience with either breeds, but other than working on who goes through the door first, I'd rather try the conventional house-training techniques instead. First and foremost, make very sure that every time she pees in the house the accident gets cleaned to the point she won't be able to smell it anymore. There are chemical liquids you can buy in Ace Hardware to help you with this but in my case I just spray the spot with a glass cleaner. Next, make sure the toilet--that's either your yard or the puppy pad--smells like a toilet. I like to use newspaper to absorb the pee and put it on the grass to transfer the scent. Dogs pee wherever it smells like pee, so honestly I'm not sure it's a dominance thing. 

 

Now about the second question. I don't have any suggestions on how to fix it, but I do know that dogs respond better to a body language rather than a verbal command. Example: for the command "Get up", I teach it to Dime in two ways. First is the verbal "Diamond, get up!" and the second one is a tap on his hip. Dime knows both, but he responds much better to the tap rather than the verbal one. 

 

Lastly, about the pulling thing. There are loads of non-pull harnesses that you can use to help with training, but in case it's not an option you can always stop when she pulls too much and hold the leash short so that she won't be able to go anywhere. That stop is a 'punishment'. If she pulls too much, then she can't go on her favorite activity which is walking. Once she calms down a bit you can continue walking. Other solution is to teach her recall and the etiquettes of off-leash walking and let her roam off-lead. "Dogs 101" in Animal Planet says that Rhodesians are born runners. They're "the perfect breed for athletes" and walks off-leash perfectly. Worth a shot, maybe?  

 

hope I helped. Good luck!

[Lukenufc]

Thanks, I'll try those things, I used to have a halti collar for her but I lost it in the park so im having to use a choker which I hate, the peeing in the house seems to have stopped recently but im having to leave the back door open which I dont really like, I think im going to look into crating her for that and ive seen a harness designed to stop pulling which I'll be getting on payday and im getting a custom made double lead which should help a bit.

[jmscott]

 

 

ive been told its a dominant thing and she does see me as the leader,she doesnt get any attention from me until she does something like sit or give paw aslo doesnt get to eat until I say so, ive tried eating before her, walking through doors before her, and a few other things but im no further forward.

 

It probably isn't dominance. The term is way over used and often in a completely wrong context than it actually refers to. Rhodies are a very temperamental breed, and even most trainers have difficulty with them, however with a scent hound breed in there, it may not just be the Rhodie.

 

1) pees in the house when I leave (not so much now)

 

This could be stress. A way of showing separation anxiety.

 

2) refuses to look at me when im telling her to do something

 

Well of course. Dogs need to be taught that looking at us is a good thing. Their natural inclination is to avoid eye contact. Eye contact in the dog world is a confrontational approach, and if you are getting frustrated with the lack of eye contact, that says to the dog that you ARE confrontational and they may try even harder to avoid looking at you.

 

3) pulls terribly on the lead, doesnt listen when out

 

 What kind of lead do you use? Retractable leashes can teach dogs to pull. Have you given your dog a reason to stay with you? Other than "If you pull ahead I will correct you"? Especially for a scent hound cross, you need to make yourself more interesting and fun than the rest of the world, which takes time.

 

I would suggest looking into really good (non-retail) training classes. The best way to see what style of training they use is to inquire about the theory of dominance.