[lit-ideas] Re: Text of bin Laden Tape/ size matters/dogs
- From: "Lawrence Helm" <lawrencehelm@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 23 Jan 2006 19:15:43 -0800
Ridgebacks were not bred to rip the tendons from lions. They were bred to
guard farms in South Africa and Rhodesia. Toward the latter part of the
19th century big game hunting in Africa became extremely popular. If you
were an avid hunter and could afford it, you wanted "the big five," one of
which was the lion, and the way you hunted the lion was to send your dogs
out to bring it to bay. Some dogs were too afraid of lions to go after
them. Airedales and Irish Terriers weren't afraid but they too often lost
control of their tempers and attacked the lions; which created a turnover in
Airedales and Irish Terriers.
A hunter named Van Rooyan sought a dog that would have the courage to go
after lions but would have the good sense not to attack them. He got some
dogs from a Reverend Helm (no relation as far as I know) and they had this
capability. These dogs became famous and the breed was standardized in the
1920s. Ridgebacks have the coloring and the walk of lions and the natives
had a legend that they were the product of lions mating with dogs. Perhaps
the fanciers rejected the name "Lion Dog" to get away from that legend.
They probably should have avoided Cecil Rhode's national namesake as well
but they didn't.
There were also rumors that Rhodesian Ridgebacks attack lions. This also is
not true although Ridgebacks would nip lions to get them to stop or turn
these nips were not in the category of tearing out a tendon. I doubt that a
Ridgeback has the jaw strength to do that. Airedales have more jaw strength
than Ridgebacks and I doubt an Airedale could do it. A lion could kill a
Ridgeback as readily as he could an Airedale, but that is all moot now
because modern hunters don't use dogs.
Also, temperament is an important concern in Ridgebacks as it is in any
other large protective breed. I got into furious arguments with the RR
breeders in the RRFolk discussion group who swore that there were no
aggressive Ridgebacks unless they were made so by owners. Since my first
Ridgeback was aggressive I knew that wasn't true. Some few Ridgeacks are
aggressive, but the number is very small. My subsequent Ridgebacks were
well behaved and very safe to be around people and children. Trooper whom I
mentioned was raised with two of my nephews who were living with us at the
time.
In regard to Ridgebacks my present concern is the opposite from
aggressiveness. Susan wanted a female after Trooper and so we got Ginger.
Her personality is more like that of a Golden Retriever than what is
described in the literature for a Ridgeback. She is not a watchdog and I've
only heard her bark twice in her life. She is very friendly and gentle with
everyone. I was looking for another Ridgeback like Trooper and in this
respect Ginger was a disappointed, but I hate to even say that because I
adore Ginger. She is irresistibly sweet. Nevertheless I decided I needed a
watchdog. Besides that Ginger loved to play with other dogs so Ginger
needed a playmate. I considered an Irish Terrier but my wife leaned me
toward another Ridgeback. We contacted the same breeder that we got Ginger
from and she said that Ginger's sister was the same way -- wouldn't bark at
the front door or much of any place else and didn't perform as a watchdog.
But she said she had another litter from different parents and she was sure
one of these pups would be just what I was looking for. So we have two
female Ridgebacks now and if I were writing this on the Ridgeback discussion
group I would paste in a picture of them, however . . .
I visited a breeder of Irish Terriers with Ginger before making the decision
to get another Ridgeback rather than an Irish Terrier. The Terriers were
far more formidable, self-assured and potent than Ginger was.
In German Schutzen training they have a term called "sharpness," and this
means willingness to attack a man. The dogs they train in this manner (the
German Shepherd, the Rottweiler, the Giant Schnauzer, the Dobermann, and
perhaps a few others) are selected for their sharpness. It is recommended
that these sharp dogs undergo this training so that they won't attack a man
unless you tell them to. Trainers get out there with heavy padding on their
arms and you get your dog to stay with you until you tell it to attack. Dogs
which don't have this training might decide to make up their own minds about
when to do this -- unless they are trained never to do it which any training
class here in the US would do.
But here in the US they breed away from sharpness in every breed; so the
American versions of those German dogs are less sharp than their continental
cousins. The Rhodesian Ridgeback was never bred to be sharp, but he was
bred to protect the African farms against intruders whether they were
hyenas, leopards or people; so there was some sharpness in the original
version of the Ridgeback, but just as with the German dogs, the African
Rhodesian Ridgeback has been bred to be more and more temperamentally
gentle. Ginger I'm sure is a product of this trend.
If you get a naturally sharp dog like the Pit Bull, then you have a loaded
weapon. You need to give it training so that it doesn't attack anyone. My
impression is that the Fila Brisleiro is in this category. This doesn't
mean that it is dangerous to have one. It just means that you had better
get it professional training and make sure it is well-socialized. And if
the dog is especially aggressive, that training could be a challenge.
Some potentially sharp dogs don't do well in congested cities. They do
better in rural areas where they can see people coming from a long way off,
where you can say to your Fila Brisleiro, "that's okay Spike, that's just
the UPS man bringing me some books I ordered. We do not want to bite him,"
while you pat him on the head and then walk up to the truck so the UPS man
doesn't have to get out.
Lawrence
-----Original Message-----
From: lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of david ritchie
Sent: Monday, January 23, 2006 4:26 PM
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Text of bin Laden Tape/ size matters/dogs
On Jan 23, 2006, at 11:54 AM, Eric Yost wrote:
> Teemu: Only known nuclear warheads that would fit
> (in a very large and heavy) suitcase are the U.S.
> designs for mini-nuke war heads. These had explosive power of 10 to
> 250 tons, for comparison the Hiroshima bomb yield was about 15
> kilotons.
>
>
> Sorry to contradict, but I have a first-hand account of a friend
> who was a US officer in Europe during the late '70s and early '80s.
> US forces had an array of "suitcase" (he called them "backpack")
> nukes for use in the feared Soviet invasion of Europe through the
> Fulda Gap. These nukes were in the low-kiloton range (Hiroshima-
> sized). In the event of an invasion, these weapons would be placed
> along the Autobahn and detonated--consistent with the NATO strategy
> of delaying the Soviet ground advance. IN addition to creating an
> obstacle to the Soviet advance, they would send a wave of fallout
> toward Eastern Europe. It was also widely believed at the time that
> the Soviets had developed their own version of these tactical
> nukes, primarily for the same purpose of disrupting a ground advance.
>
Why not just use the less well-bred members of the Brazilian Fila
family?
I'm running three threads together because when I take my Border
Collie cross to a dog park there's often some guy with a large black
lab or a Rhodesian Ridgeback or some such who clearly got the dog
because he wanted a Biiiig Crittr to go with his Truuuuuuuuck .
Ridgebacks were bred to rip the tendons from the legs of lions. I've
met some very nice Ridgebacks and no doubt Lawrence's one is
handsome, clever, well-bred. But come on guys, can you not get dogs
that kids won't be afraid of? Consider your homeowner's liability
insurance if nothing else.
David Ritchie
Portland, Oregon
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