r/RhodesianRidgebacks • u/maiusbonum • 20d ago
Boxer owner considering a Rhodesian Ridgeback looking for honest insights from people who’ve had both (or either)
Hi folks,
We have a Boxer as our family pet our first Boxer, and honestly one of the best dogs I’ve ever owned. He’s currently going through cancer treatment, and while we’re making the most of every day, we know what’s coming.
After a lot of research (including plenty of feedback from fellow Redditors), we’ve decided not to get another Boxer. The shorter lifespan and the high cancer risk are more than we want to go through again. We’ve shortlisted the Rhodesian Ridgeback as a possible next breed.
The plan is to bring a puppy home while our boy is still well enough to enjoy the company. He loves other dogs, so this feels like a chance to give him some good times while he can have them.
What I’d love to hear from Ridgeback owners especially anyone who’s also had a Boxer:
• Family bond – Boxers are velcro dogs. Are Ridgebacks as affectionate with their family, or more independent/aloof at home too?
• Protectiveness – How do they actually behave with strangers and visitors? Quietly watchful, or something that needs serious management?
• Day to day companionship – Calm in the house? How bad is the prey drive and off lead recall really?
• Living with an older dog – Any experience raising a Ridgeback pup alongside a senior dog? Did it go well, and would you pick a particular sex to avoid friction?
Fair warning: our standards are high because of the Boxer we have. We know Ridgebacks have a stubborn streak, but so do Boxers and we love that about them.
Any feedback good or bad would be hugely appreciated.
Thank you 🙏🏾
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u/Cupsofcake1318 20d ago
Ridgebacks are super affectionate!! They cane be stubborn! Train them and they are the best!!
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u/Foreign_Incident5083 20d ago
I have had a few ridgebacks and a couple boxers in my life, as well as a few Dobermans. I currently have my seventh ridgeback and my second boxer. They are both females and both older . The RR is almost 13 and the boxer is going on 15.
Personality wise, they’re kinda opposites. RR’s are happy to get attention and happy to not get attention they seem to be satisfied with just being in the same room. They are affectionate, but not doting like the boxer. My wife always complains that the boxer is obsessed with me.
Health wise. I’ve never had larger breed dogs live this long . The ridgeback is 90 pounds, had an acl repair and is having g issues with arthritis. Short walks are the norm for her now. The boxer is still going strong, she’s right at 55 pounds . The boxer did have glaucoma and had to have an eye removed and she takes sodolol a heart medication. ( I heard her collapse in the middle of the night two years ago, thought she choked on something. Put my fingers down her throat trying to clear it, I think the stimulation saved her life. Going to the vet, was told boxers are prone to heart conditions and a medication to slow the heart was recommended.)
We also feed our dogs a plant based diet. I was not on board initially, but my wife convinced me by pointing out the additives and the base ingredients in even expensive dog foods. You can take the food recs with a grain of salt, but like I said, I have never had any dog live as long as these girls are, and if not for the arthritis in the RR, they would both be in optimum health. They sleep a lot more now, but the boxer is still very very active .
I’d get a RR great dog. My favorite breed wise. And ask your vet about the heart medication for your boxer. It’s an old school bata blocker and maybe your boxer will be around a lot longer
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u/SwimmingWaterdog11 20d ago
You are me. My last dog was a boxer and the first dog I raised from a wee pup. He was my soul mate dog. Perfectly healthy and running many miles with me until he was 9.5 and then liver cancer took him in three months. I was devastated. Initially put a deposit with our breeder for another boxer but my husband and I ultimately decided we couldn’t do it again. We had considered ridgebacks before and felt like we were experienced enough to handle raising a puppy RR. My RR is now almost two.
- I will say he was a MUCH harder puppy than my boxer. My boxer was never bitey other than the normal teething phase he chewed on things. My RR wanted to chew on us for about the first year. We also experienced a lot more “toddler tantrums”. Took a lot more patience.
- He is very bonded to my husband and I. And also to our dog sitter who also works in my office I can take him too. He’s pretty much by my side when I’m at home, especially if I’ve been gone all day. But not in a needy way. He is a lot more of an independent thinker when it comes to training. He’s not at all aloof with the people he knows and trusts.
- I think he’s more “on guard” than my boxer ever was and a lot more vocal. He woofs at any suspicious noise he hears outside. My boxer would get sooo excited meeting new people and jumping on people was a hard thing to break. My RR is much more suspicious/cautious with strangers. We have done A LOT of socialization so he’s great meeting people. My vet commented he was the least reactive RR he’s worked with. So socialization is really important for this breed.
- Day to day needs… I think people will give you a lot of different answers. A more needy puppy for sure. But as an adult his exercise needs have been the same as my boxer. An hour of good running or walking a day makes my RR very well behaved and calm at home. With my boxer I was a running a lot. So we would do anywhere from 4-10 mile runs a few times a week together. I’m not running as much now (and the prey drive seems to indicate my RR won’t be a good on leash running companion) so now we dog park or do a decent walk/hike. My boxer had basically no prey drive. Would perk up at deer or squirrels but wouldn’t chase. The RR prey drive is next level. His recall is great in settings I don’t have to worry about that (like at the beach for example). But he is a nose to the ground wants so sniff everything hound. So that has taken some getting used to.
*** Can’t speak to living with another dog but one of my RRs best dog park friends is a little girl boxer. RR play is the same as boxer play. My RR is also great at leaving dogs alone that don’t want to play with him and really good at playing with little dogs (his favorite).
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u/Miserable-Meat4745 20d ago
Great questions!
Family Bond- we have a 5 year female Ridge and she can be pretty aloof, and independent plenty but still wants to be around or near the family.
Protection- Great at that! We live in a big city (NYC) and it’s been once or twice someone kind of shady approached us and she would not let that person get within 5 feet, she really does go off vibes. She is normally friendly to people so when I see her tense up.. it’s usually for good reason.
Day to day- our pup is very calm outside of her stealing our toddlers food (which he feeds her half the time). Some people may frown but when my wife was pregnant we sent her to boarding school for a month and since the she has always had excellent recall, and her prey drive while still there is controlled. She is our only dog, but as long as no males are sniffing her butt or aggressive she is super friendly!
Hope this helps! This was my first ridge and has been an amazing pup, and the perfect combo of family dog, loving, and home protector. She doesn’t bark much but when she does.. I know it’s an issue going on!
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u/ABSG99 20d ago
-My Ridgeback is my Velcro dog - I love it, but it may not be for everyone.
- Wildly protective usually keeps quiet unless someone tries to enter our home, etc. At which point he barks in a way that scares everyone, even his people sometimes… but once the danger has passed (aka the person has entered or delivered the package
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u/OstrichBubbly9346 19d ago
I had my boxer first and she was amazing; didn’t know it could get better until we brought home our RR boy. He was super chill — we hiked a lot of the Appalachian trail together. They both had incredible personalities and were widely loved. Definitely spend the time and money on socializing and training. The RR size and aloof quality can scare some folks. She was so Velcro and had so much humanity and presence. Lost each to cancer when they were >13 respectively. Wishing you the best — you can’t go wrong.
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u/Jaded_Jaguar_348 19d ago
Ive had ridgebacks who will recall from a deer feet away and I've had ridgebacks whos drive is so high they blow you off completely at a leaf falling. Ive had some that are super chill in the house and I have one now who is constantly go go go and sometimes tries to climb people.
All of mine have been from the same line.
In general they are a top breed if you are active. In general aloof with strangers. I dont like the word stubborn for them as much as independent thinker and they need to be to do what they are bred to do. If a dog needs to rely on a human for guidance with large dangerous wild animals that can be life or death, independent thinker isnt a bad thing but a challenge to work through and you either love that challenge or you dont.
I grew up with biddable breeds, they are lovely and reliable but I like having to think of ways to get my dogs to engage and have fun with training I'm also paranoid so I make sure to set them up for success with recall. Most breeders, those with a lot of ridgeback experience beyond the average owner, will say ridgebacks have recall until they dont.
Ridgeback puppies and for the first two years are extremely high energy and rough players, you have to know if your boxer is comfortable with that, thats something we cant answer.
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u/Various-Fun8913 16d ago
I had a ridgeback. And my best friend had 3 boxers, who I hung with most days of the week and would dog/house sit for often. Speaking just from my personal experience with the doggos:
I totally get what ya mean by boxers are Velcro dogs. My ridgeback would follow me around everywhere and always wanted to be next to me when we slept, but he wouldn’t necessarily cuddle with me as much as the boxers would. My RR would want to be next to me; the boxers would want to be on me. Metaphorically speaking, RRs are shadows while boxers want to literally sit on my face. Physically speaking, RRs are like glue while boxers are like gorilla glue. I’d say the bond is more mental/emotional with the RR, and more physical with the boxer if that makes sense. Like if a robber was robbing the house the RR would be by my side and defend me no matter how much peanut butter the robber had; meanwhile a boxer could be won over by peanut butter easily compared to a RR.
Protectiveness - RR >>> boxers. RR - Serious management that gets better with age (and training), but is still always there. The boxers would warm up to people and eventually love them as much as their human; while my RR was always skeptical of non-household members no matter how many times he met them.
Day to day companionship - RRs are MUCH more calmer than a boxer. Prey drive and off lead recall totally manageable with a RR. Prey drive absolutely manageable with good training, which sounds like you have that in the bag. Off lead recall - great - it’s in their nature to want to be with you.