EvBouret, I used to have 2 Rhodesian ridgebacks when I was younger. You need to realize that the breed of dog you chose is a "sighthound" not a tracking breed even though there is a little bit of bloodhound in the ridgebacks. There are people in Australia who hunt boars and small deer with ridgebacks but always use a hound or some type of bird dog in the pack to do the tracking and of course use the ridgebacks for final chase, baying or take down. But using ridgebacks for tracking cougars is a different story.