Thats not necessarily true at all. I have two Catahoula Leopard/Cur dogs who have both slept in the house, played with my cousins kids and never saw a hog until they were 8 months old. And they have showed a ton of desire to hunt. One of them has completed his training and hunts with an extreme desire too work and please. The other one went to the trainers to get started on his training and his first day seeing a pig he bayed and caught it.

I know that the desire differs from breed to breed, but I still believe that just because your pup is playing and being a puppy doesn't mean that he won't hunt, especially if he was born out of two parents that hunt. And from what I understand the Rhodesian Ridge Backs have a fairly high desire to please and need a job, so it shouldn't be too hard to get him to hunt.

Now as to how to start him I have no clue, I have never had a dog that hunted any of those animals. Best bet might be to trap a squirrel, coon, or coyote so that your pup could become familiar with the animal and learn to bay it, then try and find someone who has an experienced dog that you could tag along with that might kind of mentor your pup.

Good luck with your pup, really pretty dog.