Bandog

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The hope is that the breeding of these dogs will finally be perfected; however, the Bandog is being bred by many breeders who range from the very serious and knowledgeable to the very amateurish and inexperienced, sometimes called backyard breeders. Like all dogs, the Bandog can display either the best or the worst characteristics of the parents (or the parent breeds), depending on the knowledge of the breeder and the randomness of genetics. Therefore, a purchaser of a Bandog must do a good deal of investigation to avoid the risk of buying a puppy from a breeder that does not understand the necessity of proper selection.^{[citation needed]}

[edit]Foundation breeding

What is reported here is just an estimated expected average range of various foundations breeds commonly seen in various Bandog programs.^{[citation needed]}

The Primary Group, approximate average of 25-75% from American Pit Bull Terrier (aka the "Bull-n-Terrier").

The Secondary Group, approximate average of 25-75% from English Mastiff and/or Neapolitan Mastiff.

A Tertiary Group (used in some programs) approximate average of 0-75%: American Bulldog, Dogue de Bordeaux,Boerboel, Bullmastiff, Bulldog Campeiro, Cane Corso, Fila Brasileiro, Great Dane, Perro de Presa Canario, Dogo Argentino, and/or the Tosa Inu.

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For those who truly breed dogs for guarding purposes, requiring the dogs to be suitable for such work is a normal practice and therefore they should be able to provide demonstrations of their dogs performing such duties. Testing the worthiness of breeding stock is necessary to maintain the quality of the breed, as this practice allows the breeder to evaluate the dog for having the appropriate temperament, phenotype, stability, confidence, nerves and drives needed to excel as a home guardian or personal protection dog. The Bandog should be a rugged dog, moderate to heavily boned, heavily muscled, intimidating when seen, and is a very formidable guardian when provoked by someone outside of the family unit. Committed programs will only breed working Bandogs and maintain dedicated planning in order to carefully select the best performing representatives to genetically contribute towards future generations.^{[citation needed]}

The breed ideal is a broad skull, a strong muzzle that is medium to long muzzle depending on the strain, a powerful neck, broad shoulders, a powerful chest, strong rear quarters, great agility, and overall an intelligent and very well controlled dog. When it comes to color, the best breeders generally fall into one of two philosophies, one of which places no emphasis on color whatsoever, and the other believing a guard dog should display a degree of natural camouflage (and therefore avoiding the use of dogs that display significant portions of white). The first philosophy operates under the belief that the best dogs will naturally select out the undesired traits, and second philosophies operates under the belief that protection tests do not accurately evaluate the role of camouflage in trial situations, and therefore those who concede to this later belief choose to model nature's general selection against white coats in non-Arctic types of environments (recognizing that white not only exposes one's position, but also noting that white coats have also been linked to degree of health problems in dogs).^{[citation needed]}

Dogs should generally be a minimum of 90# and 25" at the withers, with no upper limits of weight or height are placed upon the breed as long as the dogs are able to perform efficiently. Bitches should be a minimum of 80# and 24", and also have no upper limits as long as they too are able to perform efficiently. All dogs and bitches should be kept in reasonably good working condition. Non-working temperament, poor structure, laziness, lack of courage, lack of drive, lack of nerve, and even obesity are all considered breed faults.^{[citation needed]}

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While the Bandog is still a relatively rare breed, those familiar with a well bred Bandog often develop the opinion of it being the perfect protection dog for their needs. Various programs have used the American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, English Mastiff, and Neapolitan Mastiff for foundation breeds, but depending upon the program other breeds not mentioned here may have also been used. There are a few programs in existence today that have put forth the commitment necessary to produce multiple generations of Bandogs that are consistently producing working class lines of the breed. Because the Bandog is supposed to be a true working guard dog and because few programs actually put forth the effort to test their stock, it is wise verify the breeder's practice for testing their stock. This is because intention of quality Bandog breeders should be to combine the courage, tenacity, health, and athletic ability of the American Pit Bull Terrier with the larger size, power, and guarding instinct of the Mastiff.^{[citation needed]}