I have noticed over the years that more and more people are showing an interest in Bandogs and every other breeder seems to have their own recipe to creating the “greatest” Bandog in the world. What’s concerning is that the majority of these people forget that the term “Bandog” was a term used to describe a dog that was tethered by a chain (or “bande”) and was only released when it was needed to catch man or beast. Therefore, not every dog can or should be called a Bandog as a true Bandog must prove its worth as a working dog first and foremost.

The term Bandog was widely used during medieval times and most depictions of one show a large Mastiff type dog that was kept on a chain. In 1576 Dr. Caius described the Bandog as a dog that was “serviceable against the fox and the badger, to drive wild and tame swine out of meadows, and pastures, to bite and take the bull by the ears, when occasion so required” and in 1586, Mr William Harrison described the bandog as “a huge dog, stubborn, uglier, eager, burthenouse of bodie, terrible and fearful to behold and often more fierce and fell than any Archadian or Corsican cur …”

The Bandog movement in modern times began in the 1960’s when Veterinarian John Bayard Swinford from Long Island, New York, USA began his breeding program to recreate the medieval Bandog. He started with Pit Bull Terriers crossed with English Mastiffs and then later added some Neapolitan Mastiff blood to his program. Unfortunately, Mr Swinford passed away in 1971 and was never able to fully finish his Bandog program.

The Neapolitan Mastiff cross Pit Bull Terrier still remains one of the most popular crosses today by most Bandog breeders as a starting point for their program and a lot of Bandogs will have this cross in their breeding somewhere along the line.

I have no issue with breeders trying to create a healthy and functional family protection dog using a variety of breeds. In fact I salute these breeders and it’s great to see people with a vision and putting it into practise with years of hard work and dedication. These breeders work their dogs and show case what their dogs can accomplish with the right owners

However, I do have an issue with breeders who just stick any two different breeds together and hope for the best. The resulting pups are not “Bandogs” and are nothing more than a cross bred mutt. These types of crosses are only done by breeders who are after a quick buck and have very little concern for what they produce and sell to the public.

These are the type of breeders that we need to eradicate from the dog world.