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BANDOG

Also Know as:

Bandogge, American Bandog Mastiff.

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Origin: England

Type: Cross Breed

Height: 20 to 30 inches

Weight: 86 to 126 pounds

Life Expectancy: 10 to 12 years

BANDOG TEMPERAMENT

At first glance, the Bandog can appear frightening with their imposing size and domineering expression, but when you get to know them, they have a docile and almost dignified character. They can be clownish, affectionate, and sometimes friendly but this is always overshadowed by their domineering expression. In all, the Bandog can be defined as an energetic, very loyal, and excessively demonstrative dog. This demonstrative side makes them appear domineering when you combine it with their size and requires a confident owner to handle them.

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BANDOG PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

The bandog’s physical appearance can be intimidating, there is something about their rugged look that comes across as “a don’t mess with me dog”. Having a height of up to 30 inches, the main difference between the male and the female apart from the reproductive organs is the weight, with the male weighing from 99 to 126 pounds while the female weighs from 80 to 105 pounds. They come in a variety of colors namely Red, Black, Brindle, Sand, Fawn, and Golden Fawn.

BANDOG CHARACTERISTICS

BANDOG CARE

Because of how fast and how big the Bandog grows, it is required that proper care be taken to give them the proper diet till they get to at least two years of age. If they are not fed with a diet containing the proper nutritional ratios, there will be a high tendency for them to grow into adult dogs with skeletal disorders. Having said that, you need to be watchful with them. Any abnormal growth rate is not a good thing for the Bandog. Recommended nutritional feeding ratio for the young puppies is: the protein to be not higher than a quarter of the total food content and calcium/phosphorous ratio of 1 is to 2. To avoid excess weight, keeping the Bandog on a schedule for their feeding is advisable. Liaise with your vet doctor to get an appropriate dieting schedule for them.
Bandogs are known to shed their hair moderately, together with how short their coats are, their grooming requirement is not that high. Brushing their hair once in a while (every week or daily, whichever suits your fancy) is ok. There might be times in the year when you might notice more shedding than normal. Then you might need to increase the frequency of brushing their coat to remove dead hairs that would end up on you, somewhere in your house or household item. Because of their ear feature, heavy grooming is not required for that area, but there is a need to regularly check their muzzle as it may be hiding drools. Keep a cloth for such instances. Apart from that, their normal nail trimming and dental checkups are necessary from time to time.
Bandogs are domineering by nature, so it's important to start their obedience training and socialization early as puppies. Their fierce loyalty tends to make them want to learn quickly to please you but unfortunately, the loyalty is not always stronger than their docile nature leading them to lose interest if the training stretches out for too long. Keeping eye contact with them when training is important, they communicate a lot with their eyes and are always trying to read our expressions and body language. Positive reinforcement is a must for them. Funny enough their feelings can easily be hurt when you raise your voice on them, which is funny when you compare it to their domineering nature. In all, just keep the sessions short and simple. Include lots of love and respect and their loyalty would drive them to impress you by all means.
Being natural watchdogs, the Bandogs are comfortable living within small spaces. But this does not take away the need to exercise them. Their exercise requirement is usually low but is mostly needed for their psychological benefit. Short walks are usually advised for them. Having said that, be careful not to overtask them when exercising. They are known for their stamina but are not interested in early morning jogging sprees, jumping high, or running up and down staircases. As a rule of thumb, keep the exercise at their pace.
Because of how rare the Bandog breed is, no specific health or genetic affliction has been attributed to it. They are not even registered yet as a recognized breed in the American Kernel Club. Apart from skeletal issues growing up, the Bandog is generally a healthy dog. Having said that Bandogs need proper attention from your vet doctors or chosen pet clinic/Hospital. Having professional help even at odd hours and a full dog first aid kit is essential in getting the best out of them.

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BANDOG HISTORY

The Bandog name is a derivative of the name Bandogge which has its origin early in English history around 1250 and 1300. It was used to define very ferocious and large dogs that were bound in chains and only released in the night time to protect the owner’s property.

The Bandog was produced as a result of cross-breeding between some form of Bulldogs and Mastiff then giving rise to its large and somewhat domineering nature.

In the book, “Englishe Dogges” authored by Johannes Caius in 1570 in Latin and later translated into English in 1576 by Abraham Fleming. Johannes Caius described the Bandog as a large, heavy, stubborn, and domineering dog. The Bandog was the perfect guard, watchdog, and working-class dog by nature.

As time went from 1600 downwards, people started experimenting with different breeds to produce the Bandog. This lead to many variations of the Bandog that it was hard to identify them with a particular feature. It wasn’t till early 1970 that the late veterinarian John Swinford D.V.M. started a breeding program to produce the ultimate guard dog. Even though many veterinarians disagree on the accepted feature for a Bandog, there was one common ground that they all agreed on and that is that the Bandog should be made up of 50 percent American Pit Bull Terrier and 50 percent of any other very large dog.

Unfortunately, Swinford died early on in the breeding program leaving it incomplete. Currently, the Bandog is not recognized by the American Kennel Club as it is currently illegal to have them in some parts of America. Other countries that it is illegal to own Bandogs are Romania and Switzerland.