LEE ROBINSON – AMERICAN SENTINEL K9 What is a Bandog? (Correcting the myths) Just as the German Shepherd is one of many types of guard dogs, the American Sentinel is one of many types of bandogs. The resurrection of the ancient term "bandogge" has led to a number of undedicated "breeders" being drawn to the concept of bandogs. Unfortunately, undedicated breeders are unwilling to do the work required to produce and maintain true bandogs (guard dogs and catch dogs). Such fraudulent breeders wrongfully seek to validate their "breeding program" by misleading others in attempt to convince them that "bandog" refers to a certain type of "cross bred dog." Ironically, what happens next and what should be an immediate red flag is often over-looked, which is immediately following their attempted deception, such breeders point to the true meaning of the term of bandog as a dog suitable for working as a guard dog or catch dog.

Why would undedicated breeders promote such untruths despite the available historical references that illustrate the truth on the subject? The logical explanation is they seek to profit with minimal work, which requires them to convince people their dogs are suitable for such work even though their dogs have never been tested to perform such tasks. Correcting this myth is a constant battle. Buyer beware. Please take the time to properly study the true History of Bandogges. Upon objectively doing so, you will learn the term "bandogge" dates back nearly a thousand years. Translated to modern English, the prefix comes from "bande" which means to bind (held together). This adjective describes the concept of bandogges as restrained canines worked as sentry dogs, protection dogs, or as catch dogs.

Long before breeds existed, the first domesticated dogs earned their keep by serving and helping people secure food and/or protect their territory. Dogs earned the legendary title of "bandogge" only after they displayed exceptional physical abilities and relentless mental determination to apprehend, control, and subdue their opponent. The practice of tethering of such dogs is basis, justification, and origin of the term bandog. When used correctly, the term "bandog" does not define a breed or cross, but instead defines an individual dog with unique combative skills against man and/or dangerous game when released from their restraint.

American Sentinel K9, LLC is licensed by the State of Mississippi and has the highest standards in the Bandog industry. H. Lee Robinson, M.S. is the owner and training director at American Sentinel K9, LLC. Before working to improve the quality of working dogs available, Lee pursued accurate information on the various philosophies, theories, and practices as they pertained to animal behavior, anatomy & physiology, husbandry, genetics, and reproduction. Lee's research and personal interests with working animals led him to study bandogs in the early 1990's while obtaining a Bachelor's Degree (1993) and a Master's Degree (1997) in Animal Sciences from the University of Illinois. While pursuing his education, Lee also gained experience in animal behavior, training, and reproduction by working with professionals in the animal industry, including various canine trainers as well as the Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife (CREW) at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden's, and became certified in Artificial Insemination. Every dog bred at American Sentinel K9, LLC is performance tested and hip x-ray tested, and we offer one of the best health guarantees in the bandog industry. In addition to the above, Lee has produced and trained hundreds of working bandogs. For these reasons, American Sentinel K9, LLC is able to offer a level of education, experience, and service that other bandog breeders cannot match. To ensure every generation of American Sentinels is performance tested, the American Sentinel Canine Registry (ASCR-side 1 & Side 2) requires all breeding stock to display the traits required by bandogs before their offspring may be registered. Criminals and wild hogs both have a devastating impact on the lives of honest hard-working people, which is why the ASCR remains true to the bandog's history and requires protection training demonstrations or documented legal catch dog hunts as validation of working potential. American Sentinels must display exceptional athleticism, drive, heat tolerance, stamina, determination, and combative abilities.

Protection Bandogs - Our primary goal Like any dog, owning a sentry dog, guard dog, or protection dog requires responsibility and is not the best option for people that are irresponsible or that do not like animals. That said, there is a reason dogs are the oldest domesticated species on the planet. Simply put, they can be a great asset. Dogs provide not just companionship, they also watch, alarm, protect, hunt, and excel at scent detection. Without getting into crime statistics, most of us already know that criminal activity occurs far too often, and in a struggling economy crime is a legitimate concern. Here at American Sentinel K9, LLC, we find great pleasure in helping honest law-abiding citizens do what they can to maintain their safety and security by providing them with an additional layer of protection for their property, lives, and most loved possessions...their family and children. Even in today's technological world, crime prevention statistics report that a large confident dog is still one of the best layers of home and personal protection that one can have. A home alarm is great, and we recommend them, but they typically do not actually stop people from coming into your home. Instead, they only notify you that someone is already in your home. It is obviously better to stop criminals from ever getting inside in the first place. While firearms can also be a valuable asset, they cannot come to you when you need them nor can they wake you up when you are sleeping. Additionally, criminals are generally cowardice individuals that look for easy targets. When a criminal sees a big dog clearly telling them to go somewhere else, criminals tend to quickly honor that request. In summary, a quality protection dog not only reduces the chance a criminal will come in, but should a criminal come in the dog will let you know when that happens and can come to your aid when needed...that is if one has the right dog for the job.

Hog Catch Bandogs - Our Secondary Goal Catching dangerous game has remained a large portion of the Bandog's history, yet few bandog programs test their dogs in this venue. For these reasons, we welcome hunters of wild boar to try our dogs as catch dogs in legal hunting applications. Our "Catch Dog Program" exists for people that can provide proof of their catch dogs being used in legal hunting situations, and allows qualified hog hunters access to quality catch dogs at a discounted price in order to further prove the American Sentinel as the premier bandog program in existence. Before you contact us about this program, there are a few things you should know ahead of time.

-Our dogs are first screened for our companion guardian/protection dog program. -The remaining dogs are then screened for our Catch Dog Program (CDP) by evaluating their prey drive, determination, grip, and athleticism. Dogs found to be lacking the necessary traits for catch work are NOT placed into the CDP. -Dogs in our Catch Dog Program are guaranteed to be genetically healthy and capable catch dogs. -To make sure only healthy working dogs are bred, our working dog guarantee becomes void once a dog has been bred. -Discounts for our Catch Dog Program are available for the applicants that submit videos of prior hunts with hogs being legally caught with catch dogs. -ASCR registration of the dogs in the Catch Dog Program is provided after we receive proof the dogs are successfully catching hogs. -To maintain the required traits of the American Sentinel, each generation of offspring must pass performance evaluations before the next generation of offspring can be registered. You may register American Sentinel puppies with the ASCR only if the offspring were produced from two proven American Sentinels that earned ASCR registration.

What to Look for In a Bandog Before buying what you believe is a functional bandog, we recommend that you do a bit of research to make sure you do not purchase a poorly bred dog by one of the many fake, yet supposed, "bandog programs" that are unfortunately far too common today. "Bandogs" have become somewhat of a fad in some circles and are often misrepresented, and unfortunately many pretenders have popped up. These individuals sometimes believe their own nonsense, but more often than not they are knowingly misrepresenting themselves and will lie to sell an unqualified dog to a potential client. That said, do not worry. These fake individuals are easily and quickly recognized for what they really are. A little research now can save you many headaches later. All you need to do is ask for a performance demo of their breeding stock. We understand many of the people interested in protection dogs, sentry dogs, and/or guard dogs are new to the subject and do not really know what to look for, so below we are providing a few tips: First, if they do not work their dogs, they do not really have bandogs. Do not expect to get a working bandog from untested stock. Like horses, champions are produced from performance tested breeding stock. Second, if they claim to work their dogs but refuse to provide evidence of such, they are a fake. No professional refuses to provide evidence of their work, and it disgusts us to hear of supposed "bandog" breeders or supposed "protection dogs trainers" say they do not share videos of their dogs doing protection work but then expect you to fork over your hard-earned money because you should "trust them." Do not believe hype. Demand proof. Third, playing tug-a-war with a rope or showing a dog barely gripping the end of a bite sleeve with only half its mouth does not constitute K9 protection work, yet inexperienced bandog breeders often display such advertisements because they do not have a clue about K9 protection training or breeding. Quality protection dogs should not lack commitment. Grips should be full, and a quality protection dog will direct intensity towards the bad guy, and not just the equipment. Quality bandogs are capable of sentry work, protection work, or hunting and catching dangerous game, which earned the bandogge legendary status as a gladiator. Today's bandogs should not just be mere shadows of the bandogges described throughout history. Instead, they should remain healthy, capable dogs that may live and work for 10-15 years. Review our dogs demonstrating some basic protection work here. Fourth, protection dogs need to be physically sound in order to be functional. Physical traits should not be grossly exaggerated. Movement should display agility and authority. Avoid "protection dogs" with short muzzles. No quality protection dog has a short muzzle. Short muzzles lack the gripping area required to obtain and maintain a secure grip and are inefficient with heat dissipation. Avoid breeders that advertise measurements of a dog's head or excessively focus on the dog's weight. Neither means anything when it comes to your family's safety. The most capable protection dogs and gladiator hunting dogs always come from tested stock, and are typically in the 80-110 range (males 90- 110# & females 80-100#). I personally avoid protection dogs or hunting catch dogs that are less than 70#, but even a quality 70# dog is more than capable. Dogs over 110-120# range that work really well are an exception, and they seldom reproduce themselves. Agility, efficiency, endurance, and heat tolerance tend to suffer when one goes very large. Over-weight dogs and under-weight dogs are simply a product of owner negligence. To verify the physical capabilities of our dogs, notice that many of our dogs have caught too many wild boars to count, some of which have been over 300+ pound (catching dangerous wild game). Wild boar are armed with tusks, and fight much harder than most men ever will. I assure you, a quality and well put together 100# protection dog delivers more than enough power to handle an intruder. Fifth, protection dogs must have a strong desire to please their family unit and should display strong bonding characteristics; which improves their sense of loyalty and responsibility. Protection dogs should be mentally stable even during stressful situations. Dogs with a high degree of dominance are often preferred by law enforcement or military since such dogs are typically easy to train, but rank driven dogs do not make good candidates around children. Our dogs are bred to be family companion K9 guardians. Our dogs display high prey drive and fight drive with a sufficient amount of defense drive; but tend to be lower in rank drive than the dogs typically used by the police and military. One should always practice good judgement, but simply put, the American Sentinel is typically more tolerant of children than are dogs high in rank drive because American Sentinels are less interested in dominating or challenging their family unit. Review our article on animal behavior for more information about the mind of the working dog.

Lee Robinson Before working to improve the quality of working dogs, Lee pursued accurate information on the various philosophies, theories, and practices as they pertained to animal behavior, anatomy & physiology, husbandry, genetics, and reproduction. Lee's research and personal interests with working animals led him to study bandogs in the early 1990's while obtaining a Bachelor's Degree (1993) and a Master's Degree (1997) in Animal Sciences from the University of Illinois. While pursuing his education, Lee also gained experience in animal behavior, training, and reproduction by working with professionals in the animal industry, including various canine trainers as well as the Center or Reproduction of Endangered Wildlife (CREW) at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden's, and became certified in Artificial Insemination. Many canine trainers are well versed in working traditional working dogs such as Shepherds, Malinois, and such, but Lee expanded into dogs more suitable for home protection work, and specialized his training techniques for dogs in this application, and worked extensively with many of the Mastiff type breeds.

"Deep night, dark night, the silent of the night, The time of night when Troy was set on fire; The time when screech-owls cry and ban-dogs howl, And spirits walk and ghosts break up their graves..." - William Shakespeare, King Henry VI

Etymology of the Word "Bandogge" Factual Origins, Belief Based Origins, & Speculatory Origins FACTUALLY BASED components of the term bandogge - In pretty much every use of the word bandogge in ancient text we see reference to a dog that is used to catch man or beast, so being used to catch man or beast should be considered without question. We also see significant reference to the bandogge as being restrained (leash, chain, bound) but released to hunt man or beast, so the idea of restraints should again be accepted without question. Etymology is the study of origins of words. When one reviews the origins of bandogge, several versions of the prefix exist. "Band" means "to bind, "banda" refers to some type of tether, and "bande" is translated to English it means "bound servant." Summary of #1 - We know restrained, released, & catch. BELIEF BASED components of the term bandogge - If one studies language, it isn't exactly as clear cut where "dogge" comes from as some speculate. Some sources say it is just an outdated spelling of dog, others say it is a synonym with hound or hund (German). Others say dogge were larger or heavier than other hund. There is debate about who is right because dogge was not just used in reference to "large dogs," but also used in reference to "doggefish” (formerly called the houndfish or hundfish) and "dogge" began to replace the use of the term "hound" in the 1400's. Others refer to older variants like “docga," which may have described a dog of a certain color. Regardless, if it was exactly a mastiff or not, most people agree that "dogge" does refer to dogs with considerable size and power, while it has not remained completely synonymous with every use of the term hound/hund. All that said, the etymology of the word dog/dogge is not 100% conclusive even though it is suggestive, so regardless of what some breed "historians" of various breeds like to report about the term “dogge," etymologist actually report "dogge" to be a term of uncertain origin. Given the tasks required of bandogges, it is certainly reasonable to believe power and size would be desired as long as it was a benefit to performance, and not a hindrance. It should also be mentioned that the historical descriptions of the various “mastiff" types also describe a much more active and less exaggerated dog than what we see in most mastiff breeds today.

Summary of #2 - We believe somewhat mastiff like. SPECULATORY BASED components of the term bandogge - Many people are misled to believe "the bandogge is a cross bred dog;" however, this statement is just not true...not historically speaking anyway. Not even once have I seen any ancient test refer to the bandogge as a cross bred dog or a mixed breed dog produced from two different variants of dogs. I say variants since breeds did not exactly exist in refined "registry" type forms until considerably later. The idea that bandogges are products of mix breeding really has nothing to do with the term bandogge until much later, perhaps not until the Bullmastiff came along. Prior to these very recent times, the bulldogs and mastiff type dogs may have already been similar in type, and their divergence is not probably as "ancient" as some may suggest. During "ancient times," even if pedigrees were not recorded, the families of dogs that had particular traits or abilities were surely recognized. In order to maintain the performance of their dogs, it is certainly reasonable to recognize that selective breeding projects existed by isolating populations of dogs so working dogs could be bred on the basis of performing specialized tasks in order to produce progeny capable of such tasks. Despite this, the idea of “breeds" is a modern concept, so there was no motive to refer to "cross breeding" of dogs to produce "bandogges." Instead, people during those hard times simply bred dogs that worked and earned their keep to other dogs that worked and earned their keep simply because the people back then did not have the comforts of modern technology. Times were hard back then and dogs were their tools. People could not accept charity cases when they themselves were often struggling to survive. Dogs simply had to be capable of performing the tasks at hand. They had to meet expectations to earn their keep...so dogs were bred winner to winner...performer to performer. Some of these dogs were bandogges, in fact, given the bandogge's job (to hunt and guard), many ancient dogs were bandogges. Summary of #3 - Historical bandogges were not necessarily "of mixed breed." H. Lee Robinson, M.S.

Bandogges of Legend Historical documents clearly illustrate the term "bandogge” as a working title earned by dogs that fulfilled the duties of particular combative tasks, and does not specifically refer to cross bred dogs comprised of specific breed foundations. People who describe bandogs as Molosser crosses display their lack of knowledge on this topic. While bandogges were typically described to have traits seen in some old world Molossers, the focal points of the term "bandogge" throughout historical context was not about breed origin or breed composition. Instead, the focal point of the term "bandogge" addressed the tasks, demands, and capabilities of the bandogge, and referenced the traits displayed by "bandogges" as they fulfilled their duties.

The word "bandogge" predates William Shakespeare's use of the term, and the historical context consistently describes a dog restrained ("banded") by chain or leash, yet released during combative tasks to catch various types of quarry. Depending upon the need, the bandog's quarry may have been man or beast. Quality bandogges worked as sentry dogs, protection dogs, or as hunting dogs for catching dangerous game, and many bandogges performed so well at such tasks that the bandogge earned legendary status as a gladiator. Today's bandogs should not just be mere shadows of the bandogges described throughout history, but instead should remain healthy, capable dogs that may live and work for 10-15 years.

The extraordinary courage possessed by these dogs is hardly believable. Bred from a long line of fighting ancestors, the dogs produced were of such ferocity and courage as to seem almost insensible to pain. In Mr. Edgar Farman's book (1900’s), the specialist in Bulldog History wrote: ”The first mentioned word “Bulldog” in literature in the year 1500 was with the other oldest spelling of the word that is “bandog” and “bandogge,” and some believe the war dogs used in the Crusaders (medieval battles that took place during the 11th through 13th centuries) were bandogges.

William Harrison, in his description of England (1586), mentions the word “bandogge” explaining that “many of them are tied up with chains and strong bonds in the day time for doing hurt abroad," and further describes the dog to be "a huge dog, stubborn, uglier, eager, burthenouse of bodie, terrible and fearful to behold and often fiercer and more fell than any Archadian or Corsican cur." Dr. Caius (1576) states that, among other characteristics, the “Mastiff or bandogge is 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.” During such times, owners could only afford to keep dogs that displayed great loyalty, stability, confidence, exceptional physical performance, efficiency, tolerance to the environment, durability, malleability with working temperament and drives, and excellent bonding characteristics. Accurate investigation about the bandogge will clearly illustrate that the bandogge's greatness is not a product of hype or unproven claims, but instead results from the bandogge proving its performance by displaying an unwavering ability and fearless determination to subdue their quarry. A well-bred bandog may even display no concern for its own wellbeing when working, yet meanwhile it may display extreme concern to please its family or to complete an assigned tasks. Bandogges have been around a long time, perhaps since the development of civilization, as such dogs fulfilled a need and served man very well when it came to putting food on the table or protecting our families, homes, and other valuable assets.

Beware of those that do not work their dogs and only show pictures of them just playing, standing, sitting, or laying around. Bandogs are largely defined by their character, not just their appearance. Many times, breeders of cross bred dogs’ parasite off the bandogge's legendary working history and performance. Bandogs are defined by their working ability, malleability, train-ability, temperament, drive, stability, and structural soundness. Some breeders try to impress potential buyers by referring to their dogs as “registered bandogs” yet use a registry that does not confirm working ability. Dogs do not read papers. Once the definition of bandog is understood, it is rather clear that a registry cannot honestly refer to dogs as "registered bandogs" without some type of performance measures being part of the registry requirement; therefore, any "Bandog breeder” that tries to use any such registration as a "stamp of authenticity” should be suspect of fraud. Before being impressed with "papers," check to see if the registry requires a demonstration of working ability.

Also, do not be fooled into having faith in a breeding because you see the names of some good dogs’ way back in the pedigree. If traits are not tested each generation, then performance is quickly lost. If a breeder does nothing with their breeding stock, there is no significant reason to think a dog from them would be able to perform. Breeding on pedigree alone and without using performance criteria quickly turns winners into losers, and all that remains are shadows of what once was. Every dog in the pedigree should be able to work and work well. Can their "bandogs” live up to the names way back in the pedigree? These dogs are legendary only because of what they have accomplished, and for no other reason. Winners in all forms of competition are not made by making claims. They are made by proof. Actions speak louder than words, so see what these "bandog breeders" can do before you just take them at their word.

The Swinford Bandog “Bantu” John Bayard Swinford, DVM John Bayard Swinford, DVM, passed away in November of 1971 before completing his goal to create the greatest of all modern companion guard dogs; however, by using performance selection methods, he and some friends developed the Swinford Bandog/Bandogge. His vision resulted in the creation of several large, powerful, athletic, high drive, stable minded dogs that most importantly were truly functional companion guard dogs.

John's vision developed somewhat from seeing that many traditional working dogs suffer from poor selection. At one time canines had to earn their keep by effectively performing certain tasks. The modern "working Mastiffs" were no longer functional and had become only shadows of what they once were. The dogs once known to be working mastiffs had lost balance, lacked structural soundness, lacked the necessary mental drives (unmotivated to work), and were generally lazy. Many even exhibited many behavioral problems. Show breeders were placing cosmetic appearance over the functional aspects that defined the various working canines and, in some cases, even before the general aspects of health itself. To awaken these lost abilities and to improve the effectiveness of the modern protection Mastiff type dogs, John desired to recreate the working Mastiff dog by once again selecting on performance over all other criteria, just as had been done for centuries before. John's performance measures required dogs to be completely stable within the family, and also required certain gladiator characteristics. Swinford Bandog had to be completely safe, trustworthy, and stable within their home environment, yet also fear nothing. For this reason, John selected game dogs (specifically the APBT) to play a major role in awakening the functional working mastiff type dogs by improving their stamina, drives, athletic ability, confidence, and overall health. Pictured to the right is John Swinford, DVM, with Bantu who was the most well-known dog from the Swinford Bandog program.

Swinford's Foundation Breeds By using performance selection, John carefully selected various types of sound, protective mastiffs (primarily the English Mastiff) and bred them to performance proven "Bull-n-Terriers" (APBT) to produce the original Swinford Bandogs. Bantu was a first generation Swinford Bandog produced in the 1960's from the breeding of a proven "bull-n-terrier” stud (Kelly's "Bobtail Buddy" 2xW, not pictured) to an exceptional English Mastiff bitch known as "Octavia" (pictured below with young Bantu and litter mates). One can clearly see the mother is an English Mastiff as has been reported in the Sporting Dog Journal. Swinford's most famous Bandog known as "Bantu" (pictured here as a pup with his mother) though was not actually the first Swinford Bandog nor was he even the first "Swinford's Bantu." Earlier John Swinford bred them previously and produced the first Swinford's Bantu; unfortunately, the first Bantu died from a car accident. After John Swinford’s death in October of 1971, the second Swinford's Bantu became rather famous as a result of being published in both the July-August 1972 issue of Jack Kelly's Sporting Dog Journal and in Carl Semancics’ first book.

Legendary dogman Pete Sparks also owned a Swinford Bandog named Toro (pictured above with Mr. Sparks), which was bred by Dr. Swinford. Like the majority of Swinford's Bandogs, Tora's genetic foundation was composed exclusively of English Mastiff and game bred APBT origin.

Hopefully this information will clear up some of the questioning about Swinford's actual Bandog breedings, for in Semencic's book the breeding of Bantu was not described, yet the breeding of some other Bandogs were. This incomplete information has misled a number of people. Accurate reports of how Swinford's Bandogs were bred were reported in the Sporting Dog Journal but that was a very limited publication and was much harder for the general dog enthusiast to get a hold of. Many of the misconceptions pertaining to Swinford Bandog's breeding program originate from Semencic's book perhaps because a Bandog named Thor was described as a first generation Bandog produced from a Neapolitan Mastiff and an APBT. This is true...and there were others with similar projects, but what was not mentioned by Semencic was the fact that Thor and many of these other types of Bandogs were not actually from the Bandog Swinford program. That should have been clarified, as it misled a number of people.

If you obtain a copy of Semencic’s book, you can see on the acknowledgment's page the names Martin Lieberman and Kevin Covas. Martin, Kevin, and I have discussed the history of these dogs on many occasions...too many hours to count. Martin Lieberman was very familiar with Swinford's work and played a role in the development of the original Swinford Bandogs. Kevin Covas owned a Bandog named Thor. Thor was produced from a breeding of Neapolitan Mastiff and APBT, but as stated earlier, Thor was not produced from the Swinford's Bandog program. Kevin himself was not involved in the original Swinford Bandog project; however, he was aware of it and was able to validate some of the other Bandog projects in existence at that time. Thor actually came from a totally independent breeder that was found in a newspaper ad. He was from unrelated stock and was purchased several years after John Swinford’s death. That said, it is correct that Thor himself was the product of a Neapolitan Mastiff and APBT breeding.

Thor really liked running the treadmill and was in Semencic's book largely for this reason, but again he was not a Swinford bred Bandog. Today, Kevin currently owns a Swinford like (an American Sentinel Canine to be specific) from our program. When he owned Thor, Kevin was heavily into weight lifting and he desired for his dog to exercise with him. Kevin also knew how to weld and made two treadmills to make exercising his dog more convenient. For several years I owned one of the mills that Thor used to run on, but I finally chose to get rid of it since I had little use for it. Martin Lieberman owns the other mill that Kevin designed. They were rather crafty in design being able to handle dogs over the 100# mark. Thor's mill, which I owned, can be seen here. The Swinford Bandog as recorded in the SDJ In the July-August 1972 issue of the Sporting Dog Journal, Jack Kelly wrote a brief story about Swinford Bandogs, which was the "cover story" of that issue. Some 30+ years later, Kelly again wrote a brief article of Swinford's work in a book. In both cases, Jack Kelly acknowledges the use of the English Mastiff being bred to game APBT dogs. In his book, Mr. Kelly states, "John was intent on establishing his very own breed of dog by crossing his English Mastiff to an American Pit Bull Terrier." In the 1972 July-August issue of the SDJ, Mr. Kelly gives reference to the English Mastiff, the APBT, and also refers to some of the other foundation breeds used. It is in this journal that Mr. Kelly states, "John’s ideas of breeding these dogs was to try and take the desirable qualities of each breed and through selective breeding to produce an all-purpose guard dog that was a game fighting dog." Mr. Kelly also gave reference to Swinford to the fact that even though Swinford himself did not keep pit dogs, but he did love all dogs. He further described Swinford as a person who was always willing to offer his services to do whatever he could as a veterinarian for various dogs and dog clubs.

A photo of Bantu presented in Carl Semencic's book along with a brief description of an altercation between Bantu and a Rottweiler is largely how many people became aware of Bantu. Although this book gives some reference to Swinford's Bandogs being developed as guard dogs, it is not the best source about the Swinford Bandog breed as the book unfortunately focused on many fighting breeds and such activities. Within this book it was reported that Bantu was matched against a Rottweiler known for extreme ferocity, yet Bantu overpowered his opponent with a level of force and intensity so great that the the Rottweiler quickly quit and couldn't even be forced to look at Bantu, while Bantu showed extreme determination to pursue. It was also reported that the match was constructed primarily to prove the Rottweiler was not a true gladiator breed. Unfortunately, this book did not make an effort to illustrate Bantu's and the other Swinford Bandogs' most notable abilities as athletic and powerful guard dogs.

Semencic’s book, although it attracted a lot of interest in the breed was in many ways a setback for the breeds intended purpose as a true guardian breed...as the breed gained considerable recognition as a fighting dog being produced from outstanding quality game dog stock. Although many of the original Swinford Bandogs were much more physically and mentally capable in comparison to other traditional guarding breeds their primary purpose according to the developer of the breed, John Swinford, DVM, remained that of a family guardian or protection dog. I cannot speak for Semencic as to why he chose to focus on the fighting ability more so than the dog's capabilities as a protection dog, but I suspect that, like the media, he was in pursuit of the "shock and awe" effect in order to gather attention on the breed. Unfortunately, it was the wrong type of attention since the breed was first and foremost produced as a family protection dog and home guard dog, something that should have been more clearly illustrated about the breed in Semencic's initial publication. Some Basics on Canine Genetics

In this article, I am discussing behaviors, not breeds. Breeds don't define the behavioral terms. They display the behaviors. We have to take what we see the animals display, and then we define these things in words in accordance to how they are displayed. Experience provides a means to learning "display” component. Education provides a means to the "definitions" component. By building upon both, we are able to expand upon the knowledge acquired by those that came before us. Combining both education and experience, one begins obtaining a true understanding...and only after this true understanding begins to occur is the proper application of true knowledge possible. The degree to which a dog displays a behavior may be influenced by the breed and dog...but never the less...the terms themselves are unified for all breeds...as they don't define breeds, but behaviors. First, let’s define drive. A drive is a behavior that is motivated or displayed in order to preserve a species. Sex drive for example is the desire to engage in intercourse..., which is obviously necessary to preserve a sexually reproducing species.

What Motivates the Dog?

Prey Drive The desire to chase, hunt, catch, or kill...for food. This drive can be harnessed and cross over to "non-food" items. What some people call “play drive" when a dog chases a ball is actually prey drive even though the ball is not food. It is the instinctive response to catch (and typically bite) the object. This drive supplies food, which is obviously a necessary component of life and therefore prey drive, as do all drives...preserves the species. The perfect example is the cat and mouse...or dog and rabbit. Some trainers believe all "forward action" to chase is motivated by prey drive, but I challenge that way of thinking...for if that was the case, there would be no basis for an herbivore to chase another animal any significant distance since herbivores are do not hunt prey. Prey drive is of great benefit to a dog trainer because it allows the trainer to use items of reward besides food, which can speed up a dog's response time to a command. When using food, one can guide or direct a dog nicely, but food is generally "dead” and not chased with speed. The toy "prey item" however is "alive" and requires faster response to chase and catch. A buck in rut chases another buck during the rut due to altered hormonal profiles in the blood that increase the willingness to display fight type aggressive behavior, so I personally do not believe all forward action is motivated by prey drive. It should be noted that prey drive will fail when the "predator" is exhausted and it seems like catching or killing the item is impossible.

Defense Drive The natural reaction to defend against a threat, perceived threat, or challenge...to protect themselves, others, or what they possess. Defense has many degrees. There are courageous defenders that are forward. There are fear biters that would opt for flight if given the chance...leading to the phrase "fight or flight" that often pops up when discussing defense drives. The perfect example of defense is a coyote or wolf protecting its den from a bear. If the coyote is courageous (perhaps motivated in this example by protecting it den with young pups in it...so it views the need to protect as worth the risk of courage in this case) ...the coyote or wolf may actually pursue the bear until the bear is a safe distance from the den. If the wolf is not courageous (or feels the den isn't important...no pups), the wolf may leave...or "cur” to choose flight...realizing that success may come at too big a cost for little gain. This behavior is species preserving and is therefore defined as a drive. Some trainers report that defense cannot be extinguished, but I also challenge that belief. Behavior sciences have clearly defined a behavior known as "learned helplessness," in which the victim of an attack has learned that any resistance to an attack only leads to further pain. In such situations, the victim goes into a “opossum like" state of mind to ride out the attack hoping that being motionless and not trying to run or fight back, but just being passive will be an effective survival strategy. All drives have limits and can be exhausted, including defense.

"Fight Drive" I put "fight drive" in quotes because it is often debated by dog trainers if true fight drive actually exists. One can at least say with a high degree of certainty that it certainly is not displayed at any significant frequency in the natural world, but that really doesn't mean it doesn't exist at all. Let me explain. Very few people truly understand what real "fight drive" is. Fight drive is not self-preserving in a natural world, as wounds caused by fight would lead to death either by injury or infection in the wild; however, domesticated animals that have been selected to fight are able to recover from such due to medical intervention. In the natural world, fighting an unnecessary battle causes injury, infection, death, and eventually extinction. Let's remember, the definition of the word “drive" is a behavior that is motivated to preserve the species. Therefore, by definition of the term drive, "fight drive" can't be labeled in the natural world as a "drive" in the sense that fighting behavior (fighting simply for the sake of fighting) would go against preservation and species. One may fight for prey, defense, rank, food, sex, territory, etc... but to fight simply for the sake of fighting simply would cause injury and extinction in a natural world. HOWEVER, in an artificial world...a domesticated world...in certain populations (such as game fighting dogs), if a dog quit then was not permitted to breed. Only the ones that would win were allowed to breed...and over time (with the help of using medicine to preserve winning dogs that would have otherwise died) ...the dogs got "gamer" and "gamer" until “game dogs" began displaying a behavior that would cause their own extinction if it wasn't for the aid of man and medicine. These dogs were saved and admired...and bred. So, what was unnatural developed into a “species preserving behavior in an UNNATURAL and DOMESTICATED WORLD...hence "artificial selection" creating "an artificial drive” known as "fight drive."

Appropriate Ways of Performance Testing The American Sentinel Canine Registry supports testing their dogs with protection work or legal hunting, but does NOT condone any illegal activities and certainly takes a strong position against dog fighting. That said, the activities that John Swinford participated in with Bantu occurred approximately 50 years ago, and we certainly cannot go back in time to prevent such events. The ASCR considers dog fighting as a brutal and inhumane activity that it is completely unnecessary when it comes to testing the abilities of a gladiator type dog. We only reported the above to address some historical information, and the activity of dog fighting is certainly not condoned. Please do your dogs a favor and do NOT participate in such events. If you need guidance on appropriate measures of evaluation, we will gladly share with you our training methods that are both legal, more appropriate, and totally humane. Measures of performance selection can be very revealing about the quality of the dogs being tested. The American Sentinel Canine Registry (ASCR) only condones the use of humane measures of drives and resistance to stress by combining various testing measures of physical endurance (pre-exhaustion), mental endurance, and commitment to various threats as they can be applied in protection training scenarios for guard dog work or for catch dogs that are used to hunt dangerous game. It should be noted that anyone involved in dog fighting or animal cruelty is permanently banned from registering dogs with the ASCR as well as banned from participating in any events held by the ASCR. Although John was very successful in his efforts of developing the Swinford Bandog, unfortunately he passed away in October of 1971 before the breed was truly established, and his original work died out a number of years later. Creating a new breed requires extensive work and most people are simply not willing to put forth the effort required for creating a new breed, especially since it is much easier to simply work with a breed that is currently established. The ASCR is currently an "open registry" and does accept outside dogs into the registry based upon the successful completion of the performance requirements and foundation guidelines outlined within the ASCR Breed Suitability Test (BST) and ASC Standard. Although we are not interested in publicly sharing the ASC Breed Standard in its entirety prior to it being published and property copyright protected, you may click on the links here to see the ASCR registration form should you be interested in an application. The ASCR chose to use the name American Sentinel to differentiate our program from the other “bandog” programs out there. This was done since the American Sentinel bandogs is proven to much higher standards than are the majority of "bandog programs" out there that lack strict performance selection requirements and have inconsistent breeding goals. If you are interested in these dogs, be aware of the differences between ASCR accepted breedings that earn ASC registration through their performance selection and the increasingly popular "Bandogs" that are being bred without performance measures or even specific goals and standards. The ASCR carefully reviewed the original Swinford Standard before producing the American Sentinel breed standard, and there are some similarities between the two; however, the American Sentinel breed standard is certainly superior. The guidelines of the ASCR are a composite of carefully written works comprised of decades of careful study. The ASC Standard establishes guidelines of breed selection based upon the grounds of performance measures including physical athleticism, mental determination, and protective performance in a ASC Breed Suitability Test (BST). The guidelines within the ASC Standard place performance above all else, but there are also guidelines of breed foundation as well as desired anatomical preferences described within the ASC Breed Standard. The only way a dog can be registered with the ASCR as a "American Sentinel Canine" is to pass the performance and type guidelines written within the ASCR Breed Standard. If you are interested in obtaining more information about the ASCR, feel free to email me at [email protected]. Breeders that register their dogs in the ASCR are expected to take no short cuts. They are expected to search for the best and model the breeding philosophies of the best. Combining this with the ASC Breed Suitability Test and an understanding of genetic principles, the ASCR hopes to continue the development of John's work, the performance bred American Sentinel Canines. H. Lee Robinson, M.S. Founder of the American Sentinel Canine Registry

Rank drive (& Dominant Type Dogs) Rank drive motivates one to try to obtain dominance. Although rank drive has some roots to defense, as it is a motivated to "protect" one's position within a pack and the benefits of status that come along with this status, rank drive is also different than pure defense drive in that rank drive also tries to establish higher positions within a pack in order to improve the benefits of status. This difference may seem slight, but it is vital. So, although rank drive is similar to defense drive in some ways, I believe rank drive should be defined totally separately from defense drive as this is a significant difference that is clearly visible in real life. Unlike rank drive, pure defense does not "establish" new domain or dominion. Do not underestimate this slight difference, as it is an important note when selecting a family guardian. I have studied and observed two forms of Rank drive. Intra- species rank and inter-species rank. Intra-species rank drive is normal rank drive behavior, which is the desire to move UP WITHIN THE PACK for things like breeding rights, first at food, etc... (Intra-species rank has nothing to do with humans). It is a desire to obtain dominance ONLY within the given species and not directed towards other species. Some degree of intra-species rank is to be expected among all social animals. Inter-species rank is when rank drive/dominance crosses the species barrier (and is directed towards humans) ...and is not normal in most animals and even in many breeds of dogs, but has been selected for in SOME lines of dogs (such as the GSD, Rottweiler, Malinois, Chow Chow, Shar Pei, and others). It is BASICALLY defined as dominance towards humans or other non-canine animals...and is often linked to what is known as social aggression. Although many traditionalists desire a degree of inter-species rank or social aggression among police and military types of service dogs, it is my believe that inters-species rank drive is unacceptable for a family companion guardian type of dog, as I find such dogs to be untrustworthy and often times unstable, especially around children. There are other drives, such as sex drive, but those have nothing to do with training, so I see no reason to discuss them. Other Aspects of Animal Behavior...

What is a "cur?" "Cur" is a descriptive reaction. It describes an animal that quits as a result of realizing success isn't likely. This is both a positive and a negative. In the natural world...in nature it promotes survival...which is good. A natural world a canine shouldn't fight a losing battle, not if it wants to live and reproduce. For some types of domesticated dogs though this is not desirable. Fighting dogs, protection dogs, and even tracking dogs have been selected to not quit their job...and for these groups a "cur" is not desired. A rank driven dog will often cur when it sees it can't dominate, therefore a term developed known as "rank cur" came about when a dog would bluff or start rough, but would rather decisively quit as soon as it realized it wasn't going to dominate its opponent. This is not the type of dog you want for PP work, and this is another reason why I don’t like rank driven dogs.

What is a "game dog?" "Game" is a descriptive term that is often used to refer to a dog that won't quit and that always sees himself as winning or succeeding...no matter how bad they get. While gameness may be enhanced by various drives having high upper thresholds (lower threshold is not as significant), gameness is about the state of mind and is not really a drive in of itself. To a game dog, it does not matter if they are hot, tired, injured, or on bottom. No matter what is going on physically, a game dog is mentally comfortable while performing a task.

Courage is a measure of confidence and in some cases overlaps to stability and nerve. Stability is a measure of "clear headedness." A stable dog does not flip flop or redirect with inappropriate behaviors regardless of stress. Although redirecting behaviors are expressed in response to stress...A stable dog may have strong nerve, but does not require strong nerve. A weak nerved dog could also be stable by simply shutting down. To help clarify this unique behavior, let's refer to many game dogs for examples. It is known many game dogs will not bite a person even in a heated fight even under stress in that "driven" environment. These dogs will often remain focused on their opponent regardless of the stress (not redirecting = stability) yet the same dog may shut down when taken into a noisy busy shopping area or traffic (expressing stress = weak nerve). Although nerve and stability are connected, they are not the same.

Nerve - This is not a drive. Nerve relates to a behavioral expression of stress. A strong-nerved dog is a dog that isn't easily stressed. A weak nerved dog is a dog that is easily stressed.

Threshold - This is not a drive. If there is any aspect of animal terminology that is often misunderstood...this would be one such term. A threshold refers to the amount of stimuli required to elicit a change in behavior. In other words, a threshold is what is needed to cause a new response by stimulating it. A clear example would be a stimulus strong enough to the illicit the "fight" option of defense drive...but not so strong to cause flight. A threat presents itself and the dog/animal responds by showing a change in behavior (aggression). Then there are ALSO thresholds that cap that behavior by again causing a new response. Take the same example of defense, but now say the heat of the threat gets turned up and causes the dog/animal to change from the fight option to the flight response. By ending the fight option and started a new behavior we capped the fight threshold and just caused the flight response. And now take it further...and say the dog has ran so long that it is exhausted and must lay down...this again is a new stimulus (tired) and therefore caused a new response (laying down/no longer if flight). Lee Robinson, M.S. Animal Sci

The Perfect Size Bandog Balancing power, agility, endurance, & heat tolerance. Males ~25-28' at the withers & 85-130#, most are 90-110#. Females ~24-27" at the withers & 75-110#, most are 80-100#. The QUICKEST ways to ruin a dog's ability. -Breed them too big, -Breed them for color, or -Breed them for show or looks. Do this and legendary dogs will soon be replaced by myth, slop, drool, health problems, and a lack of enthusiasm, and a short life span.

History has proven this not just once or twice, but time and time again, over and over. After solid working breeds have been produced by people that were dedicated to create legendary working stock, they ended up with dogs in the 80–110-pound range in almost every case. What happens soon thereafter is the general public becomes interested in the dogs, but lacking experience of working dogs they fail to understand the limitations and problems with larger animals. While some limitations can be overcome, they are very difficult to overcome, and even more difficult to overcome and sustain progress. What soon happens is a race to create larger and larger dogs, and the greatness is lost. If you are interested in a true working dog, I warn you to be suspect, and to not fall subject to the myth. Demand proof from those that claim they have it. One dog can be an anomaly. Look for consistency generation after generation. I doubt they can deliver, and if so, my next question would be...under what conditions?

Thorneywood's Terror - only 85-90# legend but undefeated. If there is no furniture in the room...and the room isn't too big, and the decoy IS wearing a bite suit, AND you want the dog to basically anchor the man steady should it catch him...IF THAT IS YOUR GOAL...then the big 140-150# dog may have an advantage over 100#...but when does that happen in real protection situations? But if you think people are running around with a 100# determined gladiator type dog hanging on them without any protection equipment on, you are kidding yourself. It ain’t happening. In terms of effectiveness, the additional alertness and enthusiasm to work that is seen in the 100# dogs prevent most people from even going in the home because intensity at the door and window works better than sleeping on the coach or looking for the shade tree/creek during the hunt. Should an encounter actually occur with no bite suit (which means the man will have greater mobility and no protection, they can now move around inside a home quickly and use the furniture to dodge and weave around. Should an encounter occur outside, we now have even greater mobility, and the benefit of the 100# dog becomes even more pronounced. In both cases, without a bite suit, the 100# dog is way more capable than the quality big dog that unwilling (exhausted, hot) or unable to engage for whatever reason...meanwhile, the quality 100# agile dog will be on you like cat hair with static electricity...and you cannot get it off...and without a bite suit to protect you or a handler to assist you, if the dog is bred right, its power will be more than you can handle. These 100# dogs control 100-400# wild boars, and the man that has to fight such a dog is incapable of being a threat to anyone else as a result. The threat is stopped.

I understand there are trainer that have been bit with and without bite equipment on in a TRAINING situations where handlers helped get the dog off you OR that have gotten bit while doing kennel chores OR when working in obedience, but that is NOT the same as getting attacked by a protection dog that really has the intensity to protect against an intruder that has no equipment...so to comparing those experiences to protection engagement with no equipment against a 100# dog that can move like a mongoose...and has VERY significant power...many times 80-90% of the strength, but just less mass as the 140-150# dogs...but much more speed, agility, and stamina...well...it's a bad comparison really. How do I know this? Simple. We have seen what happens when animals are in real combat. While size is a factor, intensity combined with determination is repeatedly the most important factor to depicting the outcome...be it with a man or a hog...or whatever. If all else was equal, the bigger animal may have an advantage, but the problem here is all else is never equal.

Throughout history, time and time again working mastiffs and working bandogs have been in the 80-110# range. Very few high stress working dogs have ever exceeded the 120# mark. There are a few anomalies here and there of course. I have seen a few, worked a few, and even owned a few, but they are VERY rare, but the problems with them are... -will they reproduce themselves, -what is their stamina, -what is their agility, -their heat tolerance, -how long is their working life-span, and -long term health/soundness.

It has been said, it isn't the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog. Truth is...it is both. The key here is finding the right balance for your personal task...and then being honest about it. If you like big dogs, that's cool...I have no problem with it, but to say they out-perform smaller 100# dogs, well, that just isn't true UNLESS you quantify the statement as I did in my opening statement.

As a person who produces dogs for sentry work, personal protection work, and also hog catch work, I cannot give up any significant amount of heat tolerance, agility, and/or stamina...especially considering that I live in the hot climate of Mississippi. A 100# dog that is in shape is a big dog, but overweight dogs should be disqualified from this conversation. That is not what I am talking about here. I am talking about true 100# lean dogs. Even solid 85-90# dogs, like Thorneywood's Terror are more than sufficient if they are of good quality.

Family K9 Guardians, Sport K9s, & Patrol K9s

The Family Companion Guardian One thing about tradition is people have a hard time breaking it. Breeds like the German Shepherd and Malinois are great dogs for police service dogs, but it is a mistake to view police, service, and sport dogs as “protection dogs" when they are not actually protection dogs. Without question there are some similarities between patrol work and protection work; however, there are also differences between these avenues as well. The majority of families simply do not need and most likely do not want police type "pursuit dogs" once they understand what defines such a dog. Yes, a family guardian should have the drives and confidence to reliably pursue an attacker if need be, but the outlook of this in a family guardian is very much different than it is for a patrol type dog. Also, it is not practical for the military or for a police department to use a dog that weighs in the 100+ pound category. Can you imagine how inconvenient an oversized 100+# police dog would be to handle every day in an automobile? In the past, people have seen police and other service dogs in action and many have mistakenly assumed that a police or military service dog is the same thing (or would be suitable) as a family companion guardian. Although there are some dogs out there that can do both just fine, the tasks are not as similar as some people initially think they are. There is a different set of needs from a family companion guardian than there is for the police or military. For example, how safe is the dog with your family? Does this dog have “rank drive" (the desire to dominate) within its family unit? Obviously, dominant behavior stems from rank drive and would be inappropriate for a family companion guardian. This instinct to climb the hierarchy within the family unit may be beneficial within a breeding population that operates under the pretenses of natural selection, but it goes against the human family's motive of owning a protection dog, which is of course your family's safety. Despite this fact, dominant behavior or "rank drive" may be fine or even desired in a service or police dog. It simply is illogical and irresponsible to have a "protection dog" with rank drive that may actually challenge and possibly threaten the family it is supposed to protect. A dog with low rank drive is more sensitive to the family and therefore generally much safer, yet such a dog could still very well be more determined in a protective situation than a rank driven dog if the submissive natured dog is high in pack instinct, pack drive, fight drive, prey drive, and/or defense drives. As you can see, there are many drives (motives) for what stimulates a dog to respond. Additionally, many dogs motivated by rank drive will quit quickly when they realize they can't overpower or dominate their opponents. Do you want such a dog to protect your family? I don't. In addition, the "pack" element found in dogs with high pack instinct allows a unique bonding between canine and family in which the dogs can work hard but still be sensitive to the family. This is key to stability and safety, especially around children. Fortunately, people are getting more informed about what a companion family guardian really is. A family companion guardian is about Personal/Family Protection (PP) and home guarding. Although a few dogs may excel at being both a service dog and a PP dog, many "PP" dog breeders and trainers mistakenly use the same selection processes and training techniques to select and train “PP canines” as they use train sport or service canines; and simply put, that is inappropriate. These are different duties and therefore should have some fundamental differences in our selection and training methods. Let me point out a few differences…

Police/Military K9 & Family Guardians 1. A police/service canine runs people down generally out of prey drive in order to capture a criminal when necessary. A professionally trained K-9 officer decides when the deployment of K-9 force is necessary in police or military service work. For a police or military service, the service K-9 is a tool actually trained to elicit an attack for the purpose of catching a criminal (prey) much in the same way a wolf catches a rabbit. The goal of a true protection dog however is somewhat different, for the goal of a PP dog is not to run down and catch someone, but instead to keep a threat OUT of our homes and OUT of our lives. A patrol dog is actually trained to bring a "perp” into the lives of the police officers. In other words, the police/military dog is trained to elicit a response/attack, not to stop one...while a protection dog should be trained to prevent or stop an attack. Consider a mother wolf and her pups (dogs are not exactly the same as their wild relative, the wolf, but follow me here for a minute). If a bear was minding its own business and far enough away, a wolf would leave the bear alone. Yet, if the wolf saw a rabbit, it would pursue it. Only if the bear came too close or was fleeing with one of the pups would the mother attack it. The same is said for a family protection guardian type dog. Yes, a guardian should be able to pursue if need be...and they are easily trained to do this, but the outlook upon such training is different than it is with a patrol dog. Also, in the home a "pursuit dog" (a dog whose primary purpose is to run down, catch, and hold people) is a liability legally speaking...as civilians are not police officers for this reason they shouldn't try playing "cop." With training, a protection dog easily accommodates pursuit needs should such a need present itself. Just as the training of such dogs is different, so is the breeding of such dogs. 2. Although I personally dislike "rank drive" in all applications of any domesticated animal, some police and service dog trainers/breeders desire rank drive as the desire to dominate brings an additional form of what's known as "social aggression.” The social aggression stemming from rank drive relates to “active aggression" and believe it can play a beneficial role in pursuit dogs. The reason for this is it is generally easy to develop active forms of aggression in dogs that display some rank drive. However, in a PP dog, much training is reactive to a threat. And even though some needs may need "active forms" of aggression a good trainer will find it rather easy to develop all the active aggression needed in a PP dog simply by doing some associative training (classical conditioning...as in Pavlov's dogs) to combine an engagement command with a threat...therefore creating a dog that will respond as if threatened even when no threat has been presented simply because they heard the command (like Pavlov's dogs salivate without food simply because they heard the bell). By doing this, a well-bred dog will be able to go into drive, be re-active, and even still be able to perform a prey based “send" type work very effectively if they have been trained to do so. When referring to rank drive, I would also like to bring attention the fact that many police dogs are kept locked up (away from society) or muzzled for a reason until they are needed. Police/military officers understand the risks of being called to duty and are trained to be prepared. A civilian never knows when a criminal may attack; therefore, our dogs can only do their job of PP if they are accessible and not muzzled. 3. A service dog needs to be small enough to be highly mobile and has less need to provide an intimidation factor. I am not saying intimidation plays no role in a police dog, but only suggesting the role of intimidation is of lesser importance than it is for a home or family guardian. Remember, police/military dogs are working with trained police/military personnel who also provide a formidable and professional stopping force and intimidation. A protection dog should provide all the stages of the defensive protocol, one of these being an intimidation factor...as seen in the "defensive stages of engagement” listed below. Remember, a protection dog may have to provide all the intimidation a perp may see...for how intimidating is a small woman or a child? As mentioned earlier, the goal of a PP dog is to prevent and/or stop an attack. 4. In a police/service dog, one needs a dog to apprehend (catch and hold) the suspect until professionally trained police officers are able to aid and control the situation. With the protective family companion guardian, the goal is to PROTECT your family against any crazy lunatic and your dog may have to do fulfill this job all by itself...unaided. When it comes to the protection dog, power is of greater concern, as we do not need to just slow the criminal down so the police can catch the suspect. The protective dog has to completely STOP the threat. The ability to completely stop an attacker may require much more tenacity and/or power than would be needed to just slow a criminal down to an apprehendable or controllable speed. Also, a police department does not want to deal with complaints about excessive use of force. For a PP dog, is there excessive use of force when a perp comes into your home and is in your kid's room? I will leave that for others to debate, but I would like to point out that not all members in the typical family (kids, wife, or some men) can offer the same forceful assistance to their canines that professional police officers are able to offer, and for this reason the stopping power of a protection dog needs to be sufficient to truly stop a man in his tracks. The Politics of Sport, Patrol, & Family K9s Many members of the traditional service and sporting canine community seem to express a dislike for non-traditional family companion guardian breeds; however, I believe this expression is sadly motivated by fear of “losing a market." Additionally, many trainers may even resist these ideas as they are more familiar with training the traditional service dog and have often become accustom to training dogs that display rank drive (which is easily stimulated and requires less work). I make a living teaching science, not selling dogs and I don't care about a “market." I care about my dogs and providing a service to those who are interested in a true companion guardian. Regardless of some similarities between service dogs and protection dogs or what some "qualified" people think, I know a protective family companion guardian dog is not the same as a "police dog," and therefore I recognize that a family companion guardian should be bred and trained differently. Police/service work and family protection are two different tasks, and both types of canines should be bred and trained according to their tasks. Additionally, some sport dogs may work out very well in police, military, other service, or even as protection dogs, but the sporting K9 field is not exactly the same as any of these very specific fields either...and those that specialize solely in sport tend to take a different approach (sometimes very game oriented). One of the most fundamental keys to success is to recognize your goal. The goal of the American Sentinel K9 project is to find a group of cooperative people that are interested in producing the ultimate family companion guardian. A dog that will protect its family at all costs, but will not challenge its family...because the goal of a companion guardian is to protect the “pack!" I am not saying American Sentinel K9s are better dogs than traditional K-9 dogs. I am saying they are a different type of dog with a different and highly specialized goal. American Sentinel K9s are PP companion guard dogs. They are bigger, more intimidating, and more powerful canines than are the traditional police/service dogs. Yet, they have very high pack, fight, prey, and defense drives...but to maintain stability they are selected to be low in unwarranted “social aggression” and low rank drive. The American Sentinel K9s is bred to be a family companion guardian that fears nothing made of flesh, except it masters/family. They are loving and sensitive to their family group. Now, although I believe with the right training the American Sentinel K9s will perform very well in almost any physical event due to its resiliency, power, speed, determination, endurance, and their general mental and physical capabilities...if your goal is to develop a police type of service dog with social aggression and rank issues...I would suggest another breed. I would suggest a traditional K-9 service breed for such a situation and not an American Sentinel K9. The reason I say this is because the American Sentinel K9 was not and is not selected with police or sport work being their primary goal. Mals, GSD, Dutch Shepherds and other traditional service dogs have been selected for patrol and service work for decades. Although I do think an American Sentinel K9 would do well in those avenues, the American Sentinel K9 is selected as a family companion guardian above all else. The American Sentinel K9 is to Personal/Family/Home Protection (PP) what a Mal is to police/service work. If you are looking for a dog to protect and have a loving relationship with your family, then the American Sentinel K9 may be the dog for you. Before you get a family companion guardian K-9, I suggest you seriously think twice before listening to a person that produces police/sport dogs. Check and see if they have been bitten by their own dogs. If so, what did they do about it? Do you really think it is wise to listening to a person that has been bitten by their own dogs and justifies this as part of the breed? I would also avoid someone that doesn't know the difference between protection K9s and other avenues (police, military, etc) of working canines. A specialized goal helps produce a specialized canine via performance measures to the specialized task! Anyone that would like to evaluate my dogs is welcome to contact me and arrange a demonstration. To do so, email me to make arrangements. Why am I so sure? Because I know my dogs. I produce a physical, athletic, powerful, loving, stable, and determined FAMILY COMPANION GUARDIAN. Lee Robinson, MS. Note: Before you begin training a personal protection or companion family guardian prospect, contact professionals for guidance, lay out a good foundation that includes proper socialization to the many strange things in the world, let them meeting friendly welcomed guests, and at least do some basic motivational based obedience work...as these things are essential in order to have a balanced stable dog as a final product. The Progressive Stages of Protection Using an appropriate level of force for Protection First, I would like to mention the "defensive stages of engagement” is not necessarily about "defense drive" but about legal means of protection. Even if the highly desired "fight drive" is the primary motivator of the engagement, the drives of a protection canine should only be elicited either by a command or an initial defensive response. There are both legal and ethical rules and "stages of engagement" when it comes to self-defense and protection. This is not a discussion of drives or training, but only the laws and ethics. Although, I personally prefer "fight drive" because it is the strongest and most determined of the drives (consisting of the stability and confidence of prey drive, but also including the seriousness and intensity of defense drive), I must adhere to these "rules" and the "stages" of engagement to ensure any engagement was a legal and more importantly an ethical action that can be defined as a protective response of "self-defense" or "defense of others" (such as family). Again, these rules and stages do not address “drives" or "drive theory," but only address the morality behind our actions and the laws that determine justification of such actions. The rules in the "protection protocol" we have listed below are NOT necessarily legal rights. BE SURE TO KNOW THE LAWS IN YOUR AREA!!! The primary "Rule" of engagement is that a PP dog should only proceed to the next "stage" of engagement if necessary. If your dog bites someone, without warning or merit...you risk being in legal trouble. If your dog is uncontrolled and uses excessive force, you risk being in legal trouble. If your dog will not out on command, you risk being in legal trouble. Therefore, be sure to learn these "progressive stages of protection" regardless of what drive you train in. The "progressive stages of protection" that we use are... ALARM - (informs the criminal that their presence has been detected in hopes to PREVENT an engagement) WARNING - When time permits, it is best to warn the criminal to stop or to leave immediately (This serves as a warning to PREVENT an engagement). Examples of warnings may include, "Stop and leave, or I will send my dog," "The police have been notified," or in a very serious situation perhaps even "Stop, or I will shoot." ENGAGEMENT - (to STOP or PREVENT harm to you or others when a criminal pursues with malicious intent) OUT - Out on command once a threat is stopped (to PREVENT excessive use of force) Hold & Guard - similar to a bark and hold. The goal is to keep the criminal passive until the authorities arrive Why do you want a Bandog? Protection companion work - YES - If you are looking for a dog to serve as a home protection companion, a personal protection companion, or for business protection, then you are in the right place. Therapy work - NO - If you are seeking a dog to be a K9 therapy dog, then I do not recommend the bandog; not because bandogs cannot do therapy work, but because there are better choices more suitable for such tasks. K9 Sports or Police/Military service - MAYBE - If you are looking for a dog to compete in K9 sports or to train as a police/military dog, we wish you the best of luck with these exciting venues. Bandogs are very capable dogs physically and are rather intelligent as well, so it is reasonable for one to pursue K9 "protection" sports or perhaps even police/military service work should they wish to do so; however, please realize that the bandog was not developed for these applications. Below are a few thoughts about the exciting venues of K9 sports and also police/military K9s, as well as an explanation as to why herders dominate the venues of K9 sports and police/military K9 service. It is not our goal to try and turn the bandog into breeds like the Malinois, as bandogs are bred to be gladiators first and foremost. What this means is bandogs are bred for physically stressful combat such as hog hunting or catching, stopping, and controlling violent men. While sports are physical events, successful trainers will admit that K9 "protection" sports and police/military work are more of a mental test than a physical one, and those that wish to pursue sports would be wise to not try to convince themselves otherwise. The herders dominate in K9 sports and police/military applications as the herders are canine geniuses; meanwhile, the bandog dominates the herder breeds when tasks become very physically combative. I would also like to add that bandogs tend to be more affectionate which influences their pack instinct as well as their desire to seek and please even when working, meanwhile herders tend to work more for self-rewarding motives. K9 "Protection" Sports K9 "protection" sports are an awesome measure of both a dog's capabilities and the trainer's ability to train the dog to perform in said venue. Depending on the chosen venue, dogs may be asked to perform certain scenarios or routines in some sports, while in other sports the rules may be vaguer while attempting to measure overall general performance in various settings. Experienced participants will admit that "protection sports" not really about measuring a dog's capabilities as a K9 gladiator. Unfortunately, though, if we are completely honest about K9 sports, we will find they really do not even measure the dog’s ability to protect in the real world. At best, K9 sports measure drive, nerves, malleability, basic athleticism, and stability. At worst, they are a deception of confidence as the dogs perform fake "protective” tasks when the training or in sport trials. These "engagements" are often taught in such a way to remove all conflict from the routine by nurturing the dog through training in such a way that the dog never sees any aspect in a trail as combative or taxing to one’s self-preservation. Most sport trainers will admit the desire to remove all mental conflict in the dog's development. This methodology is done by the majority of sport trainers because "conflict" may result in signs of stress, and signs of stress cost points in a trial. If they wish to win in a trial, then they cannot afford to lose any of these valuable points. Conflict and stress are removed by using reward based "grip” (bites) training during the "bite development" stages of training. Once bite development is established, dogs are introduced to various situations and training progresses in such a manner to either prevent mental conflict or to hide the side effects caused by conflict. For example, in the bark and hold (as seen to the left) onlookers often think the dog is barking aggressively at the man. After all, the dog is barking in the man's face. It looks aggressive to the untrained eye and general public. Ironically, aggression may not even be a thought in the dog’s mind. Many successful sport trainers have simply taught the dog to bark at the man so the decoy (aka..."helper") will present the reward (biting a bite sleeve for that is used as a toy). The dog is actually trained not to bark at the "bad guy," but is instead taught to bark for the toy. This is similar to "flushing out" behavior by hound dogs that want a rabbit to jump out of the bush. The man is not the rabbit. The sleeve is the rabbit, and the dogs are taught to not bite the rabbit until the sleeve moves. The toy may start out as a tennis ball, a tug, a bite "pillow," or as a bite wedge, but eventually becomes a full-sized Schutzhund/IPO sleeve. As training progresses, the display has to become more and more impressive before the toy is presented, and the result becomes a dog that is jumping up in the decoy's face to get the reward. The sleeve has simply become a reward toy for providing good obedience in its bark routine. This task is a progressive development of rewarding the dog to bark for its reward, starting when the pup was young and playing with a toy, and progresses into the impressive display shown in the image with the man in the blind. Click HERE (2:33 mark in video) to see the dog being developed to bark for a tennis ball. It is beautiful training, but notice when the ball is hidden (rabbit in the bush) the trainer progresses the dog's development and rewards the bark. Some other "K9 protection" sports have popped up to address these short comings in "protection sports" by using full body suits instead of sleeves, or by alternating the events in the trial to replace routine scenarios with more "protection oriented" measures as a result of how Schutzhund competitions have deviated from their original purpose as a “breed suitability test" for the German Shepherd. The original goal of Schutzhund was to measure the dog's right to breed, but over time winning became the goal and training was modified to get highest possible scores. Unfortunately, as soon as a new sport pops up, similar problems with them surface, and good competitive trainers find ways to get around the stress component of protection work. The grip on full body bite sit is again often used as a simple reward, which is fine when one’s goal is to win in sports instead of measuring a dog's actual willingness to ignore self-preservation instinct in order to remain in combat. The reason this is the case is because none of the "K9 protection sports" (for obvious safety reasons) have a "no holds barred” event. "Pressure" is really never that physical in these events. It is almost all mental. As a result, a great sports trainer is able to find ways to get their sport dogs to not see such things as pressure, since the dogs will never be hurt physically in a "K9 protection" competition or trial. On the right, one will see a dog doing a reverse heel, as this position of heeling allows for the fastest engagement in the "attack from behind" scenario. I have never seen a dog owner walk their dog down the street in real life, only in sports. As a result, malleability is of utmost importance in K9 sports. Drive is important, nerves is important, stability is important, athletic ability is important, but the most important component in K9 sports is malleability. This is where the herder excels most. Herder type dogs like the Malinois, Dutch Shepherd, German Shepherd, Tervuren, etc are without question some of the most malleable breeds on the planet. If K9 sports are your primary goal, those are the breeds you should look into first. Police/Military Dogs Many thanks go to these outstanding dogs and the trainers that develop them. Their contribution to our national safety is invaluable. That said, one would be wise to not confuse their job with the duties of a bandog. I would venture to say the police/military service dogs used for detection work (drugs & bombs) probably more often than they are used in apprehension work. Again, as a result, malleability is the primary goal. Additionally, when police/military dogs are used in apprehension work, they are needed to be highly mobile in any environment and in many types of vehicles ranging from patrol cars all day every day, to helicopters, boats, and what not. As a result, officers need to be able to assist the dogs when in situations that demand such without breaking their backs, and the dog needs to be able to be comfortable in such situations 40+ hours a week. Additionally, while it is rare that one will drive into even a 50-65# dog, should an adversary provide overwhelming force to the dog, the police/military dog has professional armed back up by its side. Once again, the malleability and size requirements place the Malinois at the top of the list of suitable dogs for such applications. The Companion Guardian/Protection Dog The bandog is different. The bandog is a K9 gladiator...and that is how a bandog should be measured...by his ability to catch and control man and/or beast. A bandog should be capable of earning a sport title should one wish to do so. They are intelligent, they have high drives, they display good stability, they should have good nerves, and their willingness to please their master makes them highly trainable in general, but again we have no desire to turn the bandog into a Malinois. While the herder's main attribute is not its physical capabilities, but its mental capabilities, the bandog is the converse. Bandogs are very smart, but the herders are very "Einsteins" in the working K9 world; meanwhile, the bandog is the grappler. The herder is the chess player, the bandog is the bulldozer. If you want to measure a bandog, measure them correctly. It is unlikely that the bandog will win national K9 sport competitions, and while they also have a great nose which helps in hog hunting, they are not police/military detection dogs either. All that said, when it comes to catching and stopping man and/or beast in situations like hog hunting and/or home/business protection, the bandog is one of the best choices around. If you want to measure your dog's abilities to work as a bandog, you have to see if the dog will catch dangerous game or dangerous people...and how far it will allow itself to be taxed in such measures...be it hot, tired, pressured, etc. One of the most important aspects to succeeding at what you do is knowing to get the right tool for the task at hand. While my views on this matter come off offensive to some people, it is not my intent to be offensive. Instead, my intent is to share my honest opinion on the subject because I believe honesty and truth to be of utmost importance in one's pursuit of successfully obtaining their goals.

Raising a Working Bandog I have seen many videos on obedience training, and it is my opinion that this is by far the best I have come across, as it takes a research based, scientifically tested and proven approach to animal psychology, and incorporates techniques that allow promote clear communication with our canines in a completely practical and effective manner. Ivan Balabanov has proven his techniques in national and international competition as a top competitor, and even obtained world championship titles in Schutzhund. This video series is the only obedience video that I endorse without any reservations. This video series also helps lay a basic foundation of communicating with a canine that can later be beneficial for PP work or sport work. Reasons for Ear Cropping & Tail Docking

The Natural Mammalian Ear is Erect/Upright An erect ear helps to prevent bacterial, yeast, & fungal infections, and also improves hearing as well as detecting the direction of sounds. All wild land mammals, and certainly every species of wild canines and felines have erect ears. Even an elephant's ear is not floppy, as its huge ear is self-supportive while its sways forward and rearward. Elephants can hold their ears straight out should they wish to do so, as demonstrated during echolocation, thermal regulation, and communication. Their ear certainly does NOT droop over their ear canal. ERECT EARS ARE MORE NATURAL THAN FLOPPY EARS - The reason all wild canines and felines have erect ears is simply because it is superior in health and function. Ear cropping is for not done for “just cosmetic reasons," yet this procedure is being outlawed in some countries, which is emotional foolish motivated by people that do not understand the basis of natural selection. Wild animals with erect ears only have floppy ears when they are infants. The reason the ear on so many domestic dogs is floppy is simply because breeders of dogs have selected the exaggerated neoteny like phenotype. This practice with domesticated species has resulted in the production of individuals that display youth like features even after they have matured. When the floppy ears of domesticated canines are properly cropped (during puppy-hood and with a functional amount of length), ear cropping is simply a corrective procedure that reverses the downfalls of domestication and breeding practices that resulted in the inferior floppy ear. The longer the ear or the older the pup, the more likely it will need to be taped in order to stand. I prefer to avoid taping the ear when possible, as almost all problems with ear cropping can be eliminated if one does not need to tape the ear. Taping the ear can lead to infections or discomfort, which may influence temperament in young pups when they should be imprinting on positive relationships and behaviors. For this reason, I prefer to avoid really long ear crops and also prefer to avoid cropping older puppies. Puppies with thick heavy ears should be cropped earlier (between 6-9 weeks of age) or cropped shorter than average to avoid issues or complications with standing erect on their own. Puppies with thinner lighter ears can be cropped from 7-14 weeks of age without issues. When dogs with thin skinned light weight ears are cropped between 6-8 weeks of age, they can typically be cropped rather long and still stand without much or any taping. I prefer the mid-length crop, which is long enough to function like the wild (natural) ear...an ear that is able to funnel sounds into the ear canal and turn like a satellite to determine direction of direct sounds. The mid-length crop is short enough that the ear generally stands in less than a week and certainly by the time the stitches are removed 7-10 days later. We now only have the shorter ear crops done when pups are older than 9 weeks of age or have thick heavy ears. The satellite shape of the ear funnels sound into the ear canal, which helps hearing and also helps with locating the source of such sounds. Early hearing aids for humans were based off this concept. And as stated earlier, ventilation is also important in terms of health.

Reasons for Mid-Length Tail Docking Before buying too much into the philosophy that the tail is "necessary for balance," let's remember the bobcat and lynx both have short to mid-length tails and yet they are some of the most acrobatic cats on the planet. Not only are these cats apex predators and fighters, but let's also consider they are fighters that hunt in trees. These cats must have excellent balance on limbs as they climb or jump through the forest, yet they have short tails. These cats are not high- speed coursers that hunt on the prairie. Being they hunt in the trees, they are designed for close quarters combat, not high-speed direction changes. The tail's "counter-balance" abilities are more like rudder than a balancing pole. Our dogs are not high-speed coursing hounds, they are combatants...like the bob-cat and lynx...both of which have a mid-length tail. For smaller dogs, a full-length tail is less problematic, but for large dogs it can be a problem. The American Sentinel is a large gladiator breed, and should not be confused with a sight hound chasing an agile rabbit at 40 mph. No, they are close quarter gladiators. Even the dogs we use as catch dogs to catch wild boar are generally speaking not high-speed coursing hounds. The dogs we use to catch wild hogs are catching wild dangerous game that fights back. The long tail is much more prone to injury, especially where people and doors grab tails, and where walls are not "just around the corner,” but actually create every corner found in a domesticated world. I have seen a dog's tail have the hide ripped off when it was ran over by a car...and it is easy to imagine criminals working as a team using the dog’s natural long tail against him. I have also seen large dogs with long tails wag them so much that they damage the tip and sling blood daily as the wagging tail has difficulty healing when it is continuing to beat against the walls in our homes. Animals in the wild are not bound by such close barriers. Finally, a long tail also knocks over drinks and candles, and hits children in the eyes...all of which can be avoided when the tail is partially docked. So, now one might ask, why not a complete docking of the tail? I like to see the dog communicate with its tail. It is an expression of mood and/or energy. It can also protect the vital organs of the anus and reproductive tract when in combat, such as hunting. For this reason, I like the mid-length tail dock. It provides the benefits of a full tail without the draw backs of the full-length tail...and also provides the few benefits the long tail has in a domestic society. Now, all that said, I do not think it is wise to dock the tail on an adult. The nervous system becomes more developed as pups age and adult dogs have learned not only learned movements of their tail, but also develop more nerve endings. For this reason, I believe tails should be docked around 7-10 days old. Sometimes it takes a day or two after delivery for a mother to produce sufficient milk for the litter. As a result, the puppies often lose weight the first couple of days. For this reason, I do not dock tails before 5 days of age because I want to make sure all the pups are in good condition and are gaining weight before their tails are docked.

More about Genetics Basic Genetic Concepts that Every Breeder Should Know As I have become more involved with “breeders” in the canine world I have come to realize there is a substantial need for knowledge on the fundamentals of genetics and heredity. What will be discussed here has long been accepted as factual and fundamental…and has been developed by the study of genetics in scientifically controlled breeding populations. It is not speculation, but is based upon years of research from actual experiments and thousands of tests from both within the lab and within the field. This report will largely be based on the fundamentals of gamete formation and recombination. This report is just meant to provide a simple understanding of the fundamentals of genetics and should not be used exclusively to determine breeding pairs; however, understanding these fundamentals should help enable one to obtain their breeding goals. A common goal in developing lines or “breeds” of dogs is consistency. The desire for consistency has led to a large number of breeders to use line breeding and inbreeding, but those that don’t understand what is going on at a genetic level should not use such breeding methods. Line breeding and inbreeding has its place within a breeding program when used properly. Unfortunately, many breeders fix genetic disorders within a gene pool or line as a result of inappropriately using these tactics due to a lack of understanding of the basics of genetics. This is why inbreeding is illegal among human populations. My purpose for writing this report is to enable breeders that wish to learn the fundamentals of genetics to do so…therefore, enabling them with their decision making of when to use the different types of breeding approaches (out-crossing, line-breeding, or inbreeding) within their breeding program. Before we begin discussing how gamete formation and recombination occurs, let’s go over a few terms… Genetics – the study of heredity. Heredity – the passing of traits (characteristics) from parent to offspring. Genetic heredity is based on genetics from the inheritance of alleles. Gamete – a sex cell (sperm in males and eggs in females) Sperm – a male gamete Egg – a female gamete Zygote – a fertilized egg. This includes the genetic information from the egg and sperm combined into one cell. DNA – deoxyribonucleic acid. Basically, these are 4 nucleotides (ATGC) that make up the alleles and genetic codes within the genome (the instructions) of an organism. Chromosome – a thread like structure that is formed in mitosis and meiosis that contains the DNA. Genome – The entire genetic code of an organism’s DNA. There are tens of thousands (20,000-30,000+) of loci within a genome. Loci – the location of a trait within the genome is referred to as a trait’s loci. Monogenic trait - a trait that is controlled by a single loci. Polygenic trait - a trait that is influenced by more than one loci. Trait – in this report, this term will distinguish a characteristic that may be passed from parent to offspring. Many people get trait mistaken with loci. The alternate forms of a trait are referred to as alleles. For example, such as “coat color.” Within our example "coat color" would be the trait, while red, black, white, etc would be the allele possibilities of this trait. Allele – the alternative forms of a trait. Genotype – The genetic code (the combination of alleles) for a given trait. Phenotype – The trait that is expressed for a given trait. Homozygous – Homo means the same. Zygous refers to the zygote (a fertilized egg where the sperm’s and egg’s contributions for a trait are the same). Therefore, “homozygous” refers to the alleles for a given trait (the genotype) within the zygote being the same. Heterozygous – Hetero means different. Zygous refers to the zygote. “Heterozygous” refers to the alleles for a given trait (the genotype) within the zygote being the different. Meiosis – Cell division in which gametes are formed from stem cells within the ovaries or testis. Meiosis is responsible for producing the different combinations of gametes a parent is capable of producing. Mitosis – normal cell division in which daughter cells are identical to the parent cells. This type of cell division is the driving force for growth by cell reproduction and not species reproduction. Humans have 23 pairs (46 total) of homologous chromosomes. The entire set of chromosomal pairs is known as the genome. In canines, the number of chromosomal pairs is 39. Think of these "pairs” as being analogous to one right shoe (a father's chromosome) pairing up with one left shoe (a mother's chromosome) to make one pair of shoes (a homologous pair of chromosomes). Dogs have 39 pairs of homologous chromosomes, creating a diploid total of 78 chromosomes in all. Of these 78 chromosomes, 39 (one set) came from the mother and each chromosome pairs up with its partner homologous chromosome obtained from the father. The picture above reveals this pairing and is called a karyotype. The alleles that control the various traits are assigned to specific loci (a specific address or location) within the genome (the entire set of nuclear DNA). Each chromosome is so precisely arranged with its pair that the alleles for each loci from each parent line up side by side with those from the other parent. Some traits are “simple” and only have one loci. These traits are referred to as “monogenic” traits. Some traits are “complex” and are influenced by many loci (quantitative traits or polygenic traits). For every autosomal trait (traits that are not sex-linked), each parent donates one allele at each loci. I will come back to elaborate more on this later. Upon fertilization (the point at which a single sperm unites with the egg), the newly formed zygote now contains one allele from each parent for each loci within the entire genome (excluding the sex chromosomes). Therefore, every organism has 2 alleles per loci, 1 from the mother + 1 from the father. Both parents are equally responsible for an offspring’s genotype, except for the sex chromosomes (and the mitochondrial DNA, which comes from the mother). The female “X” chromosome that comes from the mother does contain a small portion of information (relatively few traits in relative terms) not found on the “Y” chromosome. Because sex-linked traits are not something we generally hear about in dogs, I will not go into great detail of sex-linked traits at this time but I will briefly mention if a trait is sex linked (found on the X chromosome and not found on the Y chromosome), the expression of an allele is determined by its sole presence on the X chromosome. For traits found in this region of the X chromosome, only one allele will determine the expression of a trait, while all other traits two alleles at each loci are needed to determine the proper expression of a trait. Mitochondrial DNA is passed down to offspring via the mother, and it has been suggested that maternal mitochondrial DNA may play some role in the metabolism of the offspring. As mentioned earlier, some traits are simple and controlled by a single loci. These monogenic traits are easy to work with and begin to understand, but the polygenic traits (quantitative traits), are much more complex and offer an array of phenotypes making things much more difficult and time consuming to understand as there are many influential genes. Just as weight is clearly influenced by a genetic predisposition for height, thickness, muscle mass, fat content, bone density, etc, there are traits that are influenced by alleles at many loci. As a result, polygenic traits tend to be exceedingly much more difficult to select for and may require many generations of very knowledgeable and selective breeding to even begin making progress towards a specific goal. Most breeders tend to understand the basic concept of dominance and recessive, but many breeders don’t realize not all genes are so simply defined. As mentioned earlier…for each loci, there is a single allele from each parent that is paired up with a single allele from the other parent. Depending on the trait, some alleles (alternate forms of a trait) may be dominant, recessive, co-dominant, or incompletely dominant to a paired allele. It isn’t always a complete dominance in which one dominant allele suppresses a recessive allele. If complete dominance is found for the trait of interest, then the offspring only needs one allele within the genotype for the desired phenotype. If the desired form of a trait is recessive, then the offspring needs to have a homozygous recessive genotype. When a heterozygous allelic combination is obtained in traits defined by dominance/recessive alleles, the phenotypic outcome of such an individual is no different than is seen in a homozygous dominant individual. However, when a trait is defined by co-dominant or incompletely dominant alleles and a heterozygous combination, the outcome will be blending of the two phenotypes. For example, let’s say we are working with the color of an organism and for this trait (color gene) we define the alleles (the alternate forms) as black or white. In all cases of homozygous combinations the color will be pure, but when we obtain heterozygous individuals the outcomes will vary based upon how the traits are defined (complete dominance=only one color is expressed as it dominates the other option completely; incomplete dominance=blending of the two forms in a gray like shade; co-dominance=striped like a zebra). This becomes more complicated if a trait is also quantitative. Assuming a trait is completely dominant and desired (the desired trait dominates the recessive trait) and controlled by a single loci… F = allele designated for the favorable trait (which we will assign as dominant in this case for illustration purposes) f = allele designated for the undesired trait 1st generation cross… (assuming you don’t breed to any undesired phenotypes) In our example, we are given a father that is homozygous for the favorable trait = FF (meaning he inherited an F from his mother and an F from his father) In our example, we are given a mother that is heterozygous for the favorable trait = Ff (meaning she inherited an F from one of her parents but an f from the other parent) FF x Ff…when mating these two they both will select one of their alleles to donate to the offspring creating offspring that are influenced 50% by each parent. This can produce only 2 outcomes…Regardless of which F the father donates, because he is homozygous his donation is the same…but the mother was heterozygous; therefore, the offspring will be FF (if the mother donates a F) or Ff (if the mother donates a f). A test cross is possible to determine if an individual was homozygous (FF) or heterozygous (Ff) within its genotype if the trait is controlled by complete dominance. To do this would require breeding to a recessive phenotype (which would have a genotype of ff). If your selected specimen for the desired trait was homozygous then crossing FF to ff would produce 100% offspring of Ff. Even though all would appear normal or dominant, all the offspring from such a breeding would carry the f allege. If the f allele is an unfavored trait, you might think you would have a bunch of good pups as none would express the undesired trait, but in reality, all of the offspring would carry the gene, and therefore if bred they could pass it on to their offspring. If you do this it would be best to require these animals to go to pet homes with a spay or neuter contract since all would be carriers. If your selected specimen was heterozygous (Ff) then breeding to a homozygous recessive (ff) would cause 50% to be Ff (carriers) and the other 50% to be ff and actually display the undesired trait. The cost of doing a test cross is it produces an entire litter of culls to determine if the desired parent was a carrier or not even though they did not express the trait. Carriers can live fine but should not be bred hap hazardously. It should be noted that just because a trait is recessive does not mean it is undesired. Some highly desired traits could be genetically recessive. A question of concern however is although it is clear you can select for a given trait, what is happening to the other traits in the meantime…for tens of thousands of loci are being recombined and there are trillions of ways these loci can be passed from parent to offspring. We don't have the luxury to select for just the one allele you are looking at. Being there are many genetic disorders out there in heterozygous and unexpressed forms (Ff) at individual loci combining them with themselves (line breeding or inbreeding will produce FF, Ff, and ff genotypes. The reason it is not common for out-crossing to produce this problem is because it is not likely that two unrelated individuals carry the same disorder (recessive allele at the same loci). It is very possible to fix a trait (dominant or recessive) into a line and not know it for several generations. “Fixing” a trait into a line is a result of actually increasing the allelic frequency that causes the expression. In-breeding throughout a line repeatedly exposes the common “inbred” traits to others with the same “inbred” traits, which "fixes" (locks in) a trait into thee given gene pool. Therefore, when wanting to tighten up on a line, it may be best to focus on one common dog in order to minimize the number of common dogs (dog of focus) you are doubling up on, as each dog that is doubled up on increases the chances of hidden recessive issues being locked in and then later coming out...creating what appears to be a dead end to the line. Many great lines of dogs however are recognized as a combination of dogs that worked, and it is common practice to double up on several dogs at a time as a result, which can produce disastrous results. Out-crosses maintain “hybrid vigor,” with vigor referring to healthy specimens that have genetic resistance to disease and overall seem to have good general fitness. In-breeding an exceptional individual or line breeding off of a single exceptional individual is reasonable in order to increase consistency. However, being each common relative will carry some disorders, the more common individuals you have on both the top and bottom of a pedigree the more likely you are to have genetic disorders as well. One of the reasons an outcross produces so well after many generations of inbreeding or line-breeding is because any issues that were caused by tightening up in a gene pool are corrected by the outcross. As a result, I believe in/line-breeding is best done if only done by focusing on one common dog (who can be used multiple times if so desired) when possible. If you wish to inbreed down from more than one dog, I believe it is best to focus on one dog for at least 3 generations before in/line- breeding on another dog into the line in order to prevent unknowingly introducing recessive undesired traits within a line and not knowing where they came from. If one inbreeds down from two dogs at one time (as is done with full- sibling breedings that share both parents) you are likely to drastically compound the number of problems you will have…and you won’t be able to identify which grandparent is the problem. Although in some cases such a breeding may be highly desired, I don’t believe it should be a common practice for this reason. Although a father-daughter or mother-son breedings are just as tight as are full- sibling breedings, they differ in the fact that they focus on a single individual (the one common parent), so when a strength or problem presents itself one knows the source. The more different dogs you inbreed in a line (up close…within the last 3 or so generations) on both the top and bottom the more disorders you are going to have to deal with (in multiple mind you) while doing your selection…this makes your work more difficult. It is best to maintain the positive goals while minimizing the negative risks, which can be done my minimizing the inbreed individuals in a line you are working with. By focusing on an individual you can have that parent both on the top and the bottom. Half siblings (a good line breeding method with one common parent) or parent-child (if you wish to do a very tight breeding in-breeding) for example, only recombines the traits from this single specimen including the positives and negatives of a single specimen. Being it should only be done with exceptional specimens; you are increasing the desired traits along with the unseen (most likely heterozygous) disorders of only a single dog. H. Lee Robinson, M.S. in Animal Sciences By working together & understanding each other, we both win. I am a biologist at heart, and I have always had an extreme interest in animal behavior. It is for this reason that I chose to own dogs, train dogs, breed dogs, and teach biology and genetics. It is part of who I am. Many of my political views and business views are based off of concepts of animal behavior as they are observed in nature...such as relationships between organisms. Mutualism - both parties benefit. "Win: Win" Commensalism - one party benefits, but the other is not affected. "Win: No Effect." (If you can benefit from us at no expense to us, that is fine.) Parasitism (or predator/prey) - one party benefits at the expense of the other. "Win: Lose" By studying nature, the key components of successful relationships become obvious. Stephen Covey, the author of the best seller "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People," also noted the same basic concepts in business relationships and noted it as "Think Win: Win" of the seven steps in his book. To do this, one also has to as he said "seek first to understand, then to be understood." It seems what is obvious to me and many others is not so obvious to many others, for almost every week I experience a reoccurring problem...which is...someone requesting my time, my work, my money, or a dog for free. As a result, it is with great reservation I created this page, for when you tell someone "No," they often get offended. So, with that said, I chose to make a page NOT about anyone in particular, but instead about a behavior in hopes of addressing this reoccurring problem...for I do NOT wish to offend anyone. Instead, I hope to teach the lesson of "win:win" and "first to understand, then be understood" to those that wish to address me, so they too can seek a “win:win." Seeking first to understand, then to be understood My time is greatly limited, my work requires a skill set or knowledge, my money which is already dedicated to my obligations, and my dogs which are the foundation to our future breeding and training goals. If I give these things away without something coming back to benefit me, then I am not going to obtain my goals. My goals are important to me. I have spent over $250,000 and decades of my life to create my program. This has value, and I cannot give it away. Some lines of my dogs have taken me decades to create. If I give any of these things away, I won't be able to sustain the future decades of work and debts. I have to sustain my goal. By understanding this, hopefully those that inquire about getting my time, my work, my money, or my dogs for free will now "first understand" why I cannot give my resources away. My time, my dogs, and my family are all important to me. It is that simple. I cannot contact the vet, the feed store, or the water company and say, "can you donate your resources to me, since I donated mine to someone?" That does not work very well. What does work well is me paying my debts. I have always done this, and plan on making sure I will be able to do so in the future. This, in my opinion, is the responsibility of a businessman, a husband, and a father. The Evolution of my beliefs...

We are super-natural beings that defy the laws of physics. DNA is a language that tells the cells in our body what to do. Since language cannot create itself though, I have to wonder, what created that language and why does the cell understand it? Was this programed by an author? If so, who was the author? And if the purpose of evolution is to "sustain life," well then, I now have to also ask, "why does life even care to exist if in the end a temporary existence? What's the point of something that does not last? We know all physical living beings die, and it is also most probably that eventually even all living things in their entirety will eventually go extinct, so why would evolution, which is a process that seeks success, even bother placing a bet where success has a probability of zero? For these reasons, I have to ask questions about our origins. Is the purpose if life perhaps greater than physical life? So now that I ask that question, let me say thanks for reading this page, and I hope you find it worthwhile. Next, let me say that given our very limited mental capacity, I do realize that all of mankind (pastor, physicist, etc) is limited in understanding...and therefore I realize no one will ever understand all the details of how God did it. To think we could understand all the details responsible for the creation/origin of the universe and life within it would be both extremely ignorant and extremely arrogant. That said, I do think we can understand enough to know it is more probable that God did it, as it is impossible for our universe and everything it in to have occurred on accident or happenstance. Of course, I do realize we are certainly NOT all the same. I believe God reaches different people in different ways. I don't think there is ANYTHING wrong with someone accepting faith based upon their relationship with God, nor do I think there is anything wrong with someone accepting faith in God's existence as a result of it being the most probable outcome (scientifically investigation of how we could have gotten here) ...as long as in the end both work on the relationship. I have sought answers to questions, but now that I have "settled" my questions, I need to focus on the relationship side more...and leave the remaining "details" for later as no one is capable of understanding all the depths of God's abilities...and honestly, we can't even begin to fathom His awesomeness regardless of what we think we can understand. Honestly, I wish I didn't have to seek so much stuff...but at this stage I do think I have answered enough of my "how is that possible" questions that I can now focus on the MORE IMPORTANT PART of building a relationship with God rather than worrying so much about is He real. Although I was raised a believer, I had many worldly teachings that I had to personally battle and settle for my own peace of mind. I have met some that just “know" and I think some of them may not be so honest with themselves but I also believe there really are some that just "know"...and I would say I am probably jealous of those people as some of them may have a more personal connection with God than I myself have had...but I am working on that. This page on my website was created because I think some of the issues I battled (I teach science) are similar to some of the issues that many atheists battle. I began to realize atheism required a much greater faith than does creationism, as for me it seemed atheism (a universe without God) was far less probable than was a universe with God...and I finally began finding more peace on the issue. People may gain a great deal of faith through personal experiences (logical or not as one cannot deny their personal experiences) while at other times we may gain faith based upon "what is most probable." I accept that God reaches each and every one of us that seeks Him in a way that fits whatever way each person needs. We are all different, so what works for one may not be what works for another. I just wrote this because I have noticed that many atheists claim "logic" which, in my opinion, atheism is not. But hey...it is ultimately faith. I must admit I do enjoy seeing an atheist realize that atheism is self-contradicting...as that often will make them think, "Is something else more possible?" And, if we can get them to question things, it opens the door for them to be saved.

Questions about our Origins What is the "Big Bang Theory" & is it self-contradicting? Have you ever wondered how the "big bang" explosion could occur (theoretically) to create the universe since the origin of such is claimed to be a "singularity" (a black hole). According to this theory, not even light (which is the fastest and lightest thing in the universe) can escape the gravity of a black hole. If everything else is heavier and slower than light, then the "particles" that made up the black hole and universe wouldn't be able to explode, as that would mean slower and more massive things could fly away and escape when light itself can't even do so. That is why theoretical scientists, such as Steven Hawkins, came up with the concepts of virtual particles (imaginary particles) and anti-matter (which conveniently can't be directly measured since it instantly annihilates anything it comes into contact with). Hawkins mentions that to understand universe expansion and its origin, he had to create a way for things to escape a black hole and the only way they could do so was if he created a theory in which things could teleport out of its gravitational field (teleport meaning going from one location to another instantly, and therefore traveling faster than light). I believe Hawkins watched a little too much star trek growing up. Steven Hawkins himself (in his video "A Brief History of Time" even admits that he chose to study cosmology since it was entirely theoretical and couldn't be proven right or wrong). Sounds like a man-made religion to me. I prefer a bit more foundation to my beliefs than an idea founded upon theoretical teleporting particles. What about the theory of evolution? First, let's separate the terms adaptation and evolution. Many times, people use the proof of adaptation to suggest the proof of evolution and that simple is not the case. So, before continuing, I want to first differentiate between these two terms. Adaptation is change within the species. Evolution is change of the species. The slight word change from "within" to "of" produces an entirely different concept. Species can have variation and still be capable of reproducing. But, if the species truly changes, then it would be reproductively isolated from the parental population that produced it. It would therefore be incapable of sexually reproducing unless all the new species found a mate with the same mutations (to be the same kind), in the same area (so they can find each other), and at the same time (so they can mate) ...and this must happen for every sexually reproducing species on Earth. Despite the dog being one of the most diversified organisms in type on earth, it can still reproduce with the wolf and coyote. Their offspring can also reproduce back with wolves, coyotes, and dogs. This illustrates adaptation, a change within the species, but does not show evolution because the organisms are still capable of inter- breeding. Horses and donkeys can produce mules, but mules cannot breed since they cannot produce gametes, and therefore horses and donkeys are different species (even though similar in kind). In other words, the "evolution" of the mule is self-extinguishing as it is sterile. It is unable to reproduce; therefore, it certainly cannot find a mate. Now, if God wanted to use "evolution" as a tool, as He certainly has the power do so. My point is mathematically it is infinitely improbable that it could have happened by happenstance. Every sexually reproducing species that evolved would have had to find a mating partner of the same kind (with the same mutation) in the same area (so they could find one another), and at the same time (so they could breed/survive). This would have to happen for every species on the earth. It is more likely that a tornado could go through a lumber yard and accidentally build a log cabin (which would defy thermodynamics). Yes, in the end, it is certainly "saved by Faith," but if I myself saw a tornado build a log cabin, I would certainly have faith in God. But for the record, I don't think evolution is impossible, but just that if it did happen it wasn't by chance. After all, Genesis does say God commanded the earth to produce and the waters to bring forth many of the life forms we see in the water, land, and sky. "If God exists, where did God come from?" Well, to start off, the question operates under the assumption that "if God exists," so if God exists, then it is reasonable to pursue the concept that He created space and time. If He did so, then He must "preclude" (although "pre" isn't the right word as it would require time to be "pre") time and would be outside of time. After all, if God exists, we acknowledge He isn't confined by the 3 dimensions of space (length, width, and height) in a chemical body of matter, so why would He be bound by time (the 4th dimension according to science). After all, this is reasonable as science actually has confirmed there are 4 dimensions...aka "space-time since for something physical to exist and move it must take up space and take up time (time being the interval between two events or locations)." Have you ever had an aquarium? Did you not put in it what your fish need? Could you not reach into it without being contained by it yourself? If God created the Universe and time, could He not put "physics" in the universe for us instead of for Him and be able to reach into such without being contained by such as He is not of this universe but from the Heavens? Ever notice that according to scripture that God isn't described to be bound by time because He invented it? "I am not the past. I am not the present. I am not the future. I am." Or, "A thousand years is as a day and a day is as a thousand years." And, "I am the Alpha and the Omega" (the beginning and the end of our universe). To me, this suggests that His "eternal" being isn't one that endures time or lasts forever, but instead is one that exists without time...and therefore He would not have needed to "come from" something as He is timeless and not effected by such. The idea of needing a beginning or the question of "Where did God come from?" assumes God is bound by time...when in perhaps He is outside of time because like our aquarium...He invented it for us, which I believe the bible attempts to describe to our limited minds. I believe He didn't go into great detail as to the specifics simply because our limited minds are incapable of understanding his awesomeness or what "eternity" actually means.

Note to Non-Believers: "To be or not to be?" Where did the first living things come from? If we are only chemical matter, why do we have self-preservation or wish "to be?" Chemicals do not have self-purpose or self-reason. Matter cannot have self-awareness or self-preservation. According to the laws of physics, natural matter MUST follow the Laws of Thermodynamics and therefore must breaks down to states of lower order and increase in entropy (disorder). Yet life does not follow such behavior. Life has an intrinsic nature “to be,” to preserve itself. Life preserves, builds, and adapts…meaning OUR EXISTENCE defies the law of going to disorder. According to evolution, traits do not exist for long if they don’t have purpose, as they cost valuable energy; yet self-preservation is the oldest of all traits. Temporary preservation would be futile and illogical, as everything we do would go extinct and extinguish…and ultimately be pointless...yet we do strive to preserve ourselves in order “to be,” to exist. If we are not eternal, we die...and if we die, we are "not to be," so how can an atheist justify an "illogical behavior" or deny our desire for self-preservation "to be" when this intrinsic nature that drives us to "to be" is so obviously within us? The only logical reason self-preservation exists as a trait is, we must have some “eternal” being; therefore, we must be more than just “natural." We must be "SUPER-natural.” We must be more than just chemical beings, as we do seek preservation. We are super-naturally created “to be” eternally; and therefore, we are all "super-natural” ourselves. "Dr. Frankenstein" types can't understand what it is that causes life. What is it about us that causes us to live...which means to respond...to adapt...to maintain order...to defy the laws of physics? Super-man (a fictional character) defied the law of gravity and was described to be "super." We (true existing characters) defy the law of thermodynamics. We are all truly super-natural and awesome. The desire to preserve (to be) could not evolve via mutation, as mutation requires a prerequisite of life, and life requires the prerequisite of self-preservation. In other words, self-preservation (the obtainment of order) would have to come first in evolution...and this defies natural law. Therefore, evolution (natural) was not the source of “our being,” meaning creation (supernatural) must be the source of such desire. "I think, therefore I am." Is this the way we are made in God's image? Notice, biblically God also states, "I am not the past. I am not the present. I am not the future. I am." Could eternal (no beginning, no end) being actually be a timelessness existence? (More on this later). My point is... like it or not, we all have an INTERNAL and UN-NATURAL desire "to be" which defies the laws that drive pure chemical matter. We cannot deny our natural intrinsic desire "to be." This is something we all desire...and we all feel this instinct "to be." For like God, I too "am." Yet, this isn’t the only reason I believe. My belief in creation is a synergistic effect. It isn't because of one fact here or one fact there. It is an assembly of many facts & many personal observations plus personal investigations that I have had which caused me to come up with my belief. Also, I sought out consistency to what would hold up to the tests of logic and observation. I have found Christianity does this best, but that is not the purpose of this essay. The purpose of this essay is to address atheism as illogical. Yes, I have noticed that one cannot believe all translations or all pastors, but if one truly seeks the truth, I believe one will find it...but ONLY if they are open to such. Some believe like sheep and simply follow others, but that isn't me. That just doesn't work for me. I had to see more and had to look within myself, at nature, at science, religion, and theology. Then I filtered out the stuff that could not be verified or that was inconsistent. Fortunately, there is some good factually based science out there as well as some good consistent religion out there worthy of investigation that is capable of producing logical, yet faith based, conclusions. In conclusion and as previously mentioned, behaviors and traits are not maintained in populations over long periods of time unless the behavior or trait has a purpose. Obviously, the purpose of our intrinsic nature of self-preservation must be eternal for if it isn’t eternal then self-preservation does not exist and the attempt for such would be without merit...yet we know it does as we all certainly feel the drive “to be.” Fun, money, power, etc type answers are all atheistic cop outs to the question on why does self-preservation exist since they are all only temporary as well if life isn’t eternal…and therefore lack merit and are illogical. The decision to believe or not is of course one based upon both faith and logic and perhaps not one with absolute “proof," but this is something God has already told us. We are saved by our faith. There certainly is evidence for creation as well as good sciences that can be seen and tested, and yes much “science” and religion is also based upon theory. Ironically though, theoretical “sciences” seem to require even greater faith, as such “sciences’ often invent non-provable theoretically based unverifiable concepts (assumptions) such as “virtual particles” and “anti-matter,” which conveniently can’t be contained or measured as these “things annihilate anything they come in contact with and therefore can’t be directly observed” so to speak. These theoretical concepts are created to “explain” how “non-matter” forms of “matter” could escape a black hole when light itself can’t do so in order for the “Big-Bang” to work. Such is not true science, as it lacks true concrete evidence. Logic dictates we must be eternal as atheistic/temporary self-preservation defies logic, defies physics, and lacks real non-theoretical evidence of any alternate possible production.

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