History

The name "Bandog" has been around for many centuries and was a term used to describe a type of guard dog; however, the popularity of the "Bandog" name was revived in the mid 1960's by veterinarian John B. Swinford. Dr. Swinford selected quality specimens of specific foundation breeds to create what he considered to be the ultimate guard dog, which he referred to as the Swinford Bandog (or Swinford Bandogge). By using performance selection, Dr. Swinford worked to concentrate the desired attributes for his creation while also working to eliminate the undesired characteristics of the selected foundation breeds in order to produce what he believed was finest guard dog in existence. Dr. Swinford worked on his program for several generations, referred to his creation as the Swinford Bandog, and received significant recognition for his work in various books and journals but unfortunately Dr. Swinford passed away in November 1971 before solidifying the future of his creation. For this reason, some people question the long term success of his program, but despite this questioning his work played a significant influential role in re-igniting the interest by some individuals and as a result there has been a resurrection of the once less used Bandog name; however, there is typically little or nothing in common between the modern Bandog programs and Dr. Swinford's program other than the "Bandog" name itself.

Dr. Swinford's vision developed somewhat from seeing the traditional working breeds dogs suffer from poor selection due to show breeders placing cosmetic appearance over the functional aspects of breeds. 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 as had been done for centuries before.

John's performance measures required his dogs to be completely safe, trustworthy, and stable within their home environment, yet also fear nothing when a protective situation deemed necessary. For this reason, John selected game dogs (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.

The 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, the dog pictured with John (above) was a first generation Swinford Bandog produced in the 1960s 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).
On the left, one can clearly see the mother Octavia (call name "Tavia") was an English Mastiff as has been reported in the Sporting Dog Journal. Despite Dr. Swinford's passing before finalizing the breed, there was enough interest in his dogs to maintain the program for several generations and into the next decade before finally disappearing entirely. The English Mastiff remained the primary mastiff component of the Swinford breed; however, in successive years other Mastiff types such as the Neapolitan, Great Dane, and Tosa-Inu were infused into the Swinford Bandog by some of the partners of Dr. Swinford's program.

Future

As mentioned earlier, most Bandog

Bandog

The term Bandog originated around 1250-1300 in Middle England, referring to a mastiff type dog that was bound by a chain during the daytime and was released at night to guard against intruders...

programs have essentially nothing in common with the original Swinford program; however, there are a few programs in existence today that have used Swinford's selection and breeding philosophy as a model to re-create John Swinford's work. One such program produces the American Sentinel K9, which is by no coincidence very similar to the original Swinford Bandog, and is essentially a re-named version of essentially the same breed.