Hey Gary, thanks for the advice! Bruno is actually a Cimarron Uruguayo.  :-)

I have figured out the playing tug-of-war with Bruno....apparently the towel must be rough on his mouth (as you suspected, Gary).  I bought these fuzzy tug toys & he absolutely loves them.  So I think you were right that because he is teething, the towel probably felt rough in his mouth. I don't try to do lots of tug-of-war games just yet because his teeth are coming out full force! LOL!

Now at almost 5 months old (on 10/17 he'll be exactly 5 months), he is really starting to hit some serious growth spurts!!! His breeder told me that between now & 8 - 10 months he will be hitting serious growth spurts.  Then, after 10 months, his growing will slow down & he will start to fill out. These dogs seem to mature a little faster physically compared to other molossers - they were once feral so I guess it makes sense.  Mother Nature must've been saying: "Ain't nobody got time for that!!" LOL!

Still a goofy little dude with the family, but still quite serious with strangers.  One of my girlfriends came over my house & I had instructed her to not pet Bruno immediately but, instead, let him check her out first.  After he sniffed her & checked her out, he was a little more confident & didn't mind her petting him.  I plan on taking this approach from now on, it seemed like Bruno was very comfortable with my friend after he got a chance to check her out first.  I'm all about good interactions, especially in the beginning.

Another interesting tid-bit is that I did a search for Cimarron Uruguayo on this site.  I found a thread (I can't find it now) where someone was asking if any of the bandog breeders would consider a Cimarron Uruguayo to add to their mix.  One thing I found interesting was that posters assumed that because the Cimarrones were once feral, that they would be skittish.  Well, I am here to tell you that the Cimarron Uruguayo is FAR from skittish.  My almost 5 month old puppy is not afraid of sounds or people, he's quite brave for a puppy.  I have yet to see him back down or try to run off, he recovers quite quickly if he is startled too.  I find him to be VERY stable.  I will say this, these dogs NEED a job though.  Bruno can be quite the asshole if he is bored! LOL!!!