New Alaunt

When the late Brian Plummer decided to re-create the legendary Alaunt, he opted for the so-called "light" or "continetal" type of the breed, this being the European medieval hunting variety, from which a great number of hunting and guarding breeds were developed, most notably in France, Spain, Germany and England. After studying the early history of the Dogo Argentino, a breed which he thought had too many health problems, D.B.Plummer realized that a dog of similar type, while being closer to the old British Alaunt, could be created using a significantly smaller number of foundation breeds. Instead of collecting an un-necessarily large stock of modern breeds believed to be descended from the Alaunt, his re-creation programme was initially based on only three English breeds, these being the Bullterrier, the Greyhound and the Bullmastiff, although some American Bulldog blood was used later on as well. By carefully selecting only the healthiest and most appropriate examples in the resulting litters, the New Alaunt creator was able to establish a strain which was very athletic and agile, with enough mass to make a superb guardian and a sufficient ammount of drive to be a good hunting dog, but without any dog-aggression issues and viciousness. Pleased with the initial results, subsequent matings between the foundation dogs, as well as suitable outcrosses were made by Plummer and his associates in order to set the breed type and expand the gene pool, but these efforts were unfortunately interrupted when Brian Plummer passed away.

However, Plummer's associates decided to continue with the programme, closely following the guidelines set by their late friend and the British Alaunt Society was founded, aiming to honour D.B.Plummer's legacy and promote responsible breeding practices, as well as to consistently produce true working dogs which are even-tempered and free of genetic defects. Although only a modest number of dogs exist, the number of fanciers is steadily growing and the New Alaunt will likely become more popular in the future. There is no written Standard as of yet, even though the breed type has been established. All of the dogs are tested in agility, protection and hunting trials, as well as for mental and physical health. Intelligent, trainable and driven, this is a good working breed, suitable for both the hunting and guarding duties. The New Alaunt is a lean, muscular and powerful light mastiff, with strong bones, a deep chest and an elegant and broad head. The legs are fairly long and sturdy.

The coat is short and flat, preferred in brindle shades, with or without small white markings. Average height is aound 26 inches.