New Boy...

I'm actually in Townsville, but yeah, plenty of vets around here! I could pick him up to weigh him if I wanted to, he will let me do anything I want. I was running my finger around the inside of his mouth last night because I thought he might have had a kelpie tooth puncture all the way through. The lil bugger didn't even raise his head off the ground, or open his eyes the whole time I had my hand in his mouth! Placid dude.

Oh and he weighs 35 kgs now, at 23.5 weeks. So yup, he is now officially bigger than his big brother. And I know how hard it is to put off getting a dog, I waited almost 3 years after my last bandog died, to replace him. It was important to me to have everything set, before getting a new pup.

Glad I waited though, Romeo is a seriously special dog, and I am only a wee bit biased!

Three years is a long time. I couldn't handle one month without a dog. What I do like about Graham's line of Bandogs is that you can keep them with another dog of the same sex without a problem. I wouldn't have been able to do that with the breeds of LGD I was looking at. Looking at Romeo I think your bias is justified. He's a good looker.

For me personally, LGD's are too independant. I much prefer a dog that bonds close, and likes to stick close to his pack.

Weightpull is a funny thing really. Obviously bandogs are stronger than pitbulls but they haven't pulled anywhere close to the weight pitbulls have. It's really just about the desire to do it, which is something mastiff influence is naturally going to diminish quite dramatically. I can tell you I'm very sure my bull arab would pull more weight than my bandog would have, not because he's stronger, I'm sure he's not, but he's more energetic and driven and intense. Holding onto the lead when he wants to go is way harder than it was with my bandog, but yeah again I'm sure my bandog was in fact physically a lot stronger. I dunno, hopefully you'll have some luck with your bandog in weightpulling, but there's a certain something in some dogs, an intensity that makes you think of a coiled spring, and I think this type of dog lends itself to weightpull, and it's really the antithesis of what mastiff type dogs are about. If they were like that I'm sure they'd easily dominate weightpull. This isn't really a criticism of mastiff type dogs, in fact I think it's very closely intertwined with what makes them so great.

You know I was thinking Romeo's 60% Neo, 20% Ambull - probably Johnson, 20% Amstaff. That's 40% Bulldog/Amstaff. I owned a Johnson bulldog. She was way stronger than any Bullarab and more determined. Owned a 50% Bulldog/DanexDeerhound, more athletic than the Johnson but not as strong.

I really think it would depend on Romeo's temperament. Temperament wise he could throw towards the Bulldog/Amstaff or to the Neo. Either way he'll have the build for strength. I wouldn't dismiss him as a weight puller just because he's a Bandog.

I remember seeing photos of some early Bandogs in the eighties really going for it at weight pulling. I think because there is hybrid vigor in Romeo's genetics he might surprise you how strong he could be. What if the explosive power of the Neo in his genetics combines just right with the Bulldog determination and Amstaff gameness? There is 30% Bulldog in his genetics at least. I'd say there would be no way to tell until you have given it a go.

Mastiffs can't weight pull?!? Screw you guys, I am BatDog.

He wouldn't wear the cape. Apparently there was some concern about his 'reputation'...

And earlier in this thread it was mentioned that Romeo might end up the size of a Neo, but more athletic. Well recent evidence seems to support that theory.

Yesterday whilst doing the weekly weigh-in at the vet (yes I'm aware weekly weigh-in's are a little much) I saw a truck pull up with a dog that looked amazingly like Romeo in the back. When the owner walked in (without the dog initially) I asked him how old his boy was. When he replied 'almost 6 months' I had to ask him where he got him, because I literally thought we could have littermates on our hands!

As soon as he brought him in though, I could see big differences. Romeo was a couple inches taller, with much cleaner and tighter lines. Romeo has clearly defined muscle on his chest, shoulders and back legs, while the Neo was much more squat, heavy set and without any reallly defined musculature.

The Neo was born 9 days before Romeo, so is 25 weeks old. We put them on the scales and Rome at 23.5 weeks old was 35.5kg, his boy was 35.2 kg. So Romeo is currently heavier than what appeared to be a nicely bred, heavy boned Neo pup.

I think the differences in personality were also interesting. Romeo is (generally speaking) a perfect gentleman in public. He never jumps on people, and only rarely even approaches anyone other than my wife or I for a pat. Occasionally he seems to find someone interesting, but even then he just goes up and sniffs them or sits down and watches them.

The Neo on the other hand was a wee bit mental. He was lunging at anyone who got near him, and literally peed on the floor when Romeo backed him off with a warning growl (the Neo was very much in his face) I mentioned to the vet that I much prefered Romeo's style of nature and she said she 'whole heartedly agreed'.

So I think that Romeo will end up about the same weight, but a few inches taller. I didn't really get the impression that the Neo would ever be much of a guard, although thats probably unfair given he is still just a baby.

Kicking it on the beach...

I was interested to hear about your comparison between Romeo and a Neo. In the last photo on the beach, Romeo is getting a really impressive looking head. That's what got me when you first told me about Powerhause and Graham posted up a photo of Steel blue Justice at six and a half months. The heads on this line of Bandog look very functional to me. I'm sure when he matures he'll be up for the challenge to give everything you ask of him, then a bit more.

Yup, I think he will be an impressive adult. I have started calling him shovel head...

WARNING!!!! There have been recent reports of zombie dogs running wild...

Stand aside Cujo. Here comes Canis Molossus Romeo...

When Romeo attacks...

Won't be long before he'll fit your Kelpie's head in his mouth. He's looking good. Love the action shots.

I love this thread and look forward to your photos and posts I love your dog I wish you both all the best.

Thanks Nick, I like these kind of threads myself. The ones that take a pup and show how they develop and grow. I think this one should get pretty interesting when Romeo starts his weight pull training. Will probably get him a harness in another couple of months so I can start the warm up stuff...

Am a little impatient to get into his serious training, but will not rush!

Half a tree hanging out my mouth? No big deal.

You think my mothers a WHAT??!!

Lovin the pics SM. Reminds me of my old fella even down to the pink split that opens up under the nose when they try to bare their teeth. Try being the operative word for boss cause his big lips would usually keep them hidden anyway. Romeo seems to have a bit more luck with flashing his pearly whites, lol.

Great looking dog and growing so fast.

Bet he's better behaved than my bastard of a bull arab too

Disappeared last night chasing a herd of deer, through people's properties jumping their fences and running through their fancy gardens and everything for a good 30 minutes. Came back exhausted. Lol. He's got a good nose on him, as soon as you get out the gate with him and start walking down towards the creek you can tell if deer will be down there because he's already amped from the smell. But until last night he'd just chase them within the vacant flood plain area and come back to me when they jumped fences into people's private properties (mostly acreages), last night he figured he could go anywhere they could, and being pretty fast they don't lose him like they used to lose boss so the chase drags on a bit.

Dunno if I'll be able to keep up this nightly routine now, he'll need to learn a much better recall. Wish I had the land for him to run free and hunt deer but not yet.

Some recent pics of him.

Well I bet young Bones had a whale of a time chasing those deer!! I would have stressed out hard core if any dog of mine disappeared over the horizon, lucky he came back ok!

And yeah, I would say young Romeo is a touch easier to manage, I have trouble taking photos of him (not that you would notice) because getting more than a step away from him is a challenge.

And Romeo can show his teeth quite easily, he is a bit jowly, but not like a pure Neo would be. I will attach yet another couple of photos, one shows his teeth and I think the other one shows how 'bully' he can look.

All the most serious fights are conducted lying down...

Ok, so the head is a wee bit square!

Lol looks like that kelpie keeps him busy. Any dog trying to keep up with a kelpie during the day is gonna sleep well at night (and hopefully be less of a pain in the ass in general).

I like to give my dogs a bit of freedom to roam around wildernessy areas offlead, seems to make them less likely to run too far away than if you consistently keep them on lead and then one day drop it or a buckle breaks or something. But yeah bones might have to have some rights taken away after that performance. I knew he'd come back but you don't know what could happen while he's running around people properties. Luckily it's a nice neighbourhood with just hobby farmers, not a real rural area. In a real rural area there's a good chance he'd get shot doing that.

I totally agree on the off lead roaming! I take the lead off Romeo any chance I get, he doesn't really take advantage of it though. He just doesn't seem to have the drive to run off and play. I wouldn't be able to do that with Scooby Doo (kelpie) though, I wouldn't see either of them again!

Boss would roam away a bit, but this was later in his life after we kind of built a connection where I'd be confident in knowing he'd come back and knowing he wouldn't do anything stupid. It's hard to explain but we just got really good at reading eachother and knowing what the other wanted and expected and etc. Like just as a funny example I would never worry about carrying doggie bags to pick up his crap because he knew not to do it anywhere inappropriate, and I knew he'd want to go shortly after leaving the house so both of us would quickly go down into the bush away from prying eyes and he'd unload multiple turds like clockwork and then we'd be right to go anywhere confident he wouldn't need to crap in front of anyone or on someone's footpath or whatever. There were a billion little things like that, and his roaming was the same, like yes he would chase the deer, and sometimes far for a good while, but I knew he wouldn't go on roads or out in the open in people's yards or anything, he'd stick in the vacant scrub or floodplains and he'd return within a reasonable amount of time to where I'd be waiting. Same deal with him searching down the creek lines for water dragons, he'd disappear up the creek and I'd wander basically a long side it and hear him splashing off in the distance, then I might need to cut an inaccessible part or whatever while he kept sloshing up the creek, but he'd know to always pop out right at the right spot to have his lead clipped on right before stuff started getting too civilised and busy with people and families ( who probably don't want to see a big loose wet neo cross running at their children).

Bones is learning I think, and one day I expect to have this same understanding between us that me and boss had. But I need to remember he's not there yet and the other night was a reminder. But yes like I said I did know for sure he would return to where I was waiting. It's not control, I'm honestly a terrible dog trainer, I just build a relationship with a dog where they learn to understand what I expect from them, honestly almost feels like we share a brain once it's all running smoothly. They're not trained but rather raised to know "right from wrong" (or my idea of it).

I saw it done wrong when I was a kid which I think helped. The mongrel pig dog we had when I was a kid was the kind of dog that would just take off over the horizon and be gone if let off lead. And even if not let off he might break his way off or slip out or chew his way out, lol. Would break chains, dig holes under the fence and etc etc to get free to roam, and then he'd just be gone on an adventure and my mum might find him wandering around near the airport on the other side of town 3 days later. He was a wild independent dog, and I think he was that way because he was never given any trust nor developed any sort of connection with my mean old fashioned dad. So he just became his own dog. My dogs grow into being my dog, or "partner in crime", more and more as they get older. The bond strengthens and communication (99.999% body language) becomes more and more clear and neither of us are independent in the end, we're a duo that understand eachother and work together.

That's how I like my dog "ownership" to go, but yeah it's not all smooth sailing from the start.

Oh and don't be surprised if romeo does roam more and more as he gets older. But yeah it's a good start you're off to. It's good if it starts with them clinging to you and then gradually over time they range out a little bit further, that seems to be the recipe for establishing this invisible connection I'm talking about.

Wine, music, and a dancing dog. Seems legit. 

I love to watch him grow, he's having a whale of a good time with his buddy always play fighting and being silly. Tonedog I really like your  bull arab too!

I bet his arse was dragging when he got back from chasing the deer. he looks like a great dog also. I am not familiar with that breed so  I will have some reading to do!

Just a quick run down on Romeo's Sunday...

Just a quick run down on Romeo's Sunday...

Whattya mean 'your pool'?!?!

Let me in!!!!!!!!!!!

Under the water with you...

Bored now, outta here...

Car ride!!!!

Tired now, leave me alone...

Didn't have much time to do a lot of reading on the board lately, nice to see new pics and stuff and Romeo is looking great, turning into a beast of a dog!

Hey Tonedog, glad to hear your boy came back after 30 minutes deer hunting, crazy boy! He would get along great with my girl when it comes to hunting drive, she is the same way. When she see or smells a prey, she is gone and there is no command that will stop her! For that reason, I am buying her a GPS collar, just want to make sure I know her location after she has dissapeared for 15 minutes +.

I thought I would be able to train her the way my other dog used to be, but hey this is a good lesson for me to learn. Her DNA is very different from my previous male, and it's ok. She will hunt, and will come back after a while. Just hope I won't have to get her off fighting with a pack of coyotes, that is my only concern.

I thought about it, but not sure if she would pay attention to it once her drive kicks in?!? how well has it worked for you and how strong is your dog's prey drive?

Something to consider and I am sure les pricy than the GPS collar...

Castanha

There are now combo GPS/e-collars.  Garmin company bought Tri-Tronics last year.

Read about it here:  http://www.gundogsupply.com/garmin-alpha-review.html

Price around $700.00

Thanks sounds good, I'll check it out.

Romeo is in the pokey for the next 8 days :(

Stoopid work sending me away again.

He has come out of the pokey with a somewhat Asiatic appearance.

LMAO with that last photo. I NEVER had a E collar on any of my dogs BUT I had a cattle fence that would knock a man on his arse that two of my males would endure the pain and shock to get out..only those two out of all my dogs but it was scary to come home and see them outside fence chilling in driveway.