If someone has sent frozen semen from a stud dog from USA to Greece or another country that’s a member of the EU, can you please tell me what are the requirements, what one needs to be aware of, etc.?
Thanks in advance!
I’ve been diving deep into the history of Dr. John Swinford’s breeding program from the late 1960s, specifically the firsthand accounts from his collaborator, Martin Lieberman, featured in Modern Molosser.
We all know the original bloodlines died out shortly after Swinford’s sudden death in 1971. But it got me thinking: Is it possible to completely recreate the original Swinford Bandog today if a breeder had the exact right specimens, the absolute blueprint, and ruthless discipline?
According to Lieberman, Swinford asked him to pen the breed standard, and the specifics they were targeting are vastly different from the massive, sluggish, over-exaggerated "Bandogs" we often see on the internet today.
The Lieberman Standard Blueprint:
Frame & Athleticism: A handier, ultra-athletic, functional frame over raw mass. They prioritized agility, endurance, and structural soundness.
The Eyes: Tight eyes only. Drooping eyelids (ectropion) were a strict disqualification. They detested the "hypertype" structural flaws and heavy skin folds of modern show Molossers.
Coat: Dark colors preferred; brindles are perfectly acceptable.
Ears: Natural rose or drop ears preferred (Lieberman later noted that if he rewrote it today, he would explicitly mandate natural ears over cropping).
Temperament: The famous "on/off switch." Fearless against a threat, but completely stable, open, and safe inside the family unit.
The Debate: Can it be done today?
On paper, the recipe is straightforward: Game-bred American Pit Bull Terrier (APBT) \bm{\times} English Mastiff, with a later infusion of old-school, athletic Neapolitan Mastiff (like the famous lean, highly athletic backyard stud owned by Luigi Forina that Swinford used).
The immediate cynical reaction is that modern show rings have ruined the Mastiff breeds—turning Neos and English Mastiffs into loose-skinned, sluggish animals with severe joint and eye issues.
But let's look past the mainstream show rings. If we look at preservation lines, the raw building blocks are still out there:
1 APBT: Pure, athletic, human-stable preservation game-bred lines still exist.
2 English Mastiff: Leas exaggerated lines can still be found if you search outside standard kennel clubs.
3 Neapolitan Mastiff: some non-fat Mastino Napoletanos are still maintained by working catch-dog breeders in remote parts of southern Italy.
If you crossed a lean, functional, traditional female Mastiff with a rock-solid, athletic male APBT, the F1 hybrid vigor would allow the offspring to retain the "wind" and stamina of the terrier while keeping the structural presence of the Mastiff.
My questions for the sub:
1 Do you think it's possible? If a breeder strictly culled (pet-homed) any pup with loose eyes, structural faults, or unstable human aggression, could they genuinely resurrect Swinford's vision?
2 Where would you get your foundation stock? If you were tasked with starting this project tomorrow, what specific bloodlines, kennel directions, or regions of the world would you look to for the APBT, the English Mastiff, and the traditional athletic Mastino?
Looking forward to hearing thoughts from the working dog and Molosser community!
Hi everyone,
I’m doing some research on English Mastiffs and I’m wondering if there are breeders (anywhere in the world) who prioritize a more moderate, functional build rather than the heavily exaggerated show-type look.
I really appreciate the breed’s size and presence, but I’m personally more interested in dogs that tend to be a bit more balanced in structure — not necessarily “small” or outside the standard, just less extreme in terms of bulk, loose skin, and overall exaggeration. Health, soundness, and mobility are important priorities for me.
I’ve noticed there seems to be some variation within the breed depending on lines and breeding goals, so I’m curious if anyone here knows of programs that lean toward:
more moderate proportions
solid but not overly massive build
focus on long-term health and function
less emphasis on extreme show-ring traits
If anyone has breeder recommendations, or even just regions/lines I should look into, I’d really appreciate it. I’m open to breeders anywhere in the world.
Thanks in advance for any guidance.
I recently came across a body of work by Henry E. Young describing what he calls adult telomerase-positive stem cells (aTPSCs), and I wanted to ask this community for a serious scientific assessment of the claims.
Disclaimer: I’m not endorsing this research, not promoting treatments, and not giving medical advice.
Summary of the claims
The work proposes that rare endogenous adult stem-cell populations exist throughout connective tissues in a dormant/quiescent state and act as the body’s natural repair system when injury occurs.
These proposed populations include:
MesoSCs – mesoderm-lineage stem cells
EctoSCs – ectoderm-lineage stem cells
EndoSCs – endoderm-lineage stem cells
PSCs – pluripotent adult stem cells
TSCs – totipotent adult stem cells
According to the model, these cells can become activated after injury, proliferate, enter circulation, migrate to damaged tissues, and differentiate in response to local signals.
Claimed isolation protocol
For verification:
Before testing, suggest using either FACS or Miltenyi columns, perform two negative sorts followed by positive sort to derived individual populations of the cells, as outlined in the paper on flow cytometry.
Flow cytometry using CD66e (TSCs), CD10 (PSCs), CD56/CD90/MHC Class-1 (EctoSCs), CD13/CD90/MHC Class-1 (MesoSCs), CD??/CD90/ MHC Class-1 (EndoSCs). When doing flow cytometry, look at all regions of the plot, bottom left-hand corner (routinely excluded because of debris, is also location of the TSCs)
Expressed genes - see Characterization paper
Differentiation potential: use commerically-available human recombinant proteins:
A. EPO/IL6/c-Kit for RBC colony forming units (TSCs+, PSCs+, EctoSCs-, MesoSCs+, EndoSCs-); BMP-2 forms bone (TSCs+, PSCs+, EctoSCs-, MesoSCs+, EndoSCs-)
B. NGF (Nerve Growth Factor) to stimulate formation of neurons, oligodendrocytes, astrocytes, ganglion cells, and radial glial cells (TSCs+, PSCs+, EctoSCs+, MesoSCs-, EndoSCs-)
C. HGF (Hepatocyte Growth Factor) to simulate formation of liver cells: hepatocytes, oval cells, etc. (TSCs+, PSCs+, EctoSCs-, MesoSCs-, EndoSCs+)
Paper: Cell Biochem Biophys. 2004; 40: 1-80. Outlines procedure for verification of telomerase within the cells.
My perspective
If naturally occurring adult pluripotent or totipotent repair cells truly exist, that would be a major discovery. But extraordinary claims require strong, reproducible evidence.
If anyone attempts to isolate these cells following the protocol by letter, please tell me how it went.
Links:
I recently came across a body of work by Henry E. Young describing what he calls adult telomerase-positive stem cells (aTPSCs), and I wanted to ask this community for a serious scientific assessment of the claims.
Disclaimer: I’m not endorsing this research, not promoting treatments, and not giving medical advice.
Summary of the claims
The work proposes that rare endogenous adult stem-cell populations exist throughout connective tissues in a dormant/quiescent state and act as the body’s natural repair system when injury occurs.
These proposed populations include:
MesoSCs – mesoderm-lineage stem cells
EctoSCs – ectoderm-lineage stem cells
EndoSCs – endoderm-lineage stem cells
PSCs – pluripotent adult stem cells
TSCs – totipotent adult stem cells
According to the model, these cells can become activated after injury, proliferate, enter circulation, migrate to damaged tissues, and differentiate in response to local signals.
Claimed isolation protocol
For verification:
Before testing, suggest using either FACS or Miltenyi columns, perform two negative sorts followed by positive sort to derived individual populations of the cells, as outlined in the paper on flow cytometry.
Flow cytometry using CD66e (TSCs), CD10 (PSCs), CD56/CD90/MHC Class-1 (EctoSCs), CD13/CD90/MHC Class-1 (MesoSCs), CD??/CD90/ MHC Class-1 (EndoSCs). When doing flow cytometry, look at all regions of the plot, bottom left-hand corner (routinely excluded because of debris, is also location of the TSCs)
Expressed genes - see Characterization paper
Differentiation potential: use commerically-available human recombinant proteins:
A. EPO/IL6/c-Kit for RBC colony forming units (TSCs+, PSCs+, EctoSCs-, MesoSCs+, EndoSCs-); BMP-2 forms bone (TSCs+, PSCs+, EctoSCs-, MesoSCs+, EndoSCs-)
B. NGF (Nerve Growth Factor) to stimulate formation of neurons, oligodendrocytes, astrocytes, ganglion cells, and radial glial cells (TSCs+, PSCs+, EctoSCs+, MesoSCs-, EndoSCs-)
C. HGF (Hepatocyte Growth Factor) to simulate formation of liver cells: hepatocytes, oval cells, etc. (TSCs+, PSCs+, EctoSCs-, MesoSCs-, EndoSCs+)
Paper: Cell Biochem Biophys. 2004; 40: 1-80. Outlines procedure for verification of telomerase within the cells.
My perspective
If naturally occurring adult pluripotent or totipotent repair cells truly exist, that would be a major discovery. But extraordinary claims require strong, reproducible evidence.
If anyone attempts to isolate these cells following the protocol by letter, please tell me how it went.
Links: