I thought it would be useful to link the below thread with this thread. (I hope I haven't already done so – ha). Reading what was said in it, I see what I consider to be some misconceptions (most notably the one-liner from the person who thought it was bred for pit fighting).
I agree, however, with those who point out that Rock of Ages Kennel (ROAK) does not do health testing, and the greatly concerns me. My perception of Gypsy Stratten and his wife is, well, I think an overused term would in fact really be applicable here: Old School.
I've heard two phone interviews with him. He is one of the originators of the Canis Panther and it's coming up on 50 years ago. So the breed is 1/2 a century old. Not exactly a "new" designer breed as some said.
Uh oh . . . another 'Canis Panther' is showing up at the same rescue - could this be the start of an unfortunate trend? that's two in less than a month: Illinois Doberman Rescue Plus Zeppelin is a “Black Dog” whose owners said “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You” in an abandoned house. His story is a...
doberman-chat.com
So, with my limited understanding of genetics, my initial inclination is to say hey: This breed is pulling from the gene pools of four different breeds, so it's pretty genetically diverse, which would make it less prone to genetic diseases and maladies. I then ask, however, isn't it only pulling from the gene pools of the dogs they have used since the breed started to breed true-to-type? I don't see that ROAK has that many breeding dogs. I have to wonder about inbreeding and how diverse their gene pool in fact is. Can someone help me out with thoughts on this?
Speaking of true-to-type: I am not impressed with the variation in the appearance of Canis Panthers. Some in fact have markings almost identical to Dobermans, so they just look like kind of unattractive Dobermans. A lot of them are tan dogs. Some are grey. Some are black – most of these have white on the chest. I would be most interested in a black Canis Panther, and I would ask for as little white on the chest as possible. If they are charging more than maybe $2000 for a pup, I'd feel like I would have to insist on this, and not just accept whatever they give me based on a waiting list.
More on appearance: I heard them say that lately some of the C.P.s are looking more like the Am Staffs from their lineage, and Stratten's wife is liking this. So, why can't they get these dogs after 50 years to look more uniform? Online, I see some that look more Great Dane, and of course most look Doberman. I saw one (not necessarily from ROAK) that was supposedly a C.P. and it looks more Labrador-like. Is this because of some outcrossing? Without pedigrees, we don't know. At the same time, outcrossing might keep the genetic diseases at bay.
So it would be a gamble to get a Canis Panther pup. I would want to get some real assurance about health, temperament and appearance! I don't feel confident that I'd get a lot of straight talk from these old school breeders.
All that said, some of the all-black C.P.s who are nice and substantial and have good proportions and nice heads and expressions are quite appealing to me. I really like the short crop (not the ones that I've seen with too much bell). I would love to have a shorter posting procedure on my next dog, and I am a believer in the functional purposes for cropping. A short crop aligns with this. What I do NOT like are some of the overly long tail docks I see on these dogs, and most of them are thin tails which is surprising because I though these were dogs with substantial bone.
Here's the kicker. I see a lot of images and videos online (think "insta") of C.P. doing agitation work and they look just as impressive to me as most respectable guarding breeds – seem right up there with working Dobes, but of course not as quick. There's no shortage of pics of C.P.s baring teeth and acting aggressive toward the helpers. If they don't have the hard grips and sound bites like good pure working Dobes (as
@Silent Dobe asserted, if I recall) then that may not really be that big a deal to me. I think a dog with good courage and size can often do the job of protector even if it doesn't hit that hard full-mouth grip the first time and hold it like they're supposed to.
That alone might get me to contact this breeder.
You know what I mean though. I'm talking about my severe aversion to the wagging (and sagging, by the way), of those long Corso and Boerboel tails that's a rapid silly wagging – the same as I've seen in Boxers. Blech. But, again, in the below vid, you see a ton of Bullmastiff tail wagging and it's what I've seen all along: It's not the silly, rapid, unpleasing stuff. Does it make sense that a dog with a full tail will have a slower tail wag than one with a docked tail? It's not just that. It's that the tail is held lower (but not in a submissive way at all). It's just a more mellow and far, far more pleasing wag.
