How many Canis Panthers Exist?

It’s hard to get accurate census data for any population of dogs. We estimate, based on available public information, interviews, litter postings etc:

In the last 17 years Rock of Ages Kennel has produced at least 165 Canis Panthers

In the last 2 years(since he started breeding again in 2022) Tim Jones has produced at least 70 dogs we call Canis Panthers.

In the last 10 years Taylor Lee of Para Bellum Kennel has produced 8 Canis Panthers and 11 Dogo Panther crosses.

In the past 8 years Nor Cal Canis Panthers has produced at least 16 Pit Panthers.

In the last 4 years JD Wise has produced 8 Pit Panthers.

In the past year, Jennifer of Swedish Panthers has produced about 8 Pit Panthers, and 9 Canis Panthers.

In the past 6 years War Ready K9 produced an unknown number of Dogo Panthers, but an average litter size is around 8 and another litter of Canis Panthers.

Ghost Panthers produced one litter of an unknown size.

In the past 6 years Dark Panther K9 produced an unknown number of Canis Panthers, records indicate he claimed 12 puppies, three are confirmed to be surviving.

Maverick Dobermanns has produced one litter of 8 Dogo Panthers.

If we assume 2/3 of ROAK’s dogs have passed from older breedings, the FCP estimates there are, as of November 2024, there are at least 100 Canis Panthers, 32 Pit Panthers, 27 Dogo Panthers, and at least 3 Presa Panthers. If we include Tim Jones dogs as Canis Panthers, that goes to 170 Canis Panthers alive today.

What is a Canis Panther?

A Canis Panther is any dog that descends from the original Canis Panthers as described in our history section, and has been purpose bred to maintain the traits the breed is meant to have.

Why the name, and who named them?

Gypsy Stratten named the dog Canis Panther because he felt the dogs had a cat-like quality and he wanted the name to be unassailable, scientific in nature. This is per his interviews with Para Bellum Kennel.

What are some terms that get used a lot in the community?

APBT-American Pit Bull Terrier

1/8 ancestry- in many breeding circles 1/8th(12.5%) is considered acceptable for admixture. For example, in cattle breeding, if a Jersey is bred to a Holstein, the offspring are half and half. If that is bred to another Holstein, the offspring are 1/4 Jersey. One more time and the great grandchildren of the first union are 1/8th Jersey, or 7/8ths Holstein. 7/8ths is 87.5%, or purebred.

Pit Panther- originally this term was used to differentiate between Canis Panthers and the APBT crosses Scorpio created to shrink the breed. Eventually both lines were consolidated and no Panthers in the modern era are without APBT ancestry, so the term now means a Canis Panther bred to a Pit Bull after the breed was consolidated in the 90s/early 2000s. This includes well known dogs like Klaus, Spartan, and Heisenberg.

Presa Panther- These are typically 50/50 crosses to Presa Canarios and are mostly bred by Tim Jones.

Dogo Panthers- These are a family of various mixing levels of Canis Panthers with Dogo Argentino Ancestry greater than 1/8th of the pedigree. Only Para Bellum Kennel uses these. War Ready K9 did create one litter of Dogo Panthers but was using these to build a separate project. Includes well known dogs like Jaho and Gothic.

DoberDane: any ancestry combination of a Dobermann and a Great Dane.

Doberpit: Any combination of Dobermann and APBT ancestry. Often sold as Canis Panthers since they look similar, we recommend always asking questions to see if your dog is a Doberpit or a Canis Panther.

How long do Canis Panthers live?

The average lifespan of the Canis Panther is said to be around 12 years old. The youngest Canis Panther known to die of an unknown reason is Titan Bleu from ROAK. He was 7 years old. Clinical symptoms of his death resemble those of DCM, but there was no autopsy. It’s also believed by us that Titan was overweight which may have contributed to his death or, if he was prone to DCM, could have exacerbated the condition.

What kind of Temperament do Canis Panthers have?

Loving with family, tolerant of strangers, hostile with intruders. The Canis Panther’s temperament is most similar to that of a Dobermann, they are Velcro, eager to please, sensitive, playful, and communicative. This is a Dog’s dog, a hard worker who integrates well with family, loves children, and can adapt to a wide variety of lifestyles. These dogs need more firmness than a pet breed, but less firmness than a game dog. They learn easily and are cooperative, so discipline is likely to be a minimal necessity.

What kind of health problems does the breed have?

Health issues we have discovered:

DCM Associated gene- PDK4, a gene with some published connections to DCM(Dilated CardioMyopathy). This gene is common in some breeds that don’t have DCM, and the Canis Panther has no confirmed cases of DCM to date. DCM is common in Dobermanns.

Type I vWD(Von Willebrand Disease)- The Von Willebrand clotting factor is a partial dominance major component to the formation of blood clots. Dogs with this disease suffer from extra bleeding, slow clotting, and have an increased risk of infection and bleeding out. Please tell your vet if your dog has this trait, particularly if your dog needs any kind of invasive procedure. This trait comes from the Dobermann.

Hyper Uricosuria/Hyperuricemia(HUU)- This recessive trait causes urate build up which causes urate stones in the renal system. It can be highly manageable, and it can also be fatal. This disease ravaged the Dalmation community until the 1970s when crossbreeding was used to introduce the correct gene back into the breed. HUU in the Canis Panther likely comes from the American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, and/or the Labrador Retriever.

Laryngeal Paralysis- This recessive trait causes the abductor(opening) muscle in the larynx to malfunction, causing raspy breathing, intolerance of heat and exercise. It likely came from Labradors.

Are Tim Jones Dogs Canis Panthers?

It depends on who you ask. Most people say no, since the Jones Dogs have extremely high rates of Great Dane and almost nothing of the other founding breeds. His dogs also have Presa Canario, Cane Corso, Neapolitan Mastiff(possibly only one or the other since the Corso and Neo are closely related), and even French Bulldog. A minority in the community argue that yes, the Jones dogs count as Canis Panthers because even though they represent an admixture event that probably postdates Scorpio’s death and did not bear his intent, Tim Jones claims that Scorpio kept his intentions hidden from all but him so the dogs are actually the only legitimate Canis Panthers. The reality is that Rock Of Ages Kennel (Gypsy) is the only kennel that was placing Canis Panthers outside of Chicago, and since Gypsy is the person who named the breed, anything other than what he was providing is arguably not a Canis Panther.

Because of this convolution, The FCP has taken a middle ground approach and tolerates Jones dogs as Canis Panthers, but not in large numbers, for two reasons. 1, because of the heavily skewed breed mixture, these dogs are somewhat different from the Rock Of Ages dogs, and to allow large numbers of them would disrupt the decades of progress that kennel has made in stabilizing the breed, and 2. Because Tim Jones produces so many dogs so quickly, their wholesale recognition would jeopardize the health of our breed, as Tim only uses one known stud for his operation and only three related females, a Presa Panther female, and some Pit Panthers with Bully admixture rather than APBT. See below for a visualizer. * Note, the visualizer provides the founding content of the first true Panthers by their Parentage, Gorilla was half Dane and half Lab, according to Tim Jones, and Sugar was a big Dobermann bitch. After this, averages are provided. The sample size for the Beta Panthers may seem insignificant, but remember, these results came from the Father and the offspring of the 4 Canis Panthers Tim has produced all 70+ of his puppies with, so the numbers will likely vary from what is shown, but not by much.

I saw a video about the Borzhund and he mentioned the Canis Panther community was mad at him, why?
The FCP has no official position on the Borzhund program, but it is a matter of public record that early in his program, Kian advertised his Dobermann-XL Bully crosses with the #CanisPanther. Members of the Panther community attacked him for this so now he is the number one advertiser of our breed by obsessively reminding audiences his dogs are better than ours. Wish you luck Kian.