Alaunt Handling 101
The Savant Alaunt is not a “set-and-forget” breed. It is a deliberate fusion of specialists - American Pitbull Terrier (APBT), mastiff and sighthound - engineered to work together as a single, dynamic, purpose built dog. This means the breed doesn’t behave like any of its parts in isolation. You cannot treat them like bulldogs. You cannot raise them like mastiffs. You cannot handle them like pure sighthounds. To get the most out of the Savant Alaunt, you must understand how these components mature, how they express themselves, and how our breeding philosophy has shaped the dogs you’re working with.
The Basics
The Savant Alaunt was developed to serve as a capable family companion guardian. Tight bonding, with discernment, and more than enough gas in the tank to serve as a weekend warrior for the hunting enthusiast. They carry the mindfulness of the mastiff, the intensity of the APBT, and the physical superiority of the sighthound. These dogs thrive on human connection and do best living life alongside family. They are clean, easy keepers, who aren’t overly destructive, respect boundaries and are quite content laying around the house. Family life aside they can be the intense working dogs their DNA demands, ready at a moment’s notice.
One of the best ways to critique this type is: “teach activity get activity, teach passivity get passivity” and these dogs embody just that.
Being a dynamic breed type it’s important to acknowledge that in large part, these dogs are SHAPED. Exposure early and often fortifies their confidence and enhances their understanding of your expectations. The hands off approach will yield a quality house dog - who’s understanding of themselves will hit like a ton of bricks around 3 years old. Alongside a strong predatory instinct, you’ll see unbalanced aggression, distrust of strangers, and a level of unpredictability and volatility that won’t serve the passive handler. These dogs need guard rails and the type of guidance from a handler who understands “you get out what you put in”.
You cannot remove instincts from these dogs. All you can provide are consequences and rewards.
Our advice summed up:
Heavy environmental exposure - take your young dogs everywhere and show them the world. Be mindful and work them through insecurity. Repetition will make them comfortable.
Drive building in the form of play - flirt pole, games of fetch, spring pole work, or treadmills all serve as the basics to enhance coordination and conditioning. They also strengthen your bond.
For bite sport candidates - routine back tie work (Ideally limiting or completely withholding grips where the effort is the reward from months 4-12). Upon adolescence you should reward forward intensity with a grip and encourage the counter and regrip.
For hunting prospects - routine pursuit of quarry that grows with the dog. These dogs need to run things down - this is KEY. Frustration from the chase fuels confidence and the finish.
The guiding hand will yield a highly capable working caliber, family companion guardian. Teach them to work alongside you and they’ll always do their best to serve you.
Take a back seat towards their development and the dogs will be “flat” until about 3 years old when they’ll likely express the negative aspects of their breed composition.
Why this Matters
We believe that stacking specialists creates versatility, but it also creates a dog that must grow into itself in stages. The Savant Alaunt is built for mobility, durability, and mental stability - but these traits don’t all develop at the same time. To get the most out of the breed, handlers must acknowledge the composite nature of the dog, and be patient while those elements synchronize. One of the single biggest mistakes new owners make is assuming linear development.
With this breed, development is layered, not linear.
Breed Formation: versatility driven by specailists
From the American Pit Bull Terrier, we pull endurance, commitment, and that clean, honest work ethic. The APBT brings that “stay in the fight” mentality - where pressure fuels their intensity, builds their sense of self, and proves their resolve. The incorporation of the breed into our bloodline has never been about gameness for gameness’ sake - but rather durability, intensity and clarity.
The Mastiff brings substance, presence, the defensive edge and a slow yet deliberate maturation rate. They’re methodical, their character shines with a steady tempo that hides a deep rooted seriousness. It’s best described as a hatred for pressure and a willingness to rise to the occasion. These dogs carry weight, bone and a complexity that requires time to set. Who they are at 1 year old, is not what they will become at 3.
The sighthound provides the long levered athleticism, cardiovascular capacity, heat tolerance and - critically - their psychology. A sighthound’s frustration is productive; it turns into acceleration, tracking, pursuit and finish. The primal predatory nature is what gives the Savant Alaunt an edge. When managing a deep and expansive prey spectrum correctly - it becomes the fuel that makes these running catch dogs successful.
Sightound Components
The Sighthound influence shows itself early. You’ll see long lines, speed and quick mental response profiles. These dogs will look like runners long before anything else appears. Their prey drive will be prevalent - existing almost in overabundance. You’ll see it through how they calculate pursuit angles, their fast twitch orientation, and how they’ll “outsmart” prey games. They’ll also carry a great deal of “independence” early - ignoring your calls and fulfilling their need to venture out on their own - particularly if something catches their eye. They don’t necessairly work for you, they work for themselves. Use prey games, train a retreive through fetch, and explore spring pole or other activites to strengthen that bond and by extension - “biddability”. This is a dog you’re going to want to “come back” after a long chase.
American Pitbull Components
Between 8-18 months, the bulldog intensity, persistence, and bite mechanics really begin to come forward. The “do or die” confidence will start to reveal itself during pursuit and early stages of commitment when engaged in challenging quarry. Full mouth grips, natural counters, and “punching in” will really become present. Their confidence isn’t fully formed yet - but you’ll begin to see that eagerness to create conflict and engage as their mental clarity begins to come to pass. This is the stage where dogs begin to say “I know what I’m supposed to do, now let me do it”. They’ll start to “try themselves” in new ways, and you’ll need to “protect them from themselves” a bit.
Mastiff Components
The bone, chest, mass distribution, the heavier defensive instincts and civil edge begin to fill in the “blanks” much later. The combat courage will be fully formed as will a confrontational nature around the 26-30 month mark - and the characteristic “bear down and finish it” tends to express itself fully. It’s dominance mixed with confidence, and by this time they trust the power in their mouths and bodies. This is where patience is required, as you cannot rush mastiff maturation without breaking the dog physically or mentally. They’ll carry a calm self-assuredness and an aura of “I’m holier than thou” about them. Manage these animals responsibly.
The Key Point
A Savant Alaunt doesn’t truly “finish” until they’re between 30-36 months old. If you want the dog we bred, you must give them time to assemble themselves. We can provide the raw genetics the handler needs to pull the most out of the dog. But this requires purposeful management, patience and investment of your time and energy.
Using the Breed as Intended
The Savant Alaunt becomes its best self only when used in alignment with its purpose. Honor the composite breed structure. Expect versatility, expect stages, expect mental shifts. You are raising specialists stacked into one dog. Manage each component respectfully and they will converge successfully.
Let the sighthound sharpen it’s skills through the chase.
Let the APBT drive clarify through engagement with quarry and toys.
Let the mastiff settle and continue exposing them to “normal” sight pictures throughout society, so that they will be able to discern what is “abnormal” and dissuade accordingly with maturity.
They’re still a “running” dog
A running catch dog must run. A pursuit-based mind must pursue. The chase itself is a self-validating experience for the dog; it tells him what he is, and that he is right for this world. You can use balls, a frisbee, chew toys - but it is through running that they find fulfillment.
The prey drive they exhibit is strengthened by the chase. A sighthound’s frustration is productive. It’s turned into acceleration, tracking and pursuit. You do not start this breed type by presenting quarry. You start this breed type by allowing them to “work” for it. By allowing them to run quarry down, engage and finish - you fortify their confidence. With repetition, they’ll take whatever is presented to them - however it’s presented. Limiting these outlets suppresses the very traits we’ve engineered into them. Honor the dog.