Molossus, Alan, Alaunt, Tie-dog, Bandog (or Band-dog), were among the number.

Like the Mastiff, of which it is a smaller form, it is a descendant of the "Alaunt," Mastive, or Bandog, described by Dr. Caius, who states that "the Mastyve or Bandogge is vaste, huge, stubborne, ougly and eager, of a hevy, and burthenous body, and therefore but of little swiftnesse, terrible and frightful to beholde, and more fearce and fell than any Arcadian curre.