Considering getting our first English Mastiff, need some advice.

[LauraR]

We are thinking about getting our first English Mastiff sometime next year and I would really like some feedback from current EM owners. First I will tell you a little bit about my family and why we have decided to go with the English Mastiff.

My husband and I have two boys, 8 and 6(will be 9 and 7 when we get the dog) a tiny Yorkie(2.8lbs) and a cat. We are moving to rural area with a very large yard(1/2 acre has a chain link fence, 4 acres are fenced for horses/cattle). We do not currently have any livestock, but may consider getting a horse or two in the future. My oldest son has Asperger's and his therapist has suggested getting a dog and having him help us with the training. She thinks it will help with his social skills and confidence levels. We had planned on getting a large dog prior to that, but it is a bit of an extra motivator. We are pretty set on going with an English Mastiff because of their size and temperament.

Some of the questions I had for current Mastiff owners are:
How much does your mastiff usually eat? I've read that they will eat anywhere between 2-5lbs of food per day but I would really like the input of someone who actually owns one rather than general statistics.

Like I mentioned, we do have a very small Yorkie. In your experience, do Mastiffs generally do okay with smaller dogs? She is a little yappy pain in the butt, but she is very submissive and I don't see there being much of a problem on her end, but most larger dogs aren't quite sure what to do with her.

I would like to have my oldest son help with the training. I've read stories on how EMs can be incredibly difficult to train and require a ton of patience and repetition and then I've read other stories on how intelligent and easy to train they are. What has been your experience with training? What training methods have worked well with you and your Mastiffs?

On the topic of training, I've read on here that some of you have trained your dogs to wipe their mouths after drinking. This sounds amazing and is definitely something I would like to teach our future dog to do. What ways worked best for you when training your dog to wipe his/her mouth after drinking/eating?

How much exercise to you give your English Mastiff? I've read some things that say you need to walk them 20-30 minutes every day, some that say a romp in the back yard is fine and others describing them as lounging couch potatoes. I like to go running/jogging several times a week, is this the kind of dog that would enjoy being a running partner? I've also read that they have some hip and joint problems so I wouldn't want to do anything that may lead to making that worse.

I think that about wraps up my questions for now. I'm sure I'll think of more later. I look forward to reading your responses and thank you for taking the time to follow up.

 

[Mooshi's Mummy]

Welcome and great questions. I am a TM owner and not an EM but am sure there will be plenty of helpful advice for you. I just wanted to say welcome and I am sure an EM will work out just fine from what I have read about them.

 

[Robtouw]

Hi Laura! I've owned giants my whole life, 5 have been EM's, my current pup is 10 months. My boys have all had nice, calm personalities with spurts of excited play mixed in. All puppies can be challanging and all pups will need extra training on something. Each of my boys have been different. EM's tend to be very conscious of kids, esp ones with special needs. I've had experiences with one of my boys where he completely stopped and focused on a special needs child without prompting and was very protective & patient with them.

As far as eating, it will depend on your choices. An EM will need a food that is has a high meat content, low grain or grain free is best for their system. I feed Taste of the Wild, it is about $30 for 15 lbs, $50 for 35. I add yogurt daily in his breakfast, veggies and meats from whatever I prepare for us into his evening meal, and give peanut butter, fruits and other items as treats. Typically we go through a 15lb bag twice a month. I alternate between flavors. Cruiser averages 2 cups at each feeding. My last two boys were about the same.

You'll need to consider vet bills also. Routine and emergency visits are more expensive than an average sized dog. Doses for vacs, heartworm, flea preventatives, etc are more because they are given according to weight. The should gain weight steadily for the first year, then at a much slower pace until about age 3.

Em pups (well bred ones) are exceptionally easy to train early on. As a rule I begin teaching as early as possible. The more you get in them before about age 6 months the better and easier for you. They go through stages where they test everything and challenge everything at 6 months, then again around the 7-9 month time frame. Again at 1 year. I suggest studying up and having a training plan before you get a pup. There are easy ways and there are ways that are too frustrating for the pup in training. If you make it fun and rewarding they will do anything to please you.

My current pup does not drool, my last boy was a high drooler and slung slobber everywhere! With Buddy we kept drool rags in baskets for guests and I was constantly wiping slime off of everything. Cruiser has a towel mounted on a bar above his water bowl, we started pushing his little face into it as a pup after drinking and praising him and after about 2 weeks at age 10 weeks of doing it he just continued the habit on his own. We also took his paws and wiped his little feet as a pup before going in the house at the same age every time and now he continues to do it as well. He gives you a stupid look if you don't wipe your feet first before going in so we have all been trained!

As for yorkie. An EM typically is not aggressive towards other pets but....due to their size and lack of coordination as pups they may accidently step on your little dog, may accidently toss them by pawing around while playing, may lay on them, etc. They are emotional dogs that need to be near their family members all of the time. They have to be taught that they are big, they see themselves as tiny dogs. It may take a good deal of patience and supervision to make a large puppy understand how big he really is. We had to teach our boys to be careful with our chickens, cats, friends small dogs, kids, etc.

As a young pup exercise needs to just be puppy play, walks need to be short, as a rule don't walk farther than you can carry a pup back. Until about age 1 no long walks. Nice outdoor play sessions are great, they need to burn off that excess energy or they will drive you insane! Cruiser typically spends about 85% of his day sleeping but when awake loves to play, run and explore. He has energy spurts we call zoomies at least once a day where he goes nuts zipping here and there. They last about 5 minutes. Also you need to understand that EM's do not make good outdoor dogs.

Please research proper breeding, pretesting and what you should expect from a good reputable breeder. There is nothing wrong with buying from someone who breeds their dog once or twice as a hobby if it is done with breed preservation in mind but buying the wrong puppy from the wrong person could set you up for loads of heartache and enormous vet bills. Ask as many questions as you like, I don't and others don't mind answering!

 

[swalls21]

Welcome to the board.

We have an EM, 8 1/2 months old, his name is Briggs. I had been looking at getting an English Mastiff for about 3 years before we got him. I did a lot of research before hand, but still had a lot of questions afterwards.

As for your questions, here are my answers for them.

How much do they eat? Right now at 8 1/2 months old, Briggs is eating 6 1/2 cups of food per day. He eats Acana, which is pretty pricey, but I think well worth it. We feed him 3 times a day. Small, frequent meals are better for large breed dogs (learned that from this website).

Are they good with little dogs? I don't have a little dog, but do have 3 cats, and he is fine with them. I think as long as you get your dog as a puppy, he or she will have time to grow up around your Yorkie, and won't really know any different.

Are they easy to train? Briggs has been incredibly easy to train! We do use treats (his kibble), and LOTS of praise for doing good. He eats it up!

Wiping their own mouth...never heard of it, but if you can train a dog to do that, I would! lol They do tend to get some serious shoe strings going after they drink.

Exercise...I have read that Mastiffs are not the type of dog that you should take jogging with you, to hard on their joints. We don't let Briggs play for about an hour after eating or drinking large amounts of water. But other than that, he loves to get out and play in the backyard with us. He usually tuckers out after about 30-45 minutes, but he can do this several times a day if he feels up to it.

Hope some of this helps. If it helps, I have never had a better dog than Briggs. He is absolutely amazing! I just say to make sure and do your homework on a breeder, it can make all the difference...in my opinion. Good luck!!

---------- Post added at 11:11 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:05 AM ----------

You'll need to consider vet bills also. Routine and emergency visits are more expensive than an average sized dog. Doses for vacs, heartworm, flea preventatives, etc are more because they are given according to weight. The should gain weight steadily for the first year, then at a much slower pace until about age 3.

OH YES...the vet bills! lol Great thing to point out...forgot about that one!!

 

[swalls21]

You'll need to consider vet bills also. Routine and emergency visits are more expensive than an average sized dog. Doses for vacs, heartworm, flea preventatives, etc are more because they are given according to weight. The should gain weight steadily for the first year, then at a much slower pace until about age 3.

OH YES...the vet bills! lol Great thing to point out...forgot about that one!!

 

[Rugers-Kris]

Hi! Welcome to the forum. This is a great place to come to get all of your questions answered. My answers:

How much he will eat depends on what you feed him. Ruger eats about 6 1/2 to 7 cups a day and he is on Blue Wilderness Adult Duck Formula (Pretty expensive but the ingredients are great and it is worth it.). You never know if you will end up with a dog that doesn't care for other dogs but as a rule, if you bring them home as puppies, it wouldn't be a problem except for the clumsy puppy stage where they trample on things (Your feet, small pets, etc. LOL). As for Training, Ruger is the easiest dog I have ever had as far as that goes. EM's love to please and that makes them very good students. They do go through some serious stubborn ages and that is just part of it but as a rule I would say they are incredibly easy to train. Ruger does wipe his mouth on a towel that hangs off the side of a cupboard (I trained him by putting his face to it after he ate and drank as a puppy) but it doesn't do much good because I DO have a major slobber monster and he is the king of giant slingers and goo so I am always wiping it up anyway and just keeps hand towels in every room so I can minimalize the mess. As far as excersize goes, Ihave taken Ruger for at least a short walk every day (for the most part) since I brought him at 6 weeks as well as had puppy play in the yard/house, too. I think the walks from the very beginning are essential since a cute little puppy is a lot easier to manipulate during leash training than 100 pounds+ puppy will be if you should wait to start that training. Good luck!

 

[Smokeycat]

Kryten is 13 months now and was eating 8c of a high quality kibble a day (I'm in the middle of a food change). If he was fed raw i believe he would be 5-6 lbs a day. He allows me to wipe off his face even if he doesn't like it. I have found him difficult to train. I don't know how much is because he is very stubborn, lack of comprehension or just comparison to my Irish Setter x who was incredibly easy to train. I don't have small dogs but he does live with 3 cats, one of which was 1.5 lbs when I got her and I simply taught him that he had to watch his feet and play nice (mouth closed). Kryten gets a walk of at least 1 mile everyday and plays with Jiggers repeatedly throughout the day but he would never be a good running buddy.

 

[Rugers-Kris]

I can't imagine an EM would ever be a good running partner, either.

Hi! Welcome to the forum. This is a great place to come to get all of your questions answered. My answers:

How much he will eat depends on what you feed him. Ruger eats about 6 1/2 to 7 cups a day and he is on Blue Wilderness Adult Duck Formula (Pretty expensive but the ingredients are great and it is worth it.). You never know if you will end up with a dog that doesn't care for other dogs but as a rule, if you bring them home as puppies, it wouldn't be a problem except for the clumsy puppy stage where they trample on things (Your feet, small pets, etc. LOL). As for Training, Ruger is the easiest dog I have ever had as far as that goes. EM's love to please and that makes them very good students. They do go through some serious stubborn ages and that is just part of it but as a rule I would say they are incredibly easy to train. Ruger does wipe his mouth on a towel that hangs off the side of a cupboard (I trained him by putting his face to it after he ate and drank as a puppy) but it doesn't do much good because I DO have a major slobber monster and he is the king of giant slingers and goo so I am always wiping it up anyway and just keeps hand towels in every room so I can minimalize the mess. As far as excersize goes, Ihave taken Ruger for at least a short walk every day (for the most part) since I brought him at 6 weeks as well as had puppy play in the yard/house, too. I think the walks from the very beginning are essential since a cute little puppy is a lot easier to manipulate during leash training than 100 pounds+ puppy will be if you should wait to start that training. Good luck!

 

[LauraR]

Thank you for all of the quick responses!
I am so glad to hear all of your answers. Particularly about the jogging. I had concerns that may impact their joints negatively and I am glad that has been confirmed. I would hate to do something that would harm my future dog.
I also appreciate the input on picking a good breeder. I have heard about the health testing, but are there things I need to primarily look for when having the parents tested? I assume that a good breeder would do this as a standard practice. Are there other things that I should look for when picking out a breeder? I do not intend to show the EM regularly, but my son has mentioned taking him/her to a few 4H shows and I think this would be a good thing to help with his confidence. Regardless, I am planning on finding a well established breeder. I do not have anything against people who have pets and want to breed them, but I feel like there may be some major issues that might get missed. I would feel so much better about going to someone that was an experienced breeder. I used to have a Bichon that was bred by a woman known in the area for producing some amazing show-quality American standard Bichons and I couldn't have had a better dog. She had the most wonderful temperament and had minimal health problems. My Yorkie, well that's another story. My sister picked her up in a Walmart parking lot from some back yard breeder that was selling them out of her trunk. My sister decided that she was too much to handle and was going to dump her at a shelter. She had some health issues already(was less than 10 weeks old, my sister got her at 6 weeks, yet another warning sign) and I was concerned that she might not get adopted so I took her in. This Yorkie has been the world's largest pain in the butt. Most recently had to cough up over $1,000 to have several of her teeth removed because she had "shark teeth"(babies never fell out when the permanents grew in). Any tips for finding a good breeder would be greatly appreciated. I don't even mind picking one that is out of state.

 

[DennasMom]

I'll chime in our experiences with our first EM -

Denna is now 11 months old, and eats just over 3lbs/day of raw food (26lbs/week). Raw is about 60% more expensive than the kibble we were feeding, but I think/hope it will give her the best nutrition and immune system / health support in the long run.

Denna has been very easy to train. She's very smart, and only needs to be told something twice to understand it. But... understanding what we're asking for and actually DOING it can be two different things at times. We have the best luck with marker (clicker) training - all positive. She does know what "NO" means... and is very responsive to that when she knows we're serious - she's smart that way, too. HA.

I started taking Denna for very short walks right off the bat - letting her dictate the distance and speed for any and all excursions. She slowly built up speed and stamina, and would now LOVE for me to jog with her for ~2.5 miles every day. I can't keep up wither her! She's not running - she's just in a trot, and I have to jog to keep up. The benefit of a big dog - that long stride. I don't know how long her joy of long walks will stick around... but I know I'm in better health after working to keep up with her this year! 30 minutes for a walk is just enough time to wake Denna up... if I want to wear her out, we need to go for a good hour (a little over 3 miles in the hour, so not a fast pace overall).

We have an old cat, who does not want anything to do with Denna. Denna still tries to bug her, but does listen when she hisses or swats... and will just lay down and stare at her. I don't think a new pup would have any trouble with the Yorkie - as long as the Yorkie accepts the EM.

 

[koikaren]

Thank you for all of the quick responses!
I am so glad to hear all of your answers. Particularly about the jogging. I had concerns that may impact their joints negatively and I am glad that has been confirmed. I would hate to do something that would harm my future dog.
I also appreciate the input on picking a good breeder. I have heard about the health testing, but are there things I need to primarily look for when having the parents tested? I assume that a good breeder would do this as a standard practice. Are there other things that I should look for when picking out a breeder? I do not intend to show the EM regularly, but my son has mentioned taking him/her to a few 4H shows and I think this would be a good thing to help with his confidence. Regardless, I am planning on finding a well established breeder. I do not have anything against people who have pets and want to breed them, but I feel like there may be some major issues that might get missed. I would feel so much better about going to someone that was an experienced breeder. I used to have a Bichon that was bred by a woman known in the area for producing some amazing show-quality American standard Bichons and I couldn't have had a better dog. She had the most wonderful temperament and had minimal health problems. My Yorkie, well that's another story. My sister picked her up in a Walmart parking lot from some back yard breeder that was selling them out of her trunk. My sister decided that she was too much to handle and was going to dump her at a shelter. She had some health issues already(was less than 10 weeks old, my sister got her at 6 weeks, yet another warning sign) and I was concerned that she might not get adopted so I took her in. This Yorkie has been the world's largest pain in the butt. Most recently had to cough up over $1,000 to have several of her teeth removed because she had "shark teeth"(babies never fell out when the permanents grew in). Any tips for finding a good breeder would be greatly appreciated. I don't even mind picking one that is out of state.

Buying from a breeder that health test is VERY important....Health test should include...CMR, PRA, Thyroid, Cardiac, Cerf, Hips, Elbow, Cystinuria, and Petellas....

On a personal note...I also have a yorkie (4pds) Lulu and a son with Autism and my EM's are wonderful with Lulu and my son Timmy

 

[LauraR]

On a personal note...I also have a yorkie (4pds) Lulu and a son with Autism and my EM's are wonderful with Lulu and my son Timmy

Just saw the pictures you posted. What a beautiful family!

 

[koikaren]

Just saw the pictures you posted. What a beautiful family!

Thank you!!!!

 

[Wyo- Dogue de Bordeaux]

I can help with the 4H stuff. My daughter is 8 and does 4H, akc (soon anyways since you have to be 9), and ukc. Since she has been working with our 1.5 year old Dogue De Bordeaux her confidence is getting better. Fawn can be stubborn for her but she is a lot happier when she works with the dogs. We are actually getting her her own dog and it is a 9 month old presa. It has helped my daughter a lot in her confidence and know when she can be soft spoken, and when she needs to be a little more aggressive. It also takes her mind off of the bullying that we have been dealing with school.

When buying a dog, doesn't made a difference to much between the mastiffs, make sure they have all the certifications needed. Hips, below, should, heart, thyroid, and there might be more needed for em's. not to sure in them. Make sure that when you pick up the dog that if he/she is registered they have the paperwork in hand before you buy the dog. It else you will be dealing with the issues I am in getting my breeder to send the papers (been waiting for 2 months now). Do a lot of research on the breed and also breeders lines. Make sure that their is no issues in the lines. Hope this helps. And if you need help with more if the 4H stuff let me know, I am our local 4H leader.


Wyoming Dogue De Bordeaux

 

[LauraR]

Thank you! I will take you up on that I'm sure! I did 4H when I was a kid and showed horses and my rabbits. I remember having so much fun doing it and being so proud whenever we would win. Even those times we didn't, I was still very proud of myself because the 4H judges were always sure to give positive feedback and tell you that you did a good job. I may need some direction for getting my son involved though because when I did 4H it was back in Memphis, TN and since then we have moved to Kansas City, MO. I did a little bit of 4H here, but it was over 15 years ago and I wouldn't know where to begin at this point.
In addition to having our EM be a low-scale show dog for my son, we are also wanting to use her as a therapy/service dog for my son who has Asperger's. As a therapy dog, she would basically just need to offer Alex support and be able to help calm him down when he starts to have a melt down. Usually a simple nudge will work. With a service dog classification, she would need to be able to perform at least 2 tasks that he is incapable of doing on his own, or severely struggles with. Some prospects we have considered would be protecting him from running into traffic, helping with melt downs, SAR and location identification(when I call Alex's name, the dog barks to give the location so I know where he is). With the SAR(search and rescue) I have heard conflicting stories with EM's. Some say that it is impossible and others say that they make excellent SAR dogs. The woman I have been speaking with about service dogs for Alex said that just about any dog can be trained to be search and rescue as long as they are high energy and have a good drive. We are not fixated on the service dog part, but it would be nice to get some feedback from actual EM owners. Do you feel that an EM would be capable of these things with the proper training? If it helps, with my job, I do have the option of working from home and the first year of the dog's life, I planned on working from home at least 4 days a week to assist me in focusing on his/her training.

 

[Tinga]

Both our sons are ASD ( 6 and 7)and we have a 5 year old Bullmastiff and a 12 week BMxEM little girl.
We got Dillon ( BM) about a year ago and just fell in love. We picked him because he was so non reactive. If the kiddos have a meltdown and start screaming, arm flapping or
my oldest's noises and jumping get kinda loud....he doesn't escalate the situation. He doesn't react to it at all, whereas some other hyper dogs might start yipping or whining adding further to the
crazyness.

I wouldn't say either of them would be good therapy dogs however. So far, they've bonded with me and from what I've read with therapy dog training, it'd be your son who'd be working with the dog and building that bond.

 

[LauraR]

I wouldn't say either of them would be good therapy dogs however. So far, they've bonded with me and from what I've read with therapy dog training, it'd be your son who'd be working with the dog and building that bond.

We have heard this as well. We planned on getting our EM in the summer when the boys didn't have school so Alex would be home with him/her 24/7. The first week we brought him/her home we would all be there, but the second week my husband was going to take Connor(my youngest) down to Branson to visit his parents and have a mini-vacation so Alex could spend some one on one time bonding with our new EM. I will be doing most of the harder training, while my son will be doing the basic training. We also were going to enlist him and the new dog in one of those obedience classes together to encourage the bonding process. It is not going to be an easy process but I am hoping that at the very least Alex and our EM can have a good bond with each other and that Alex will improve his self-esteem and confidence.

 

[Robtouw]

Laura, Never Never assume a good breeder has done pretesting, ask for documentation. When I search for a pup, and begin far before the date you want to bring the pup home because most well bred em pups are reserved prior to birthing, I require quite a bit.
I request to visit the breeder several times during pregnancy with the intent of viewing the breeder's dogs' wellbeing, treatment, behavior,diet, etc and to get familiar with the personalities of the bitch & sire. Also, spend time with the female & male if possible, watch their behavior, watch them walk, run, interact with people. If they are kept caged, walk away--usually this is a red flag for over breeding. I am anal about respectfully supporting the breed and the dogs in general, I absolutely hate overbreeding and confined spaces or chains and do not support breeders who do so.
Ask questions, there are no stupid questions.
Ask about feeding, medical history, prior litters (Personal choice-I choose females that have only had 1 litter, no more then 2), etc.
I request that my vet be able to contact the breeders' vet and discuss medical history of the female, vet checks of the pups and obtain copies of all vet checks/tests/treatments the pups are given.
I visit the pup after birth several times before taking home, and request a pic to be emailed every week after.
Pretesting should include pra, cystinuria, thyroid panels, hips with no family history of wobblers or dysplasia. (My boy's mother, father, grandmother was at the breeders and I got to know them well).
Ask for a 1-2 year health guarantee, documented in writing.
Request a two week supply of food be given to you along with a feed schedule when you bring the pup home.

I have a checklist somewhere, will look for it and post for you, it's one a breeder in SC actually put together for me when I was initially getting to know the breed, its been very helpful over the yeats! I know I sound a bit neurotic, but an unhealthy or inbred pup can cause you loads of heartache and financial issues that I promise you don't want! I've found it is hard to find just the right breeder, but I have always been able to do so. Cruiser took me about 8 months to find, I visited 8 breeders indifferent areas before finding just the right fit that I felt good about. I still email pics of Cruiser to her and she has been able to give me email info on his siblings. It's been fun to see how they compare!

 

[LauraR]

Thank you so much for your advice! We were planning on looking at breeders in "our area"(within 150 miles of Kansas City) here in about 6 months with the goal of having our puppy some time in the summer of 2014. I intend to be incredibly thorough just from my past experiences. My first purebred dog was a Bichon, I lucked out with her. She was very well bred had minimal health problems and is currently 16 years old. Despite her old age, she has no signs of arthritis, vision or hearing loss or any other old age ailments. My Yorkie is the poster child for why inexperienced back yard breeding should be outlawed. My sister picked her up in a Walmart parking lot and from day 1 she was a nightmare. I have a soft spot for unwanted dogs, especially puppies, so I took her in rather than see her go to a shelter. She never came with papers, turns out(after pestering the "breeder" constantly) that the Parent dogs were actually from the same litter and Ruby was the result of litter number 5(the Mother was less than 5 years old). Health problems after health problems, not to mention the behavioral issues.
While we're on the topic of breeding, do you feel it is better for a breeder to have the mother and father onsite or to use a stud? I personally like the idea of the breeder owning both dogs and knowing their full backgrounds.

 

[Crystalanya]

These are really good questions. Regarding the questions for the breeder, the Mastiff Club of America has really great informaton on questions to ask your breeder. I would highly recommend you look at it. I kept providing the questions again and again until a friend pointed out the list there. So much easier.

As for your questions my current mastiff is on the extreme end of food. At one point he was eating 12 cups of food a day (he's on taste of the wild ). Now at 16 months, he's down to about 6-8. I give him part taste of the wild and part Sojo's, which I give him about a cup dry (it's dehydrated and you add water). He's got a lot of energy for a mastiff and I think part of it is being on the small side (he's 130lbs right now) and he lives with a lab.

Per vet bills, yes, medications are done on size. For heartworm and other preventative, they don't make a dose over 100lbs, so you have to buy a smaller weight dose to compensate. A lot of treatments for infections, illness are also based on weight. However, I've had mostly large breeds and my lab. I've done a lot of fostering and quite honestly I'd say that their costs sort of average out in the end. Where you have to think about additional costs is in older giant breeds. You can't carry them so you may have to make more accomdations when arthritis (or if they do need ACL or other surgery) sets in how you're going to accomdate that.

I agree with previous comments about the training. If you start when they are young, they learn quickly. They want to please. Not in the same way a lab does, but they listen and listen well. They can be stubborn. When people ask me if they think a mastiff is right for them, what I ask is: 'do you think you can physical control a 150lbs or more dog' or be confident enough with the training aids to reduce significantly the potential that you would need to. Because that's really important, especially when thinking about having your son work with him. So you really have to work hard with the training so that are trained well enough that they stay, don't pull when walking, et cetera. You also have to know how to work with them. With my lab, I can be a bit more intense with training. With Gummy, I can't. He's definitely the sensitive mastiff. Voice raised too much and he sulk in the corner, so patience is very important with mastiffs.

Mastiffs generally do very well with cats and small dogs. In the puppy stage, it can be a bit rough cos they don't normally know their size. Gummy has tried to play with the cat a few times (that ended badly for Gummy) and a few small dogs. He's realising now that he can't. Doesn't sound like you're in the city at all. I find that it can be a bit rough in the densely populated city where lots of people have small dogs and they see Gummy and freak out even if he doesn't engage with their dog or before they even get close. That's been a test on my patience. I thought having a mastiff in London would make having a mastiff in Minneapolis seem easy, but a bit the opposite really.

They are fantastic dogs. Gummy Bear's breeder has a farm. So they have horses and cattle and his sire and dam (and their other mastiffs) do really well with the horses and cattle. You just have to research the breed really thoroughly. You won't want to run with him. They just don't do well with it. There's indications that it could cause problems (the research isn't clear on this entirely) but due to their size, they don't run well when fully grown. My last mastiff and I walked an hour or more a day. Gummy, Morty and I walk around a lake here about every day, so it's a couple hours. He's usually tired after a few days of that.

Obviously, we're biased on this board cos we love our mastiffs. But as much as I love my lab, there will not be another lab in my future. There will be more mastiffs.