Please put my mind at ease a little...

[TWW]

In Ohio for there where 15 dg attacks this year 1 case was bully x mastiff.
In Ohio there where 114 house hit by cars in 2014.
Wonder which of the two you will read more about and have biggers stories about?

So with there being a 7.5 times more likely in Ohio of being run over by a sitting in yours or anyone else's front room or kitchen than being attacked by a dog, so OMG what should I do?

Same idiotic way some like to scream the sky is falling with dogs.

Who does not know if you take any dog let alone one that may outweigh the owner, and treat it poorly there a chance it will treat others poorly and not have learned the skills to be out in the world.

So how about we outlaw driving in Ohio and make everyone walk, as it would save far far more lives and stop countless injuries to people?

All that being said and asks treat your dog good and train him well, along with lots of socialization, you should be fine.

 

[teodora]

this discussion is very on topic indeed But I guess the statement that there's an inbreed tendency to kill their owners it's quite unfair to the mastiff breeds .
Nature vs nurture, how many badly abused/starved/fearful mastiffs are in shelters?
How many of them did eliminate the owners?
And what could prevent them from doing so?
Mastiffs are so powerful - a human, any humans, is practically defenceless if a mastiff is set to kill.

 

[RockstarDDB]

this discussion is very on topic indeed But I guess the statement that there's an inbreed tendency to kill their owners it's quite unfair to the mastiff breeds .
Nature vs nurture, how many badly abused/starved/fearful mastiffs are in shelters?
How many of them did eliminate the owners?
And what could prevent them from doing so?
Mastiffs are so powerful - a human, any humans, is practically defenceless if a mastiff is set to kill.

Well i can say this . I rescue , i foster for a rescue. I am in no way fear mongering or did i ever say there was an inbred tendency to kill their owners. Rescues have to put some of those dogs down that were abused. They scoure the shelters all the time pulling all types of mastiff's out assessing them they rarely sit long here in California . And yes sometimes they have to be put down sometimes health and sometimes the dog cannot be mentally Rehabilitated. That is rare they bounce back pretty well when shown love and care but it is a ton of work to fix issues of aggression . It's usually Males that go that route . Their are certain breeds that are harder to rehab . Presa , corso's can be difficult. And Neo's well one of the questions a lot of breeders, rescues ask how will you handle it when your neo has a little test of your courage . I don't know how i suggested they have an inbred tendency to attack their owners. I must have come off wrong.

 

[musicdeb]

You make perfect sense to me, RockstarDDB. It is true, most mastiffs do not make it out of the animal shelters. Rescues are overwhelmed with pups because BYB's who breed for $$ and they do not care what type of pups they bring into the world. I agree, mastiffs are not predisposed to violence unless their genetics are messed up but that can happen with any breed.

If Titan had gone to a shelter, he would have been euthanized due to fear aggression.

I believe and reiterated what RockstarDDB has said, that if a pup is continually abused and if given the chance, they will retaliate against said person abusing them. For example, a young child constantly is hitting a pup or hurting them, the pup is going to retaliate against the young child.

 

[cj-sharpy]

Not read full thread yet but I will say that while genetics play a part (prey drive, fetch, lap dog etc) I believe in nurture over nature. Your dog might always want to defend you against bad things but it's your job to teach him what bad things are. Strangers = treats, children = treats, calm behaviour = treats. That'll help him realize that if you ask a person in to your house or if a child runs up to hug him that's a good thing so no need to react.
If mum and dad are happy with what's going on then he need not worry.
And as said no one goes hunting on the Internet to ask why their dog is so well behaved. So you'll read more bad stories than good.
But you're starting with a puppy who has no preset idea of the world and if you're already asking these questions then I think you're heading in the right direction and you'll have many happy years with a happy pooch.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[teodora]

I was just trying to say that I trust their balance and good judgement versus other breeds. And this is the very reason I preferred to get a mastiff - with myself and a young child in the house & a remote location, I want a dog I can trust. We're certainly NOT abusers nor new dog owners, but there's a certain risk to spoil him. I've had dogs pretty much all my life, with 2 exceptions they all have been perfect friends and members of our family: one of the exceptions was a great dane. He was an old and huge dog that we found as stray and we decided to foster until we find him a proper family. He was probably a fighting dog - he was full of scars, new and old ones. He didn't do anything wrong while in our house, he was just stalking me all the time with a very intense stare and I just felt uneasy. I had an unexplained fear towards him. All the time. I had German Shepherds and Rotties, so I wasn't a new dog owner. I just could not bond with that dog. My fault: I could not. We eventually found him an owner who adored him and he adored her just as much. When I think about "elimination" I instinctively see THAT dog. I have no idea what he planned, but he didn't do anything wrong. Not even once. And we've been alone in the house many, many times. He didn't attack me or his owner or her children later. He was just spooky from my pov, but he was harmless in the end. He didn't like men, though. He just ignored them completely.
The other "exception" was my terrier, we've had him since he was a puppy and we spoiled him in all possible ways. He was "mom's boy" and he didn't get used to the new addition when I had a baby. To cut the story short, he attacked me one night while I was feeding the baby, targeting the baby. There were warnings related to the baby (pee at baby door, destroy baby's toys and blankets) but I didn't see them. I didn't expect him to turn on me. He got terribly aggressive towards us after that incident. We considered the option to put him down but I couldn't. We've been through a divorce and my ex took him. He never attacked again. So he was "rehabilitated" - he's living in a farm now, with animals and birds and he never ever had another issue. He eventually found a way to "manage" his aggression, as his only trigger were babies, specifically my new born baby.
So, yep, basically this is an example that any dog of any breed can go wrong, even without any kind of abuse - when they are small the damage is small, when the dog is big the damage can be huge. We, humans, tend to be biased and do subjective risk evaluations: I've done it with the great dane, I've been wrong with my terrier as well. I am sorry for every dog that gets put down because of aggression. Deep inside i am sure somebody with enough love and patience CAN help that dog trust humans again. We just don't want to take the perceived risk - and that risk may be real, or not.
Sorry for the long post.

 

[DogueOwner]

Another simple but overlooked tip is to take him in the car for daily errands. Lots of people and things to see along the way. Like everyone is saying, socialization at young age is important. I would bring my guy into Home Depot quite often when he was younger.

Best of luck!!

 

[meganp]

Wow I'm not sure I expected exactly this response. First I'll say that nothing has happened with my pup to make me worry, I just tend to like to prepare myself as much as possible. Since I've brought him home we've had vistors, a party with about 30 people and my sister comes by with her two young kids often. This will be pretty normal for his life. He's also not gone more then three hours alone. I've signed us up for doggy school. (As much for me as for him.) I knew bringing him into our lives would have challenging moments especially in the beginning. I worked with children with challenging behaviors for years so I think I was aware my patience level could take a lot. Years ago my family had a Bullmastiff so I also knew the mastiff breed a little.

I just want to say I don't think dog aggression is black and white. Maybe it's from my own personal experience but I think theres a lot we don't know about aggressive behaviors in dogs. My family had a Great Pyrenees, for three years he was great, we took him to play with other dogs, he'd come with me to my friends houses and he was great with everyone. Then around three years old he got really sick, he was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease and it almost killed him. It didn't but he was never the same. He became especially aggressive towards males but was aggressive towards most people who came near the house. He loved my family and we were able to work with him so that he would be comfortable with people who were often at our house but if someone new came in we absolutely had to have him on a leash and he'd growl and lunge at them. To us he'd just lick us and curl up next to us. When he was just about eight years old he stopped eating and when we took him to the vet we found out his body was shutting down due to complications from his disease. (Nothing we could have prevented.) The amazing thing was we took him to a new vet with his muzzle on not sure how he'd react, they only would let women in the room to work on him. The dog did not so much as pick his head up off the floor, growl or anything for the whole exam. He went home with us for four days till all the results came back and we found out for sure there were no other options and when we took him back to put him to rest he walked in as calm as can be. He was the dog we knew from his early years. (I like to think he knew they were there to help stop him from hurting any more.) But I guess my point is when it comes down to it they're still animals and I don't think there's ever one answer for any dog, they might be predisposed to a certain attitude but there's a lot of variables.

 

[musicdeb]

I agree, meganp, dog aggression is not black and white.

Sounds like your pup is in good hands.