Soon to have a Mastiff!

[CowboyBebop]

Hello everyone. I'm excited to be part of this community. I have a few questions and am confident that I will have several more in the very near future. My fiancé and I will be getting a mastiff, either a BM or EM in the next few weeks, providing that the breeder visits go well.

On to the questions. I was wondering how a puppy’s proportions/look maintains and changes in adulthood. I particularly love the EMs, my fiancé leans a little towards the BMs, but we both love both breeds. I have seen several sets of pictures from all of the breeders I am considering and I am curious as to how the heads and faces of the puppies will look later in life. I would ideally like an EM that will have loose jowls, a bit of a droopy/sad face, a nice boxed muzzle, and eventually a dewlap. In all of the pictures of the EM puppies, from both breeders, they look to have tighter mouths and no wrinkles. Some have longer muzzles than others, more akin to a lab’s. Will their looks change more towards their parents’ as they grow older? Will a puppy with a longer skinnier muzzle relative to their head always have one as such? Is it only old mastiffs that will develop a dewlap? None of the parents have a dewlap but they are all younger 2 to 4 years old.

Any help/advice would be great!

 

[Bentley]

Welcome!

 

[moose]

 

[Marrowshard]

I like our BM, Ebony. I haven't ever owned an EM and although I wouldn't mind it per se, the BM is definitely more compact (we've got a smaller house) and only slobbers when she drinks. We don't generally have to worry about taking a towel along when we go out and we hardly ever see the long strings of drool. It's really a matter of personal taste and I don't have anything in particular against either breed, although for us the less-drool thing was a major plus.

~Marrow

 

[BlackShadowCaneCorso]

Hello and welcome, we have lots of EM owners on here and a few BM (like Marrows ) that can provide some great information for you.

 

[CowboyBebop]

Thanks a million guys! My fiancé and I are proud owners of a Male BM! Hisname is Castle. He's going to be a big boy. He is currently 22lbs. and 8.5 weeks. His father was
about 170 and hismother 130. I fell in love the moment I saw him, although the breeder originally said he wasn't for sale because he wanted to show him in the future.





On a much sadder note. We also looked at EMs the sameday, different breeder. I'm debating if I should report the breeder or not. I have a few questions first though.

1) How long should it take the mom to bounce back weight wise? Her litter was 10 weeks old and I could see every single rib on her.

2) How much should the puppies be fed? The litter that was 10 weeks old and looked very under nourished. Several of the puppies (most of the litter) had every single rib visible as well as some of them had all of their hip bones poking out. If I remember right I think she said she was feeding them a cup and a half per puppy per day. She said that the growth phase they were going through was why they looked so skinny. Is that true?

 

[Marrowshard]

What an adorable little BM! Those are some pretty big parents! Our Eb is 97 right now, which is the lighter side of normal for a female BM. She had a serious weight problem when she arrived at the shelter, so we've been trying to keep her trim. You can feel her ribs but she's definitely not poking out anywhere. I'm not sure what to tell you about the EMs you looked at ... lots of EM people on here would know better than I, but instinctively I fel 10-week-old puppies shouldn't show sharp hip bones. I've seen a lot of growing pups look disproportionate, but mostly it seems to be in over-long legs, giant paws, etc. not ribs-and-hips.

Congratulations on your new pup! Our BM has been a wonderful addition to the family, and we wouldn't have her any other way!

~Marrow (and Ebony)

 

[Sabrina]

Your pup is beautiful!

 

[Kandie]

congrats on your new addition!!! He is very cute!

 

[JennQ]

Congrats! Bm's are amazing! enjoy every moment! your new baby is sooooo adorable! beautiful!

 

[Cody]

Congrats on your baby! He is adorable.
1.5 cups per pup @ 10 weeks is NOT enough food.
I keep my girl lean, you can see her ribs, but at 10 weeks she was on 4 cups a day.
If you can see their hip bones then I would definitely call animal services, that is not right!
It is one thing to keep them lean for growth reasons, but that is just starving them!