When I met my husband, he was a commercial pilot, which means he was away from home overnight several times per month. Eventually, we bought a house out in the country on a somewhat secluded lot surrounded by dense woods on three sides, with a small lake fronting the fourth. It's a very serine setting, which is what we wanted, but the house makes an ideal target for the undesirable elements of our society. The dark setting, especially on moonless nights, surrounded by woods provides excellent cover to any approaching individual having ill-intent. So our interest in obtaining a dog was rooted equally in our desire for me to have both security and companionship while home alone.
While small, high-energy, yippy dogs provide excellent early warning of approaching visitors, they obviously aren't much good in a home defense situation. We wanted a large dog having a visually-intimidating presence, one that didn't bark much (except when alerted), didn't require a whole lot of daily, energy-burning activity, and one that was known to be extremely loyal and innately protective of its home environment. Also, I hated the prospect of daily coat-brushing to remove snarls and vacuuming up dog hair, so I wanted a short-haired canine that didn't shed all that much. We both did our research independently, narrowing down our choices to a select few before comparing notes. The Bullmastiff was at the top of my list and very high on my husband's.
Reading up on the history of the Bullmastiff as a British gamekeepers' watchdog, guarding estates against poachers, I became intrigued, quickly setting about reading all I could about the breed. We have guns in the house for home defense. I train with them often, right on our property, so I know how to use them. All we really needed in a defender-dog was one that would, at the very least, slow down (if not run off entirely) an intruder long enough for me to get to the gun safe. Toward that end, in reading about the Bullmastiff breed, a few things I found desirable stood out. I liked the notion that Bullmastiffs typically do not attack as matter of first resort, choosing instead to place themselves between the threat and the person they are guarding, assuming an aggressive posture and standing their ground against a potential attacker. I liked the prospect of having a dog that reacted to a home intrusion with the implied suggestion, "if you want to get to her, you have to get past me first, pal…and good luck to you on that." As for companionship, reading that Bullmastiffs typically have an innate desire to always be close to their "pack members" was just icing on the cake for me.
As for the down-side of the breed, some say it's their stubbornness. While that can be frustrating at times, such independent-mindedness, along with their typical supreme self-confidence, is what makes them special…at least to me. The biggest down-side is their relatively short life span. We lost our first Bullmastiff, a male, in March. He was only five years old. I thought I was going to die from a broken heart. We have our four-year-old female who, while not the prettiest Bullmastiff you've ever seen, is lovable, loyal and highly-protective. And we have our little guy now, too, soon to be five months old, the half-nephew of the one we lost in March, and very much like his uncle in personality who had strong guarding instincts.
