Any Mastiff Owners....english or neopolitan specifically? (boxers, bullmastiff, English Mastiff)

[jeanninefafb]

My husband and I love big dogs. Sadly, last march we had to put our rottie down due to Bone Cancer-he just lost the will to fight and we couldnt see him in that pain anymore. AND we own a St Bernard that has addisons disease and hypothyroidism (we are just the luckiest dog owners in the world, cant you tell) and though she is treated with expensive meds we know her lifespan will be reduced due to her adrenal disorders. Anyway we have been thinking of getting another dog since our Saint has seemed sad and depressed since we lost our rottie last spring.
We are interested specifically in Mastiffs.....English or Neopolitan. Anyone have or had one that wants to chime in on intelligence and family attitude. We have no kids and no plans for any at any point. My husband is gone alot and so I like having larger dogs around with me being home alone so much. We like to take our dogs everywhere and go out in public and we love to work on obedience/training. We are not the type of owners who enjoy extensive exercise with our dogs....maybe a 20-25 min walk every day and once we walk the dog we enjoy it if they pass out (thats the way our rottie was and the way our st bernard is and we like that) and sleep all afternoon. So the higher energy dogs like labs, boxers etc arent our cup of tea.
We like big dogs that are super friendly/goofy and want to meet people....so the saint bernard disposition has been great for us. We arent seeking a guard dog type big dog...can you tell me from your experience do mastiffs with proper socialization and training tend to be the type of dog that you can walk through the park with and let people pet them? It has been our experience with a Saint that she gets tons of attention and people always want to pet her because of her size and I would assume its the same way with mastiffs?

[brokencrayola]

We have had 3 English Mastiffs. Our biggest was a female that weighed 200 lbs. They are beautiful animals and gentle giants for sure. We had 3 children at that time and they were good with them. On the downside, they drool a lot, eat a lot, do not know their own strength and are very powerful, and do not live long lives, like 7-8 yrs. I do love them though!

[jeanninefafb]

Well the "downsides" arent a surprise...as our saint drools, eats a good bit and has run into me and knocked me down in an excited state of glee one too many times. I am guessing you have to wipe the drool marks from the wall or paint over them as we do!
I think you hit the nail on the head when you said "gentle giants" as that is what we LOVE and ADORE about our Saint and that is the main quality we would look for in our next dog as well.
thanks for the input

[gardener34]

Why not get another st. bernard?

I know you didn't ask about them, but, as for a "huge" breed I can vouch for, sis has a landseer (or newfoundland) that is an awesome dog.

[MotleyCrew]

We have two English Mastiffs that are litter mates. The male is over 200lbs and the little female not far behind him. They are very spoiled and intellegent only when they want to be. I keep touch up paint handy and soon I will patch the drywall corners. They are fantastic watch dogs (when they are awake) and seem to strike fear in people just by their size. They are very gentle however. The male drools more than the female, she actually has a very dry mouth compared to him. The only other dog we would consider in the future would be a Bulldog. You should not keep your Mastiffs on slippery floors, they can injure themselves easily. Stairs were a no no as far as the breeder was concerned. Good luck to you.

[jeanninefafb]

gardener34,
We have found that after the loss of our rottie that we would never want another rottie because of the manerisms and physical similarities in dogs that are of the same breed....it would just remind us too much of him. Same with the bernard....we know that ours wont live even as long as other saints do due to her endocrine issues and i wouldnt want a constant reminder of a dog of the same breed. Thats just how we feel....we would rather try out a new breed and discover the new personalities in other breeds.
As for the newfie...not so much into the long hair!

[brokencrayola]

We did not keep the Mastiff's in the house. We live in a very sm. 3 bed. house with 4 children and there simply was not enough space for 3 Mastiff's. People are intimidated just by the sheer size of these animals as far as being watchdogs.

[gardener34]

Yes, they are very hairy. But he is a big clown and great with kids.

[cj927]

We have 2 english mastiffs and a 1/2 bullmastiff. A really wonderfull breed. Alot less hair than the saint. Great tempermants , my daughter uses there head as a foot stool to get on the couch. They tolerate everything she does to them. I have one dominant female and one submissive female. Two totally different personalities but both extremely affectionate. Try looking into mastiff rescue to see if any are available.

[jeanninefafb]

Good idea about the rescue...thats were we got our rottie from.

We dont have kids but I am glad to hear they are tolerant, thats important to us. Thats one thing we love about the saint.....super tolerant...if you accidentally step on her foot she just wags her tail. Plus we have friends who bring kids over and the saint just wants to sit there with the kids-she just follows them around everywhere they go.