English mastiff

racso1975

I have been doing a bi of research on the above dog and was wondering if people have any opinions or experience of them.

How manys hours exercise a day would they require?

What are he food bills like?

How difficult/easy are they to train?

Are there temperments as good as a lot of sites say?

I would also like peoples opinions on his last point. Myself and mrs racso will be tryin for children next year would we be better off holding off and havin the child first so as to avoid jealousy with in the dog?

Thanks in advance

pinkStorm

I own a neapolitan Mastiff and Great Dane which is really a german mastiff. I know they're diffferent breeds but the excercise levels should be similar :-)

The great dane is over a year now and needs a 30 min walk in the morning or afternoon minimum, she plays alot with our neapolitan aswell so she's getting enough excercise. we usually take a longer walk on weekends..

The neapolitan Mastiff is 5 months old and doesn't require any excercise for the first year, playing in the garden with our great dane is more than enough for him.

Both our dogs are great with children but these are massive dogs and you would need to supervise, but i find the giant breed dogs move more slowly and are more happy to lie and watch children than get involved too much. I had a husky before and he always needed to be in the centre of any action.

Feeding costs per dog will be about 10 euro a week...buy a good quality dry food.

I have to say aside form size the giant breeds are easier to own cause they are so laid back, but thats just in my experience. Both my dogs are very affectionate and love nothing more than to be sitting next to u asleep...they always want to be close.

hedonaut

Hi,
I have an old English Mastiff bitch, she is very big but very gentle. She needs quite a bit of exercise but not as much as a smaller dog. In fact, mastiffs shouldn't get too much exercise until they re fully grown. Feeding is about twice that of a collie but drinking is much more. You must have a large bucket of water available at all times. They do tend to drool a bit. My bitch is about 12 stone and won't get much heavier but I have seen males as big as 15 stone, they are much more docile. Mastiffs are really house dogs and shouldn't be kept if they are not going to be given a lot of affection and good shelter and exercise. They are also very sensitive and should never be hit. They have very thick, strong tails which are just about the correct height for cups, vases and childrens heads so be careful! If you are less that 12 or 13 stone yourself then you will not be able to hold a mastiff on a leash unless you train it very well from the start.

EGAR

There is a 15mths old spayed, vax'd wormed and chipped EM bitch looking for a home, she is well trained. She is not with me but if you are interested I can put you in touch.

racso1975

thanks egar pm sent