D Dog Fan | November 10th, 2010
If you had a dog when you were a child, you will want your own children to experience the same positive feelings and you will get your children a dog. If you did not, you just have to read My First Best Friend to find out what an amazing thing a dog can be in a child’s life. Not only does a dog teach children responsibility, but it also helps them develop a healthy personality and a balanced emotional life.
However, bringing a dog into the family is not always a smart thing to do. You need to make sure that both the children and the adult members of the family are ready for a furry friend, otherwise someone is likely to get disappointed over time. You also need to make sure that you are selecting the right breed and you are treating your dog in a way that guarantees your children’s safety.
Now is your chance to get the contents of this $19.97 value ebook delivered to your inbox for free. Don’t miss out!
Big Dog | March 5th, 2010
Every Mastiff owner should have a basic knowledge of the breed, first of all, to determine whether it is the right breed for them. The Mastiff Master Training Guide aims higher than that. Written by Steve E Peters, renowned Mastiff trainer, it offers a comprehensive guide to Mastiff owners. Beyond the following major categories, it leaves no questions about Mastiffs unanswered:
- What to feed your Mastiff
- How to train him
- How to groom him
- How to bond with him
If you really care about your Mastiff, you should take the time to educate yourself on how Mastiffs are best treated, trained and cared for so that you can give your dog everything it deserves. If you want to learn everything there is to know about the Mastiff breed from one single resource instead of putting bits and pieces of information together from several sources, the Mastiff Master is your best bet.
Big Dog | July 8th, 2010
One of the first problems that usually occurs after having a new pet is housetraining it. It seems like Sharda Bakers knows something that we don’t – she promises to potty train our dog in just 7 days! She’s so confident that she’s ready to give back the whole price of the book, if the training wasn’t succesful!
The content of her e-book and audio package is based on real life experience, she had struggled as much with potty training as anyone else, and she summarized her experiences.
She promises that any kind of dogs can be housetrained in as short as 7 days. Go ahead and find out more about her secrects!
You can check out “The Complete Potty Training Guide” Sharda Baker’s other products by clicking on the picture on the left.
Big Dog | November 30th, 2011
The title of being the “Gentle Giant” of the dog world goes to the English Mastiff. They are large and heavy breed of dogs but contradict this with their affectionate and calm ways. One other physical characteristic of this breed would be their black mask that might make you wonder if this dog is hiding fascinating trivia about its breed, fortunately they do. Here are some facts about the English Mastiff.
Aicama Zorba of England is an English Mastiff that is responsible for making the breed popular because it is the dog recorded to have the greatest weight ever. The 1989 edition of the Guinness Book of World record stated that Zorba weighed 343 pounds or 156 kilograms. This record also cemented its status in the annals of the World record because they stopped accepting heaviest dog records in 2000.
English Mastiffs have been featured in numerous films today and were included in old literary works. One such work would be Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Adventure of the Copper Beeches,” a Sherlock Holmes short story. According to the story, the protagonist starved the English Mastiff to make it more formidable against its enemies. In the end, however, his dog attacked him because of his callous and careless actions.
It is noticeable that English Mastiffs cost more than other dog breeds. That is because both female and male English Mastiffs are prone to fertility problems, producing only three litters in a lifetime. Furthermore, the mother’s large size usually results in it smothering or crushing the puppies. This can be remedied however by the use of whelping boxes.
The Livingston County chapter of the American Red Cross honored a 200-pound English Mastiff called Lurch. This was because Lurch was able to donate blood 20 times saving dozens of other dogs such as one who was poisoned.
Big Dog | March 8th, 2011
The most well known appearance of this dog breed was in the comedy-drama movie The Sandlot. The story begins with a kid named Scotty Small, who wants to learn how to play baseball. He manages to find some buddies and he is invited to take part in the local team. They are having a great time playing, but soon they have to face a fearful threat. The infamous English Mastiff called “The Beast” is about to eat their baseball.
The dog was played by the world’s largest and heaviest dog Hercules. Smalls and his friends have to come up with a plan in order to get back the ball from the massive and ferocious dog, The Beast. Unfortunately the kids manage to injure the dog with the fence, while trying to recover the ball. Smalls feels responsible for this trouble and he helps the dog to escape from the collapsed fence. As a result of this, The Beast changes his attitude towards the kids and becomes friendly with them.
The movie has a second episode The Sandlot 2, which came out in 2005. We can see in the movies that this breed is huge, massive and powerful, but with proper handling can be really affectionate.
Do you know any other famous English Mastiff dogs? Post a comment with your story!
Big Dog | October 30th, 2010
In my opinion, yes, if you would like to have a huge, massive, powerful and energetic dog that is alert, dominant and fearless. They are also intelligent, reliable and are very devoted to their family. The English Mastiff doesn’t like to be alone for a longer period of time, otherwise they can become bored and destructive. They love children, but the best is to keep them together in a house only with older, considerate children. They don’t like other dogs and pets around themselves, except if they have been raised together. This breed is possessive and they tend to protect their family at all cost.
The coat of the English Mastiff is straight, coarse and short, double coat that requires minimal, weekly grooming. They are light shedders. Sadly, this breed is prone to health issues like hip dysplasia, bloat and gastric torsion. They tend to drool and snore.
Training of the English Mastiff is hard, as this breed is dominant and never responds well to harsh training methods. They need a firm, consistent and patient trainer. Early obedience training and socialization is a must for this dog. They excel in guarding, weight pulling and rescue.
All in all, the English Mastiff is good for families with older, considerate children and need daily play sessions and long walks. They can do well in an apartment if enough exercise is provided for them.
I hope these few sentences will be able to help you decide whether the English Mastiff is the best breed for you.
Big Dog | September 29th, 2010
If you are a dog owner, you probably remember the time you bought your first puppy. It is not easy to forget all the thinking, research, weighing pros and cons and the inevitable fear of not making the right decision when you buy a puppy.
If you are about to buy a puppy you are probably in the middle of this process and are reading an article that may save you a lot of hassle.
When it comes to making decisions that will effect our lives for more than a decade, we sometimes find that we just simply don’t have the intellectual capacity to consider every single factor that will influence the outcome. It is the same when buying a puppy.
“Factors To Consider When Picking Your Perfect Puppy” does a great job at pointing out the most important aspects of making such a long term commitment. It is brief, easy to understand, gives you all the essentials in a nutshell and it is free to download and share.
Big Dog | September 10th, 2010
The earliest memories of Mastiff-like dogs go back to 2200 BC. Babylonians called these giant dogs Molossus or Dogs.
The first Mastiffs were brought to Europe from Asia by Phoenicians around 500 BC. Both British and Romans liked these muscled dogs and used them as war-dogs or fighting dogs. Animals fights were very popular at this time and Mastiffs had to face and fight any kind of animal that the Romans brought back from their trips.. But on the other hand, Mastiffs were “respected” for their braveness during wars, since they were really fearless warriors.
In the 15th century, when the society was extremely divided, the poor didn’t have enough to eat, and the rich lived in amazing luxury. Because of this, illegal hunting became more and more common and the rich used Mastiffs to scare the poochers. The other job of these dogs was to hunt big animals.
In the beginning of the 20th century, Mastiffs were nearly extinct, but some English breeders decided to save the breed. So they mixed with short-hair St Bernards to be able to have healthy puppies. The mission was succesful, however, the 2nd World War started soon, which brought the breed near extinction again. Then some enthusiastic breeders met in 1946 and decided to save the Mastiff, whereas it seemed quite impossible: the still living dogs were too old to reproduce, and there were only 7 dogs in the country in 1947. Finally they could bring 2 puppies from the US and saved the breed. In 1950 there were already 50 Mastiff dogs.
Recently, the Mastiff is not a particularly popular breed but its excisting is stable. There are 1000 dogs in the UK and about the same in other countries too.
The Mastiff is not a fighter or a warrior anymore. That period is fortunately over, nowadays a Mastiff is more of a family pet, and of course, an excellent watchdog.
photo: Wikimedia
Big Dog | August 25th, 2010
Did you know that Mastiffs have been used as a watchdog in England for over 2000 years?
Mastiff dogs are one of the biggest breeds recognized by AKC, but in spite of their size, they are very loving and loyal family pets.
We can count with over 17 Mastiff breeds, the most popular ones are the English, the Neapolitan and the Tibetan Mastiff.
Big Dog | August 18th, 2010
Sourcre: louise-bryant
Find the Mastiff!
Big Dog | July 22nd, 2010
The first and most important thing is: prevention. It means training and socializing your English Mastiff from early puppyhood.
But if the trouble is already here and you have to deal with an aggressive English Mastiff, the first thing to do is to find the reason hidden behind its behavior. It is most probably some kind of fear that your dog has. It can be because of a previous owner, the breeder, or it can be because of you, too. Make sure to give your dog enough care and space at the same time, make very clear limits on what he can do and he can’t. Consistence is very important too.
Don’t keep your dog chained, no matter what, because it leads directly to aggression.
It is very important for him to feel comfortable and to get positive feedbacks. Negative training can never lead to a solution, it’d only make things worse!
If you keep a positive atmosphere, all dogs have the possibility to live well-balanced.
Avoid unnecessary vet bills! Do your dog’s basic health check!
