English Mastiffs

I love all animals & especially my beautiful, sweet, innocent, loving huge monster dogs. Abby & Buddha are my life, my loves. A few years back I told everyone I was not a dog person & I wasn't.....

Then there was Nick, an English Mastiff, who has no idea the impact he had on my life. ....

My husband and I were at Home Depot on a Saturday. There was a rescue at the Petsmart next door displaying all the poor, homeless dogs that needed someone. I went past as I always do, looking at them, feeling sorry at their plight. At the very end of the row of crates there was one dog, with a face so sad & compelling I could not take my eyes off of him. He looked at me as if to say, please - see me, love me, take me home! He sat there calmly, head crooked to the side, eyes pleading and unspoken plea for love & care. He was huge & beautiful a dark apricot with black mask. His eyes so black & penetrating, begging silently.....

My husband joined me and I asked him to look at this dog, how sweet & beautiful. He backed away and said, "you are NOT getting a dog." I reluctantly backed away and eventually moved my eyes from him and we left.....

Days, weeks went by ... but I could not get Nick out of my mind. Two weeks later I called Petsmart & asked for the name of the shelter. I called the shelter and asked if Nick had been adopted - he had an adoption pending. My heart was broken for me but very happy for Nick. I do not know if the adoption went through or if he was happy, if they kept or returned him, but I never saw Nick again with the rescue at Petsmart so I hope he is loved and well cared for. He remains in my heart to this day.....

After hearing of Nick's pending adoption I started reading about English Mastiffs on-line. I was obsessed with this breed and felt an instant connection to them at the very core of my sole. I talked to my husband & updated him about the information I found. I called breeders and spoke to them about these beautiful, awesome animals. Everything I found out about them made me feel these were dogs we needed in our life. The only downside was their slobber, but that didn't bother me because the pro list was so much longer.....

I wanted to rescue a Mastiff because there are few people who want these large, gentle giants. They need someone like me. We contacted a rescue and scheduled for them to bring Max to us of a meet & greet. Prior to the meet and greet my daughter had suggested watching Cesar Milan, the Dog Whisperer. I did and gained a ton of confidence in my ability to handle these monster dogs. So Max emerged from the van & he was gigantic. He was very excited and nervous because he was in a new and scary environment. We took him for a walk &, using Cesar's methods, I was impressed at how well I was able to handle him even though he was bigger than I am (I am only 4'7").....

Then we went into the house. We had a couple of birds at that time and he immediately lunged for them, scaring them to death! The writing was on the wall. For the safety of our birds we were going to have to get a puppy and raise it with the birds so they would be safe.....

Max left & we were crushed. We decided to run to Petco, which was just around the corner from us and about 1 mile from our house there was a sign on a fence "English Mastiff Puppies For Sale!" It was a sign. We did a U turn (legal one of course) and went back to the house. There were 13 little Mastiffs only 4 weeks old without their mother. I was still pretty naive at the time & didn't realize this was way too young for puppies to be taken from their mom. We talked to the man with the dogs then left to think about it. We got home and debated briefly, but knew we had to go back and get the cute little fawn female we had been holding. It was a cold, wet spring day - my husband went to get our little girl. He said the minute he walked in the little fawn we had picked out jumped over all her siblings and ran to him. He brought this little 3lb pup to me & I immediately took her to the sink and bathed her - 3 times before she was clean. I blew her dry and held her in my arms for a long time to warm and calm her.....

That little girl, who we named Abby, grew into a 130lb beautiful, sweet loving sole with a personality no one can resist. She is the love of my life. ....

We fell so in love with her & she seemed so lonely during the day while we were gone that, when she was approximately 2, we started looking for another male mastiff. I wanted a Neopolitan male mastiff this time. I looked and looked. One day I went to the online ads yet again and there was a picture of a beautiful 6 mo old English Mastiff. He had the Nick look on his face in the picture. I called my husband to the computer and said, "look John, I think I found our dog." We made an appointment to go see him and he came home with us. He walked right into the house, went straight to Abby's bed in front of the fireplace, grabbed one of her toys & he was home. He fit right in as if he had always been with us. We named him Buddha & he too is the sweetest, gentle giant you could ever want. They are yin & yang being complete opposites, but they are alike in the sense they are filled with love and give it regularly. They love each other devotedly and they both seem completely content. Abby has always been hyper (still less than most dogs at her worst), which is unusual for a mastiff & something I attribute to being weaned from her mom too soon. Abby is losing her hyper-ness as she ages & is way more calm at 3 years old now. During the summer she expends her energy by swimming like a fish - she loves the water & it is hard to get her out. Buddha has always been completely calm. He however, prefers to run through a sprinkler to swimming & will only do one small circle in the pool then gets out and give you a look like "I'm done now!" He sits back and watches where Abby does-everything! He is the cautious protector; Abby feels everyone was put on this earth to pet her & they usually do!

These dogs would not hurt a fly, unless they perceive a threat. If I were to show fear of anyone they would protect me with their life, I am sure of it. I do not worry about our house or being here alone when my husband works at night. ....

If you are looking for a dog, a family member, a friend - you need to look past their size and see their heart, which is larger than they are. A Mastiff, especially an English Mastiff is the best dogs in the world as far as I am concerned & if you ever had one, you would never want any other dog. They are perfect - at least for us.