Our English Mastiff: Piper Cub

Litter of Puppies

2009-07-04T10:01:00.003-05:00

Piper had her first litter of puppies! You can see them at http://www.happymastiffs.com

One of the Kids

2008-06-09T13:09:00.004-05:00

Piper, in her standard place, watching the kids. :)

Piper on St. Patrick's Day

2008-04-27T21:50:00.000-05:00

The kid's didn't want anyone pinching Piper since she wasn't wearing green on St. Patrick's Day- so they dressed her in this green shirt to make sure she was safe! The kids have a vivid imagination.

Piper at the Water

2008-01-07T13:37:00.000-06:00

Shepherd and Piper

2007-12-03T08:33:00.001-06:00

Our English Mastiff at 8 Months Old

2007-11-05T19:12:00.000-06:00

Mastiff vs A Softball

2007-10-26T20:43:00.000-05:00

Piper loves chasing the softball. Unfortunately, the softball doesn't survive a Mastiff's powerful jaws. Here are some photos of what an eight month old Mastiff can do to a softball.

Description of a Mastiff as a Watch Dog

2007-10-24T03:11:00.000-05:00

A System of Natural History: Containing Scientific and Popular Descriptions ... By baron Georges Cuvier

A Mastiff and a Theif

2007-10-24T03:08:00.001-05:00

The natural history of dogs, including also the genera hyaena and proteles ... By Charles Hamilton Smith

1865 Description of Mastiff

2007-10-24T02:49:00.000-05:00

The following quote was taken from a 1865 book that describes the English Mastiff. Its description of the Mastiff then is remarkable in that the author could have been describing the temperment of the Mastiff today- our Mastiff, Piper, is almost exactly the same in temperment. Piper isn't bothered by strangers- ie; show untoward aggression or growling toward them- but she does keep watch them closely to make sure that they aren't going to hurt anyone.

"The MASTIFF which is the largest and most powerful of the indigenous English Dog is of a singularly mild and placid temper seeming to delight in employing its great powers in affording protection to the weak whether they be men or Dogs. It is averse to inflicting an injury upon a smaller animal even when it has been sorely provoked and either looks down upon its puny tormentor with sovereign disdain or inflicts just sufficient punishment to indicate the vast strength which it could employ but which it would not condescend to waste upon so insignificant a foe. Yet with all this nobility of its gentle nature it is a most determined and courageous animal in fight and when defending its master or his property becomes a foe which few opponents would like to face. These qualifications of mingled courage and gentleness adapt it especially for the service of watch dog a task in which the animal is as likely to fill by overweening zeal as by neglect of its duty. It sometimes happens that a watch dog is too hasty in its judgment and attacks a harmless stranger on the
supposition that it is resisting the approach of an enemy. Sometimes the bulldog strain is mixed with the Mastiff in order to add a more stubborn courage to the animal but in the eyes of good judges this admixture is quite unnecessary. "
The Illustrated Natural History By John George Wood

Brought Over on the Mayflower?

2007-10-24T02:36:00.000-05:00

Was the Mastiff one of two breeds of dogs brought over by the pilgrims on the Mayflower? According to the following excerpt, it was.

History of the Pilgrims and Puritans: Their Ancestry and Descendants; Basis ... By Joseph Dillaway Sawyer

Procurator Cynegii

2007-10-23T09:31:00.001-05:00

Anecdotes of Dogs By Edward Jesse

About the early name for the Mastiff: The Banddog

2007-10-23T09:10:00.000-05:00

When reading about the history of Mastiffs, I often come across the name "Bandog" to refer to the Mastiff. In the 1885 edition of American Kennel Register: A Monthly Record, there is an article that explores the origin of the Mastiff. It seems that in Saxon times in Great Britain, that this breed of dogs was kept chained- or tied by a "band": therefore they were referred to as "banddogs".

American Kennel Register: A Monthly Record

Scary Image- English Mastiff Running at You

2007-10-22T18:14:00.002-05:00

This is how an English Mastiff looks when it is running toward someone- when it is happy. This photo is of Piper running toward me after I called for her to come to me.

We took her for her first vet visit (since we have had her) on Saturday. She received a clean bill of health. She weighs 77 lbs at 8 months of age. I also asked the vet if I needed to keep feeding her puppy food- the vet said yes, especially for her breed, that I should continue to feed her puppy for for about another year.

The Dogs of the British Islands: Being a Series of Articles on the Points of ... By John Henry Walsh

2007-10-15T19:23:00.000-05:00

The Dogs of the British Islands: Being a Series of Articles on the Points of ... By John Henry Walsh: ""

A well-broken mastiff may be taken out at all hours, and in any company, by the most delicate lady, without the slightest fear of leading her into a scrape,and with the most perfect confidence in his protection. There are few
Newfoundlands even, docile as they are generally considered to be, from whom it
would be safe to take away a bone, but this may be fearlessly done by the master
or mistress of the mastiff; and with children he is gentleness itself; yet
when roused, and set at man or animal, his courage is second only to that of the
bulldog.

As I mentioned in one of my earliest blog entries regarding why we chose the English Mastiff over other breeds- it was because of its reputation for being a great and loyal guard dog- but yet gentle with women and kids. This has certainly proven true in our household of 8 kids- including 3 really small children and matches the author's opinion of the breed from over 100 years ago.

Charles Dickens On the English Mastiff

2007-10-15T18:55:00.000-05:00

The following was written about the English Mastiff by Charles Dickens, of whom our literary friends would remember is the author of A Christmas Carol, A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations- and a great many other classic books of English literature.

Curiously enough, the feminine portion of the spectators, while indifferent to the charms of the bull-dog, is keenly alive to those of his tiny caricature the pug, and his big brother the mastiff. Sealskin jackets and velvet mantles crowd round " Grauby " and other great lion-like creatures of the mastiff race. Is it their short faces, their black muzzles, or their leonine colour ? Or is it not rather the well-known sweet temper of these creatures which proves an invincible attraction to the fair sex? (Note emphasis added by blog author)
from All the Year Round by Charles Dickens 1876

Mr. Dickens had the following to say about the continued breeding of the English Mastiff:
We read, it is true, of the " Old English " bull-dogs, mastiffs, and great ban-dogs ; but so far as can be ascertained, these dogs were much smaller than their descendants, who have been carefully bred for size. To a reverend gentleman is due much of the improvement in the modern breed of mastiff, which has been elevated by his care to magnificent proportions. It requires no dog-fancier to trace the links of relationship which bind the great watch-dogs together. In the rough and smooth St. Bernard, and in the English mastiff, are distinctly traceable the strain of the bloodhound — perhaps the most really thoroughbred dog alive — whose long ears, deep lip,'narrow head, and keen scent, stamp him as a distinct type. Oddly like unto the bloodhound and the Newfoundland are the rough St. Bernards, while the smoother of these dogs are veritable mastiffs, retaining somewhat overmuch of the bloodhound expression. Three famous breeders of the present day are working hard at the improvement of the English mastiff ; one by the aid of the bloodhound, another by the St. Bernard, and the third, it is shrewdly suspected, by the bull-dog. From whatever source they produce their dogs, it is already settled that a mastiff who resembles a bloodhound too closely stands no chance of getting a prize, the happy medium which combines the bull-dog brow with a little of the bloodhound" lip being esteemed perfection.

English Mastiff Size Bone

2007-10-08T20:11:00.001-05:00

Mastiffs can crunch through small "normal" size bones like popcorn. I found this bone at Wal-Mart- it was called a Mammoth Bone and cost about $8.00. Piper loved it and has been gnawing on it for about a week.

First Boarding

2007-10-07T19:34:00.000-05:00

We atteneded a church convention this week- which meant that we needed to board Piper for five days.

We took her and our Minature Schnauzer, Sarah, to the TLC Pet Care Services boarders. I also took Piper's blanket and toys so that she would have something familiar to her to be with her. We bought a large bone for her to gnaw on while we were gone as well. A VERY large Mastiff size bone.

The boarders also had some very cute Great Pyranees puppies and another an additional 2 year old female Great Pyranees. One of them had the same name as my son, Sebastian- so he was quite pleased with that. The photo above shows my son Sebastian with Sebastian the Great Pyranees puppy.

We had been worried that she might not do too well at the boarders- as English Mastiff's become very attached to their family. But, she seemed fine when we picked her up. She she was happy to be home- it took a few minutes for her to quit running through the house at full speed.

About Piper Cub

2007-10-01T08:46:00.000-05:00

Piper was born March 17, 2007 to Dahms Bruiser and Kordsmeiers Sophie. We acquired her from a breeder located near Jasper, AL on September 3rd, 2007.

Her personality is extremely laid back. She likes to play with the kids- even more so than the adults. And she likes to sleep. A lot. I had read from some various websites that Mastiffs like to get up in bed with people to sleep- and that this behavior should be discouraged. They weren't joking. Piper does like to climb into bed with whomever is sleeping at the moment. She then proceeds to hog up the whole bed. As Mastiffs are large- they are very hard to move once they fall asleep.

I had also read that Mastiffs tend to follow people around from room to room- ie, they don't like being left alone in a room. This seems to be true as well- Piper will leave a room and follow either my wife or I into another room. Since I have began writing this blog entry, I left the room to go into the kitchen for a moment. Piper got up and followed me to the kitchen and she then returned to sleeping once I got back onto the computer.

Piper is protective of the kids already. We have 8 kids, with the oldest being 11 and the youngest 2 years old. My mother-in-law visited the house. She reached down to pick up Sascha, the 2 year old. Piper barked at her. She didn't know the stranger picking up Sascha- and she voiced her displeasure. After a couple of days- she began trusting my mother-in-law around the kids.

Introducing Piper Cub

2007-10-01T08:15:00.000-05:00

I travel a lot. So, my wife wanted a big dog to help patrol the house and scare possible intruders while I am away. But, she also wanted a dog that would be gentle around kids, as we have a large family of 8 kids.

Our initial short list of possible dog breeds was:

Great Dane
Rotweiller
Doberman Pinscher
Great Pyranees
Newfoundland
Mastiff

We have a recorded collection of the Breed All About It television show that appears on the Animal Planet channel. We watched the episodes on each of the different breeds and discovered that the Mastiff is actually broken down into two different breeds, the English Mastiff and the Bull Mastiff. The English Mastiff seemed the most promising as a fit for our family. We did some Google searches to learn more about the English Mastiff. I even did a Google search for English Mastiff attacks, and surprisingly- I didn't find any- this was beginning to look like the breed for us. We wanted a guard dog- but one that was family and neighbor friendly- this giant breed seemed like a good fit!

We found a breeder near Jasper, AL. We called him- he had one female- the pick of the litter left. She was a silver fawn- and he was dropping the price on her as she was now 6 months old. We made an appointment and then took the 2 hour trip to see her. She was beautiful and very good with the kids. $1000 later, we were the proud parents of an English Mastiff- her name was Piper- we added to her name and call her Piper Cub.

She immediately fit in with the family. Having owned a Golden Retriever- we noticed that she was much calmer around the kids. The Golden Retriever was very hyper and constantly jumped up on the kids and knocked them down or scratched them. Mastiffs are not hyper. They are very lazy. They have their moments of hyperactivity- but they quickly get over it. Piper isn't a jumper- meaning- she doesn't jump up on either the adults or the kids. She is even careful on the occasions when she does run not to run into the kids- she typically slows up well before she gets to them. In contrast, the Golden Retriever would continue to run full speed right by the kids- which occassionaly caused accidents.

I plan on using this blog as a journal of our experiences with Piper Cub and sharing knowledge that I learn regarding this giant breed of dogs.