Article Search:
Free Articles on Pets and many other topics
Another free Pets article for you

Home | Home & Family | Pets


Is the English Mastiff Dog a Great Family Pet? - By: Brendan Forde, Posted on: 2008-05-06

Think of the English Mastiff dog, and you immediately picture a huge animal, built like a lion, with enormous strength - and probably extremely fierce and violent.

In some regards you are right. Well, the English Mastiff is definitely on the large side, at about 30 inches at the shoulder for males, with the female a few inches shorter.

And he is no lightweight - a male English Mastiff can weigh in between 160 and 230 pounds, and the female around 140 and 190 pounds or more!

The English Mastiff dog has traditionally been seen primarily as a large and powerful guard dog, but many centuries ago he was bred as a fighting dog. Indeed there is evidence that the Romans, when they invaded Britain, discovered that their own fighting dogs were bettered by the native English mastiff breed. Whereupon they exported these English dogs back to Rome, to fight in the Colosseum, alongside all the other exotic wild animals from the length and breadth of the Roman Empire.

The English Mastiff is supposed to have originally arrived in Britain over 2 millenia ago on the ships of adventurous Phoenician traders.

Over the ensuing centuries, the English mastiff was used in many different capacities other than as a powerful guard dog. It was particularly renowned in the doubtful sports of bear and bull baiting, as well as dog fighting, which were enormously popular past-times in Britain until fairly recent times, but it was also used to hunt wolves and boar.

When these cruel pastimes were eventually banned in the middle nineteenth century England, the numbers of English Mastiff dogs declined rapidly, so that by the end of the 1940s, there were only a handful surviving. Whereas the breed was declining in Britain, it was thriving in the USA, and stock was imported to strengthen and revive the breed in the Britain.

So why would you choose such a dog?

The modern English Mastiff dog is a mixture of grandeur, dignity and courage. He is also highly prized as a fearless and tenacious family guardian, loving and affectionate towards his family. He has a powerful protective instinct towards his family, and will place himself between his owner and any "threatening" stranger.

The Official Breed Standard for the Old English Style Mastiff from Kennel Club of the UK describes his temperament as : Calm and affectionate to his owners, and also capable of guarding.

The English Mastiff is a dog with not only a huge body, but a heart to match. He is incredibly gentle with children.

Article Source: http://articleowner.com

You will discover many more fascinating facts about this great breed by clicking on English Mastiff dog Or grab our free email course for a family-friendly introduction to the Mastiff Dog

Please Rate this Article

 

Not yet Rated

Click the XML Icon Above to Receive Pets Articles Via RSS!
Additional Articles From - Home | Home & Family | Pets
HOME
Sign Up for a free account or learn more.
Article Directory Software
Click here to download Article Directory software & Start Your Own Websites Like www.articlelover.com,
www.articlevally.comStart your own article directory today!
Submit Articles
Member Login
Top Authors
Most Popular Articles
Submission Guidelines
Ezine Notifications
Article RSS Feeds
New Stuff
About Us
Site Blog
Forum
Link to Us
Add Your Site Link
Contact Us
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service
article marketing info page

Highly Recommended

WIN $1,000,000
BY JUST CLICKING ADS

"Your Money Making Portal, Make Money At Home!"
pixel advertising information page
Pixel Advertising,for High Traffic!
CatererGlobal
Copyright ©2006Articleowner.com a free article directory to submit articles for fresh web content for websites & article writing submission for internet article ezine email marketing,for top ranking for search engines link building backlinks by rss feeds by self publishing, adsense, make money at home online money making home based business work at home opportunities for online information quality articles directory & stress management, free articles on insurance review, wealth, pixel advertising, web content, traffic, software, money making ideas & articles
Terms of Service | Submission Guidelines | Contact Us | Link to Us| Privacy Policy | About Us
Get PAID to Watch Never Before Seen Movie Trailers
Get a Free psychic reading

Powered by Article Dashboard