Dog For Sale

[AGBF]

A few weeks ago there was a thread to which I wanted to add this picture. Unfortunately, at the time, I couldn't reduce the photo to less than 100 KB so that I could post it on Pricescope. Now I do not remember in which thread I wanted to post it! I know it was germane to the thread I was reading! It might have been a thread about dogs guarding houses or dogs being eaten by coyotes...or some other topic entirely! My last dog (a yellow Lab) was oversized for his breed and I have had a fondness for huge guys (uh, dogs) who act like bulls in china shops ever since I had him. (I adopted him by mistake...I really hadn't had time to take in how big he was...and then we couldn't find him another good home. I hadn't always loved huge animals. I mean our previous dog was a modest 90 lb. female Golden retriever after she had put on weight in her later years. This guy, whom my mother referred to as, "a brute" was 110 lbs while lean!.)

The dog in the picture isn't mine. The picture was sent to me by another dog-loving friend. It came with this caption:

"Free to good home. Excellent guard dog. Owner cannot afford to feed
him anymore, as there are no more drug pushers, thieves, murderers,
or molesters left in the neighborhood for him to eat."

I love this big guy in the picture, though!

AGBF

 

[Blackpaw]

oh he's beautiful - and he's all dog i hope he finds a good home, i love big dogs too, they're such cuddle-bugs!

 

[risingsun]

What a great dog!! I couldn't afford to feed him, either I hope he finds a wonderful home. We stayed at a B&B, which had a Mastiff in residence. What a sweetheart!

 

[waterlilly]

Haha! Love it, actually I've seen that before - what an amazing looking pup!

Guys- he's not really in need of a home, it's a joke...

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Hilarious!! Love the pic!

 

[yssie]

hehehe awesome dog, he looks so huggable

 

[Autumnovember]

Hahahhaah oh my God. Love it.

 

[MonkeyPie]

I think I remember reading somewhere that this picture is photoshopped. The dog really is big, but they added to it for sure!

 

[redfaerythinker]

I wouldn't be so sure that it is photoshopped. The FI and I are looking into getting a mastiff puppy and the breeder has these pictures on her website.

ETA: The biggest dog on record was a mastiff named Zorba who weighed in at 343 lbs. Normal mastiffs routinely weigh over 200 lbs.

 

[MonkeyPie]

I wouldn't be so sure that it is photoshopped. The FI and I are looking into getting a mastiff puppy and the breeder has these pictures on her website.

ETA: The biggest dog on record was a mastiff named Zorba who weighed in at 343 lbs. Normal mastiffs routinely weigh over 200 lbs.

 

[ChloeTheGreat]

AND Zorba was 8 feet from nose to tail!

I love big doggie woggies.

 

[Autumnovember]

I wouldn't be so sure that it is photoshopped. The FI and I are looking into getting a mastiff puppy and the breeder has these pictures on her website.

ETA: The biggest dog on record was a mastiff named Zorba who weighed in at 343 lbs. Normal mastiffs routinely weigh over 200 lbs.

Out of curiosity, what is their temperment like?

 

[redfaerythinker]

Mastiffs are extremely gentle and loyal. They're not the best guard dogs though. They're most likely to knock the intruder down, and lick them until the police arrive.

 

[sctsbride09]

I love mastiffs, they are just huge cuddly babies! So cute, thanks for sharing that, I got a nice laugh for today.

 

[AGBF]

Mastiffs are extremely gentle and loyal. They're not the best guard dogs though. They're most likely to knock the intruder down, and lick them until the police arrive.

My daughter researched many of the largest breeds after we lost Biscuit, our huge Lab. (She had been volunteering at a Great Dane rescue and had thought that one day she would like to have a Great Dane. Then she kept finding other breeds she also loved. One of her favorites is a Newfoundland; I think that is what you have, isn't it, New England Lady?)

At any rate, what I remember about Mastiffs was that they were dreadful guard dogs because they were so slow to rouse!!! They just didn't have much interest in what was going on around the premises. If, however, a mastiff was roused, he could-and would-calmly take down anyone violating the property. Apparently they were bred to deal with poachers but not to tear up everyone around them. They were just supposed to bring the poacher down. (Or so I recollect.)

My Lab was interested in everything. That dog would go down the hall at the vet's and stick his nose into every office along the way. Talk about alert! No one needed to rouse him! The problem was trying to get him to back off!!!


AGBF

 

[Autumnovember]

I love mastiffs, they are just huge cuddly babies! So cute, thanks for sharing that, I got a nice laugh for today.

Gosh I want that dog now...

 

[waterlilly]

I had the pleasure of fostering a 185lb english mastiff once. I didn't know anything about them before that, but was able to get help from some very knowledgeable mastiff people.

They are actually very protective of their family - they commonly place themselves between their people and any perceived threat, this display of bravery makes them very endearing. When other dogs would step back from a scary "thing" they instinctively step forward, sort of like a mom that throws her arm in front of a child when putting on the breaks in the car If there is no threat, they are big mushy sweeeeet dogs, but for sure will rise to the occasion if needed.

They are also big creatures of habit and very sensitive...all around great dogs if socialized properly. Shame is, they don't live very long

 

[yssie]

I wouldn't be so sure that it is photoshopped. The FI and I are looking into getting a mastiff puppy and the breeder has these pictures on her website.

ETA: The biggest dog on record was a mastiff named Zorba who weighed in at 343 lbs. Normal mastiffs routinely weigh over 200 lbs.

OMG.

 

[AGBF]

Shame is, they don't live very long

Which is why we don't have the Great Dane my daughter wanted. I couldn't bear it. Losing Biscuit was bad enough. It was horrible. I was not about to sign on for a dog guaranteed to have an even shorter lifespan!

Deb/AGBF

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Mastiffs are extremely gentle and loyal. They're not the best guard dogs though. They're most likely to knock the intruder down, and lick them until the police arrive.

My daughter researched many of the largest breeds after we lost Biscuit, our huge Lab. (She had been volunteering at a Great Dane rescue and had thought that one day she would like to have a Great Dane. Then she kept finding other breeds she also loved. One of her favorites is a Newfoundland; I think that is what you have, isn't it, New England Lady?)

Yep, we have Newfies. There is an English Mastiff who is a regular at our dog park. I've seen him since he was a pup--I think he's about 3 now, still in-tact and probably the most laid-back, mellow dog ever. He's super sweet and his head is absolutely massive. When he lays his head in my lap (which he loves to do), his head spills over my thighs.

I'm a giant breed lover, but the shorter life span is very, very hard. My oldest is 6 and has really slowed down in the past couple of years. He's still very active, but it's tough watching him get older quickly. With a giant breed dog you spend the first 2 years worrying about their growth and joint development, then after that you worry about them getting older!

 

[redfaerythinker]

One thing that I like about the Mastiff is that they have one of the longer lifespans of all large dogs. I think the average is 10-12 years.

 

[waterlilly]

Oh - and one thing that I remember is the ridiculous amount of drool this dog produced. The folks I adopted him to had two other english mastiffs in the home already and they showed me their baskets of hand towels strategically placed around the house to wipe up slobber. They said the commonly wiped slobber from the walls and ceilings!

Soooo sloppy, I had to wash his water bowl constantly because every time he took a drink it would be filled with slobber....uck!

 

[Gypsy]

I wouldn't be so sure that it is photoshopped. The FI and I are looking into getting a mastiff puppy and the breeder has these pictures on her website.

ETA: The biggest dog on record was a mastiff named Zorba who weighed in at 343 lbs. Normal mastiffs routinely weigh over 200 lbs.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Oh - and one thing that I remember is the ridiculous amount of drool this dog produced. The folks I adopted him to had two other english mastiffs in the home already and they showed me their baskets of hand towels strategically placed around the house to wipe up slobber. They said the commonly wiped slobber from the walls and ceilings!

Soooo sloppy, I had to wash his water bowl constantly because every time he took a drink it would be filled with slobber....uck!

At least mastiffs don't have a ton of fur mixed in with the drool. Every day I pull clumps of fur in caked, dried drool off the wall and sometimes off the ceiling if it was a vigorous head shake. And we have the same issue with the water--anything that was in their jowels gets into the water bowl: leftover dinner, sticks from the yard, leaves. Redfaery, you'll find that you never leave the house without a towel, wiping down the walls daily becomes second nature and puddles will form around your house after the dog has had a particularly satisfying drink.

 

[AGBF]

Oh - and one thing that I remember is the ridiculous amount of drool this dog produced. The folks I adopted him to had two other english mastiffs in the home already and they showed me their baskets of hand towels strategically placed around the house to wipe up slobber. They said the commonly wiped slobber from the walls and ceilings!

Soooo sloppy, I had to wash his water bowl constantly because every time he took a drink it would be filled with slobber....uck!

At least mastiffs don't have a ton of fur mixed in with the drool. Every day I pull clumps of fur in caked, dried drool off the wall and sometimes off the ceiling if it was a vigorous head shake. And we have the same issue with the water--anything that was in their jowels gets into the water bowl: leftover dinner, sticks from the yard, leaves. Redfaery, you'll find that you never leave the house without a towel, wiping down the walls daily becomes second nature and puddles will form around your house after the dog has had a particularly satisfying drink.

OK..I am an experienced dog lover who has dealt with drool. But I have to admit that although I have spent time with giant dogs (as opposed to very large dogs like my Biscuit), I have never lived with one. Biscuit left a pool of water around his water dish and a trail after it after he drank. I never even knew anyone had to wipe down the ceilings because of drool. I am not at all averse to it, mind you. Drool is a central element in Henry and Mudge and the Bedtime Thumps, my personal favorite in the Henry and Mudge series by Cynthia Rylant. I just thought I knew everything about big dogs and I had not, yet, heard everything!

AGBF

 

[risingsun]

Mastiffs are extremely gentle and loyal. They're not the best guard dogs though. They're most likely to knock the intruder down, and lick them until the police arrive.

My daughter researched many of the largest breeds after we lost Biscuit, our huge Lab. (She had been volunteering at a Great Dane rescue and had thought that one day she would like to have a Great Dane. Then she kept finding other breeds she also loved. One of her favorites is a Newfoundland; I think that is what you have, isn't it, New England Lady?)

At any rate, what I remember about Mastiffs was that they were dreadful guard dogs because they were so slow to rouse[/b]!!! They just didn't have much interest in what was going on around the premises. If, however, a mastiff was roused, he could-and would-calmly take down anyone violating the property. Apparently they were bred to deal with poachers but not to tear up everyone around them. They were just supposed to bring the poacher down. (Or so I recollect.)

My Lab was interested in everything. That dog would go down the hall at the vet's and stick his nose into every office along the way. Talk about alert! No one needed to rouse him! The problem was trying to get him to back off!!!


AGBF

I had no idea that a mastiff was a rodent of unusual size....LOL

 

[AGBF]

My daughter became fixated on our Lab's "lip" (his soft mouth). She has since gone crazy over dogs with soft, drooping mouths for years. This led to an obsession with Neapolitan Mastiffs. YouTube has an incredible collection of cutes videos of the breed. Here is a picture of one...not the best I have ever seen! Maybe I can find better pictures (or you can.)

AGBF