Bullmastiffs are large powerful animals. They are protective, loyal, loving and become very attached to their humans for companionship. They are very sensitive dogs, and very intuned to their human family. They are wonderful companions. They are not dogs that can be left outside all day with with minimal human contact. They do not thrive without human contact. They need to be well-socialized with humans and must have at least basic obedience. These are large powerful dogs who must be controllable by their owners. A well secured, yard is a must. Though few bullmastiffs are fence jumpers, some can and do jump in order to go in search of human companionship.

YES BULLMASTIFFS SLOBBER !
Bullmastiffs slobber, some slobber a lot, some slobber less. Are you prepared to keep a slobber rag handy in every room? Maybe keep one at the door to hand to your guests? These dogs generally weigh between 90-140 pounds. They generally eat between 3 and 5 cups of high quality food per day. Bullmastiffs cannot tolerate warm weather due to their short muzzles and they can be cold sensitive due to their short coats. Oh, and back to the slobber, eating, drinking, exercise or warm weather all contribute to slobbering. When they shake their heads, slobber will add dimension to your walls, ceiling and furniture. Bullmastiffs have other more noisy habits, one is snoring. Some snore very loudly and this often increases with age. Your bullmastiff will want to sleep with you, if not ON the bed, at the very least in the same room with you. They often run, growl and bark in their doggie dreams and can wake even the soundest of sleepers. Yes, they have another noisy habit, farting. Bullmastiffs can and do produce gas from literally ANYTHING they eat. You can minimize this with a good quality food, by not feeding them cheese, and other gas producing foods, but one good healthy "fart" can clear a room! Some people appreciate the fact they now have "scapegoat" they can blame for the odors in the room, so it's all a matter of perspective. Guilty bullmastiffs will often get up and leave the room, temporarily, as if in denial that they had anything at all to do with the infraction.

PUPPIES & CHILDREN
Are you prepared to have a rambunctious growing bullmastiff puppy running around your house? Bullmastiffs are voracious chewers as puppies. They will chew ANYTHING and EVERYTHING ! Having a bullmastiff puppy is like having a toddler, you have to continually monitor what they are putting in their mouths. Is your house and yard free of potentially poisonous plants or trees? Bullmastiffs, especially puppies are skilled at re-landscaping your yard and demolishing a sprinkler system. It takes patience and a lot of supervision to raise and properly train a bullmastiff puppy. Are you willing to take on this responsibility? Are you willing to put in the time for proper obedience training? The whole family needs to be involved. This sounds like a lot of work and it is. But it's well worth the time and effort because your bullmastiff will be part of the family for many years and a good start is what it takes to make a well-behaved, well-socialized bullmastiff. Rescue gets many dogs each year who started out as great puppies who were willing and able to become good family members, but instead were relegated to the backyard, with minimal human contact. This produces a dog with behavioral problems because they were never taught how to behave as members of the family. Bullmastiffs are wonderful dogs with children. They are very gentle and tolerant of children's antics. They will protect the small members of their family. However, bullmastiffs MUST be supervised with children, and children must be trained to respect and treat the dog appropriately. Children and dogs should ALWAYS be supervised by adults. People who have difficulty correcting and controlling their children, are not good candidates for raising bullmastiffs. A bullmastiff is a very strong willed animal, it needs to know is place in the "pack" order of the home. It needs a strong pack leader who will set limits and enforce them. Bullmastiffs are very intelligent and often firm verbal corrections are all that is needed. But it must be consistent and routine until they obey the household rules and boundaries. All the family members should be involved in the training of the puppy, so the puppy knows it's place in the pack, at the bottom!

PROTECTING & OTHER ANIMALS
Bullmastiffs are protective and territorial dogs. They protect what they believe to be "theirs". This can include their yard, house, car, and family. They will protect from people, and other dogs, or whatever they perceive to be a threat. They will let it be known what they consider to be "their" territory. Some have only their yard perimeter as their own invisible line of distinction, others include anything they can see or hear, in their "territory". This might include "their street", "their park", or just the space between them and their family whether its at the river or walking down the street. Bullmastiffs do not have to be "trained" to protect. However, it is essential that they are well-socialized as puppies so they learn to distinguish "good" people. They are a very perceptive breed, they instinctly determine a person's "intentions" and know "bad" from "good." If your bullmastiff takes a dislike to someone, they usually have good reason. Some bullmastiffs can do well with other dogs and cats, usually if they are raised with them and have good experiences. Puppy kindergarden classes are highly recommended as it helps give them good social skills with other dogs while they are at an impressionable age. As they age, often they will become more opinionated and adult bullmastiffs OFTEN do NOT get along with dogs of the same sex, unless they were raised together, and that is no guarantee. Rarely will two male bullmastiffs, even neutered males, get along well enough to be unsupervised together. Females can be just as dominant, or more so, and if they take a disliking to another bitch, often it can lead to a lifelong hatred. Bullmastiffs are generally NOT good candidates for running several of them together in a household. As long as they are the dominant, leader of the dog pack, and the other dogs are not they type to challenge their position, sometimes multiple dog families work, but this is NOT the norm. It takes a very ALPHA owner to successfully have multiple bullmastiffs running together in a household.

TRAINING, EXERCISE AND GROOMING
Bullmastiffs need obedience training. They are big strong dogs who can and will get their way if they are not trained. They are stubborn and think only of themselves at times, so training needs to be positive reinforcement. They respond well to love and praise, and most will do just about anything for a treat! Negative training falls on deaf ears. TRaining will benefit you and your dog, unless the idea of being dragged down the street every time you want to go for a walk sounds like your idea of fun! Friends will stop coming over if they are knocked over every time they enter your house when greeted by your dog. Bullmastiffs do not require a great deal of exercise. They won't chase frisbee's all day, or run with you while you train for a marathon. A couple of nice walks a day are sufficient. Some enjoy hiking but not in warm weather. Jogging is not recommended, and can be damaging to their joints when they are under the age of two. Joint problems are common to large breed dogs and can be serious if preventive measures are not taken. Puppies should be kept lean, never fat, until their growth plates have completed growing, usually about the age of two. Extreme exercise of any kind is not recommended. Jumping in and out of trucks or SUV's, jumping off high beds, or training in working events with jumps higher than a foot can contribute to irreversible elbow and hip problems. Grooming a bullmastiff is rather simple. We don't call them "wash and go" for nothing. A good bath once or twice a month, combined with a good brushing and grooming with a shedding blade is sufficient. Bathing too often can result in dry skin problems. Brushing and using a shedding blade after they are dry will cut down on well over 50% of the shedding problems you might encounter. They are a short-haired breed, but still do a significant amount of shedding. Cutting nails and cleaning ears are also very important and should be done regularly. Brushing their teeth is recommended as well. Many owners provide regular chew bones, raw beef bones from the butcher are great for helping keep the teeth clean.

SOCIALIZING
Bullmastiffs are very sociable. They want to be with their "humans", and share your life. They should always be housedogs and want to have close contact with you. They will follow you from room to room, lay at your feet while you are on the computer, or be happy to share the couch with you while you watch TV. They are happiest when they are making you happy! Bullmastiffs love to go for rides in the car. They are happy to go with you everywhere you go, keeping in mind the outside temperatures and that they often cannot go "inside" businesses anymore. Remember they overheat faster than many other breeds, so you have to be careful if leaving them in a vehicle. Bullmastiffs should NEVER be allowed to ride in the back of a truck. He may decide the dog along the side of the road is worth checking out, or decide someone or something in the car next to you is a "threat" to his territory that he must address. Lastly, it is just not safe, and many dogs have lost their lives being thrown out of the back of trucks on a sharp turn or during sudden braking.

OWNERSHIP
With owning a bullmastiff, comes a great deal of responsibility. You must like big, wet, slobbery kisses. ( Slobber is water-soluble) You must skillful in getting out of the house in the morning for work, without having numerous slime marks on your clothing. They will sneek onto your bed to cuddle with you, roll on you and over you. They will sit ON your feet whenever possible so they can "feel" you are right there with them. They like to be touching you, in one form or another, just for the contact. Bullmastiffs are not for everyone. If you can handle the responsibility, you will be rewarded a thousand times over with a life of love and companionship. Always remember, you are the guardian of the breed, you are responsible for keeping your dog out of harm's way, and out of the local newspapers headlines. In this day of breed bans and litigation, you must always be aware of the powerful dog in your possession. You must be responsible enough to keep your dog out of situations that can lead to trouble. As previously mentioned, ALL contact with children should be supervised, your dog should be under your control at all times, each dog has their own definition of "mine" and you should be very aware of your own dog's "territory". Do not take your dog to Dog Parks, bullmastiffs don't belong there. Besides being a veterinarian's dream because of communicable diseases and injuries, they were not meant for dogs who were bred to be dog-aggressive for a purpose. In reading the original "function" of a bullmastiff, why it was bred to be as it is, one of those "functions" was to "dispatch" a poacher's lurcher dog, and still overtake and catch the poachers. Bullmastiffs do not play around when it comes to a dog fight. They may not start the fight, but will usually finish it. Do NOT put your dog in the position where it will have to defend itself or you, from another dog, as it will do so without hesitation. Most cities in the country have "leash laws", and its highly recommended that you obey them. A bullmastiff should never be out of your home without being on a leash. Very few people, even with years of training have complete and total voice control over their dogs in ALL circumstances, so don't chance it. If your dog is on a leash in your front yard and something happens with a dog wandering into your yard, your legal liability is diminished considerably. If you still believe the bullmastiff is the right breed for you, take your time, research breeders, find a breeder who will be there for you and your new addition for the life of the dog, someone with experience in the breed and who is ethical in their dealings with buyers. You can read further on the webpage on "choosing a breeder". This page is not meant for the purpose of me selling you a puppy, it's purpose is to give you the tools to ask the right questions when you are searching for a breeder you can work with and eventually buy from.

Some Great Places to Visit

Bastion Bullmastiffs

Ryan's Pet Supplies

American Bullmastiff Association

Mystical Bullmastiffs

Southwest Bullmastiff Club

Contact Us
Dawn Hamilton Glendale, AZ (602) 677-8034
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