Mastiff breed guide

Mastiffs are patient, lovable companions and guardians that take best to gentle training. Eternally loyal, they are protective of their families.

Mastiffs learn quickly and want to please, but the repetitions in a typical training class bore them, at which point they may lie down and snore. AKC suggests making eye contact because they communicate a great deal with it.

Mastiffs live 6 to 10 years. The Mastiff Club of America provides in-depth information on breed health and breeders screen for seasonal allergies, eye anomalies, heart disease, cancer, eye and hip dysplasia, von Willebrand's disease, degenerative myelopathy and epilepsy.

Hygromas, harmless natural cushions that protect the elbow joints on hard surfaces, are common. AKC says not to let the vet drain them.

The short, dense coat is easy to groom, usually needing only a quick brushing every few days. During heavy shedding once or twice a year, more frequent sessions with a strong toothed comb remove dead hair.

Bred to guard hearth and home, Mastiffs have comparatively low exercise needs and can live happily in an apartment. They benefit from free play and daily walks, a mile or two for adults and owners must not overtax growing young dogs.

AKC notes the difference between mastiffs, a lowercase type found around the world for thousands of years and Mastiffs, the traditional giant breed of England sometimes called the Old English Mastiff. Evidence from ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, China and Tibet bears traces of ferocious giant canines classified as mastiffs.

The Tibetan Mastiff and Neapolitan Mastiff are examples of ancient breeds that have endured to this day.