Neapolitan Mastiff: the history of breed

2021-04-13T17:24:15+01:00

After the fall of Rome, this breed has existed in various cities in Italy, but many have questioned the belonging of these dogs to the ancient breed. Only journalist Pierre Skontsaro managed to find two individuals who preserved the purity of blood, he got real champions.

Today, this breed is widely spread in the CIS states and in the US. It is a massive dog with height of 65-75 cm at the withers. The weight is from 50 to 70 kg. The parameters of lady-dogs are usually less 15%. Mastino's head should be abundantly covered with skin. The jaws are very strong. Ears were cropped before, but now they have to be kept. The tail is cropped by one/third. Eye color should be the same as the coat color. The dog has well-developed chest, the spine straight.
It is predominantly a guard dog. His instinct leads to distrust strangers, he can ignore people which he doesn't like. Therefore it is necessary from an early age to adapt puppy to society. Strangers should ignore the dog and shouldn't bore them with affections. Mastino leaves his affection for the owner. The dog has elephant memory and developed intelligence.
Never hit a dog. It understands even if you raise your voice. Mastino isn't a room dog, he needs space, it is better to keep these dogs in a private house. They easy learn simple commands "stay", "down" if you pronounce them with a confident voice.
You need to know the pedigree of the dog, learn the history of their diseases and whether they have serious defects. At the age of two months, the puppy must have vaccinations from glanders, hepatitis, leptospirosis and rabies if needed. Vaccination should be done again as vet recommends it. Do not bathe it untill it's one year old. Bathing may remove the fat layer that protects the animal from insect bites.
Dangerous disease to this breed may be the cardio-pulmonary filariasis, which is transferred by mosquitoes. Symptoms often appear late and are expressed by decrease of the dog's activity.
When dog's teeth grow(usually it happens on the twentieth day of life), the dog requires additional feeding. At this age you may give the puppy milk mixture which have the same composition as the mother's milk. You can add a couple of spoons of viscolier into the food. After giving up breast-feeding up to 4 months of age, the puppy should be fed four times a day. The diet should be rich in vitamin integrators: raw liver, yoghurt, eggs, fish oil, yeast. There's such food, that has all the nessecary vitamins for proper development of the dog. The dog must always have fresh water. Adult dogs can have only one meal, preferably in the evening. Do not feed your dog with sweets, fish bones and long bones.
Due to its excellent qualities, mastinos are becoming more and more popular. Unfortunately, this breed of dogs live significantly shorter than others. Life expectancy is 8-9 years, in rare cases a little longer.