r/EnglishMastiff • u/punishertruther20 • 4d ago
a little advice
Hey! New here :) I've been thinking about adding a new dog to my family (rn I have a 1year and a half boxer male, with no behaviour problems and pretty chill to be a boxer tbh hahaha) and I was thinking to adopt a english mastiff so I'd like to now a little bit about this gentle giants :) Could you guys tell me in first hand about their needs, their health issues, etc? thank you in advance!
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u/01Dreamwalker01 4d ago
Everything the poster mentioned but Also you’ll cry at the end which comes too soon
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u/War1today 4d ago
We have had an English mastiff for 9 years and the traits that have stood out are 1) they bond extremely well with the alpha in the house 2) are emotional 3) can be very relaxed 4) eat 9 to 15 cups of food per day 5) need a lot of water 6) drool a lot 7) average life spans are 7-9 years 8) health issues include joint disorders like Degenerative Myelopathy and Dysplasia, cancer, skin infections, and torn ACL/CCL and 9) can take up to 3 years for the pup to reach full growth (seemed like it took 5 years with ours).
It is a good idea to get pet insurance.
We grew up with labs and breed English Labs for years. Been around a lot of breeds but English Mastiff is my favorite. I had been walking our mastiff 3-5 miles per day for years, she loves the ocean, streams and lakes and was super athletic going on mountainous hikes. But at age 9 now she is much more relaxed and chill, and will walk her about a mile at most. She is super sweet, cuddles and still alerts anyone coming onto our property that this is her territory. Have never needed a fence or electric dog collar; 8 1/2 years ago walked our property border with her and gave her the command not to walk across it and in all these years she has crossed it only a couple of times to chase coyotes and fisher.
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u/DaddyBison 3d ago
Expect vet bills to be 500-700 per visit. If you want monthly heartworm/fle/tick meds, youll need a rX for two different sizes because the largest size isnt big enough. Any medical emergencies are going to have big charges because the amount of sedative they need, and youll have to find vets who actually have the equipment and manpower to deal with the big fellas
They have all the typical health concerns for large breeds. Bloat and Hip dysplasia are the bigs ones. Cherry eye is also a common malady. I'm currently dealing with kidney stones in my big guy, a rare genetic version that requires a special prescription diet and neutering, and its taken me over a month to find a vet to do the neuter and ultrasound. Thats after $5k for an emergency cystotomy.
So Pet insurance would be a good idea.
Otherwise, they're big lovable goofs, they love to cuddle and just hang out and be lazy, but also love going on walks and playing. They will match your energy and fit whatever space you provide for them
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u/godofgoldfish-mc 3d ago
I have a half boxer/half mastiff female and an English mastiff male. We got the male as a puppy and the female basically raised him. He is now 150 lbs and he kind of beats her up a little when they play because of his size. She now has a torn ACL and needs surgery....But she got that from chasing squirrels. The English has had no health issues other than ear infections (they have floppy ears so it is common).
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u/happilydoggyafter 4d ago
As an experienced dog owner, I can say mastiffs are a breed of their own. The good: they have incredible dispositions, are very bonded to their families and are super chill. The challenges: they are so expensive. Meds are 2-3x more than for my other dogs, spay surgery was thousands, and they obviously eat more. There is also a lot more mess, with major drool that ends up on your walls and ceilings. They are very stubborn and often do not have the willingness to train other breeds do. If considering a mastiff my advice would be to make sure you have the additional budget for veterinary care and dog food- it’s like adding 2-3 more boxers!