From 24 Hour Old Pups to Gentle Giants
The English Mastiff is both patient and protective and, despite his size and weight, can be trusted to look after even small children. They are often referred to as the “Gentle Giants”. These are just a couple of reasons we decided to bring them into our family. We started our journey for Mastiff Puppies on Christmas day 2009. We surprised our 6 yr. old son, Kian with not one but two English Mastiffs! As you can see by the expression on his face, he was a little surprised to wake up with this monster of a dog giving him a kiss. But once awake good, he was one of the happiest little boys on that Christmas morning. Our male, Shabach is 4 yrs old and our female, Roxy is 2yrs old. We hope by the end of the summer to have a litter of mastiff puppies. We had researched the breed before making our decision and we are very proud to welcome Shabach and Roxy to our family! Below are some pictures of our newest family members but also to share our experiences as we move forward in learning about “The Gentle Giants”.
Socializing Mastiff Puppies
Even though our two mastiffs are both a little older they still have the heart of puppies. We have been so amazed at how gentle and loving our overgrown “mastiff puppies” are and how easy they fit into our family. As you can see from the photo Shabach loves rolling in the pine-straw. He also loves chasing plastic jugs across the yard and stuffed animals are his favorite chew toys. My brother-in-law has Great Danes and our female, Roxy loves to run and play with them. Mastiffs have such a good nature with other dogs, although it is important to socialize them with as many animals, people, places, and other mastiff puppies as well.
Mastiff Puppies Love Toys
Although these “gentle giants” may look ferocious, these dogs are really just mastiff puppies at heart. They not only need play time but it is a great way for them to remain active. As people we would get pretty bored or depressed if all we did was eat and sleep, mastiff puppies feel the same way. It is up to you to make sure you get in play time and have an active roll in getting your mastiff puppies involved. There are lots of puppy or dog toys on the market and you could spend a lot of money but you really do not have too if you use your imagination.
When we first brought home Roxy and Shabach, we had bought up several types of chew toys to determine which ones they liked the best. You should try to change up your mastiff puppies toys so they do not get bored. Well, what we discovered is that we really did not have to spend a lot of money to entertain our mastiffs. First off, Shabach loves stuffed animals! Once all the stuffing is out though, they are toast and he is ready for a new one. We have a local thrift store that sells stuffed animals (all shapes and sizes) for fifty cents! You might be amazed at how many neat items you can find for your puppies at a real bargain. The next chew toy that really is a great game for Shabach is our plastic gallon jugs. He loves to chase them if you take two or more and keep kicking them in different directions, he will chase them all over the yard. Now once they are flat, he has no interest in them at all. But hey what a great way to recycle and they are flat taking up less room in the garbage.
Now for our female mastiff, Roxy, she is really not as interested in chewing on stuff. She mainly wants to run and be petted. She loves having play time with other dogs and if for any reason she misses a day of playing, she almost seems sad or depressed. It only takes a little while each day to let her run free chasing the other dogs, playing like kids at recess and it is really worth it to see how happy it makes her. It may seem a little silly if you have never had dogs to talk about their emotions but they do have them, they are full of personality! You can easily learn how your mastiff puppies feel and react to different situations if you just spend a little time with them.
Playing is a great way to bond, make them happy, get them the exercise they need and it also gives you a pretty good feeling as well. Just always remember they sometimes even mastiff puppies forget how big and strong they are and may play too rough, you just have to work with them letting them know what is acceptable and what is not. The meaning of the word “careful” has to be taught to your Mastiff puppies as soon as you can. Especially if you have children, a normal Mastiff is able to understand that he has to be more careful with a child than with you.
You can teach your mastiff puppies or adults not to bite or nip at you (no matter how gentle) as well, and that it is only acceptable to bite or chew their toys. Mastiffs are very intelligent but just like humans they must be taught or trained. Playing with your Mastiff puppies can brighten your day and give you a reason to be outdoors. Of course, playing indoors is always an option if you have the room but mastiff puppies still need a good walk outdoors if nothing else. Owning mastiff puppies are a great responsibility but one we as a family gladly accept.
The main idea is to Have Fun with Your Mastiff Puppies!
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