Bullmastiff

Bullmastiff: Your new pet

The Bullmastiff is a dog breed which in ancient times was used for hunting in England. This dog’s intelligence is such that it can pounce on prey leaving it immobile without causing any damage, just waiting for hunters to arrive and take it. And after hundreds of years after those times, the Bullmastiff is still one of the few breeds that can leave a stranger still waiting for its owner to arrive.

The Bullmastiff is a very smart dog that usually prefers to be in peace, but if it is provoked, it will not hesitate to attack. Due to this characteristic, it uses to be a much-appreciated dog for surveillance jobs.

The most relatable and characteristic feature of the Bullmastiff’s behavior is what we described before about this breed in the introduction, which is the ability this dog has to attack and tear down prey without damage it. This incredible skill was developed that to the rangers who trained these dogs hundreds of years ago, letting them enter into their homes and share their family environment. It wasn’t common to enter into a ranger’s house and see a Bullmastiff sharing space and time with children or being with the family at dinner.

Living in this kind of environment and not in the suburbs just like the rest of dogs taught Bullmastiff compassion, so it prefers to act without hurting first.

And due to its lives under these characteristics, the Bullmastiff is a great playmate for children and easily adapts to any environment, whether country or city. This is a dog that needs to be and feel part of the family, which means it would need to have constant attention and not be confined to the same place throughout the entire day. Knowing that loving and respecting it’s enough for it to be able to face any risks to protect its family.

It’s a dog that has exceptional size and weight of equal magnitude. Males can weigh among 60 kg, while females can weigh among 45 kg. But the most unique thing about this breed’ dogs is their large squared and compact head, which is located in a muscular chest. It’s also an extraordinary strong animal, but at the same time is extremely peaceful and homely, which is a combination that you won’t usually found in dogs.

The Bullmastiff is a compact dog, with muscular and thick hind legs, which end in a rounded foot, similar to the cat’s ones. Its tail is robust, wide from the beginning, although it narrows at the end. The hind legs are also perfect to propel and pounce towards the enemy and knock it down to paralyze it.

This dog can adapt perfectly, just as we said before, to the city or countryside life, and to be outside or inside home. These breed dogs don’t require extensive activities to exercise, with just a few exercises, like walks or some others, they will be stress-free. During the growth stage, the high-impact games or exercises should be avoided because those could cause problems in their joints, muscles, and bones.

It is a dog that can easily gain weight, so its owners may try to take their feed very seriously. It isn’t a dog that smells, which makes bathing an easy task. Brushing its fur can be done about three times per week. It’s important to say that frequent bathing isn’t recommended due to skin rashes that may appear when its pH is unbalanced as a result of excessive cleaning.

About identifying the Bullmastiff, some people with little experience in this noble breed use to be mistaken and confuse if with other quite similar breeds, being able to get another breed or a Bullmastiff’ “variant”.

To avoid this kind of confusion, here we present all currently Bullmastiff versions that currently exist and whether or not they are a recognized variation or another dog’ breed. So, let’s start.

Bullmastiff variants

Russian Bullmastiff

The Russian Bullmastiff, as it’s called, is the Russian Caucasian shepherd dog, which is a dog whose molluscoid characteristics make it look similar to the Bullmastiff, but it’s not the same dog, even when they have some similarities on the outside.

This “Russian Bullmastiff” is used to shepherd sheep herds and also to watch properties in Iberian territories. The Russian version of the English Bullmastiff can be found in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and, of course, in Russia.

English Bullmastiff

The English Bullmastiff, by its side, is the quintessential Bullmastiff, which means it is the official breed’ Bullmastiff, and it’s recognized by a multitude of clubs that dedicate to keep the breed’ standards in different breeds around the world.

This English Bullmastiff was born in Great Britain in 1924, and this was the year when it was accepted by the Kennel Club as an official breed. Since then, the Bullmastiff has changed just a little bit its physical look and its behavior, thanks to the amazing and excellent cares the breeders offer to this breed’ dogs.

This Bullmastiff’s version is the one we will talk about throughout this article in general.

French Bullmastiff

When we talk about the “French Bullmastiff”, there are some other confusions from those people who aren’t aware of the breed, due to this Bordeaux bulldog that is usually called the French Bullmastiff, thanks to its great resemblance to the English breed.

The Bordeaux bulldog or French Bullmastiff, as we will call it from now, is a dog that was raised in Bordeaux, France, and that has a direct kinship with the Mastiff dogs’ family. It’s an extremely powerful dog that boasts its great strength.

The French Bullmastiff is also recognized for its sharp and daring character when it has to be it, which makes it a quintessential guard dog.

Since ancient times both, its look and character, has varied a little bit. It’s one of the oldest breeds in France. Due to its aggressive nature, it was softened over time with Mastiffs, English bulldogs and also German bulldogs, so it can be said that it has more official Bullmastiff than other versions of this English breed that have nothing to do with it.

Italian Bullmastiff

The Corsican cane is the so-called “Italian Bullmastiff”, a little bit known breed, but thanks to its resemblance to the English Bullmastiff, it has become popular as an Italian variant of it.

The Italian Bullmastiff are very calm dogs, which love to rest on their mattress for almost all day, don’t make too much fuss and are quite loyal. But when an unauthorized person crosses their territory borders, he should run very fast, because this breed won’t hesitate to go in defense of their territory and family.

It’s so thick that a copy in ancient times could bring down a wilds board so that its owner could hunt it down.

The Italian Bullmastiff is extremely stubborn if they aren’t socialized, making it impossible to train them once their adulthood arrives, so it’s recommended that they’re only adopted by people who know how to train dogs with this kind of behavior. In case you don’t have too much experience in breeding dominant dogs, then you should choose another “Bullmastiff” version, or maybe adopt an Italian Bullmastiff female (cane Corso female).

Now, if you’re a person with knowledge in canine training and want a dog that doesn’t think about defending its territory or family and is directly going for it, then you must choose a male of this breed, which exerts the best guard and defense.

American Bullmastiff

This English Bullmastiff’ variant is recognized as an official Bullmastiff breed variant. It’s a strong dog, without fear, just as the mastiff lineage dogs. It’s able to give its own life to defend and protect the rest of the family.

Its main characteristics are its great weight, of over 45 kg, and its muscular bearing.

With a company of a dog of this caliber, you can sleep in the street if you want to, and won’t have to worry, because no one who appreciates his life would dare to face such a formidable dog.

The American Bullmastiff is one of the strongest “Bullmastiff” among all those we have listed, so it needs a lot of socialization and training at an early age, to avoid aggressive and dominant behaviors while it grows.

Just like its brothers, it’s a dog that doesn’t like too much exercise. It enjoys a sedentary lifestyle and follows its owner at home, so it’s prone to gain waist. And just like the rest of the Bullmastiff, it’s an ideal dog for guard and defense home.

Chinese or Tibetan Bullmastiff

The Tibetan Bullmastiff is a dog that doesn’t give off any smell, unlike its relatives that usually give off the typical “large dog” scent. This, also called Chinese Bullmastiff, is a version that perfectly copies the other Bullmastiff characteristics, because they are strong, powerful, and don’t make too much noise, with the little difference that if they see a stranger at home, instead of threatening him, will behave distantly.

History and Origin of the Bullmastiff Dog

The Bullmastiff is a breed which at the beginning of its origins, was completely reserved for the rangers, who cared for large areas of land owned by Great Britain’s nobles.

These land extensions that the rangers cared for were owned by the nobility and used to hunt, but less graceful families were also interested in hunting in these lands, even if it was without the noble family’ permission, so the ranger had as a goal to prevent people outside the noble family enter into these areas.

But the ranger saw that this job was a little uphill for his own alone, so he decides to get a four-legged friend to help him with this task, a strong dog, extremely smart and very patient, the Bullmastiff.

At the time when the rich were very rich and the poor were too poor, is that the Bullmastiff began to be used to prevent hungry people from hunting an animal that was owned by noble families.

Giant and large dogs were abundant by the time, they had a common name assigned, Mastiffs, a dog breed from which this article’s Bullmastiff descends.

These Mastiff dogs were very large and bulky to run large land areas chasing poachers, therefore, the rangers began to experiment and some crossbreeds were made between several breeds to find a strong but also a fast dog that could serve for the job they were assigned.

These men succeeded, and the Bullmastiff was finally born, a fast dog with great momentum and a better smell.

Bullmastiff in culture

It’s known that, in the Iberian Peninsula, during these same years of the British Mastiff, there were very similar dogs to the first ones we are talking about. These dogs were known as “bulldog” because they were very strong, brave and resistant. The “bulldogs” were described by several historians around the 50th Century and were also reflected in paintings and prints.

The Bullmastiff dogs also can be seen in great artworks such as Goya’s engravings in his “Bullfighting” collection, which were created in the early 1800s, and also in large oil paintings, such as the great painting called “The horse yard of the ancient Plaza de Madrid, before the run”, by Manuel Castellano; in this painting appear, on his left, large dogs that have an exact similarity to the current Bullmastiff.

Manuel Castellano in this artwork copied great accuracy several of the most popular bullfighters by the time, such as Montes, Regatero, Chola, and Chiclanero, so it’s known that he was inspired by real situation for the creation of their works, so, therefore, in the 1800s, Bullmastiffs could already being seeing with great resemblance to the current ones.

This means that probably the British Bullmastiff was not the first Bullmastiffs, but the Iberians.

But there was a misfortune in Spain that prevented it from being ascertained if the origin of the Bullmastiff was initially Iberian, they were banned in bullfights and given that there were hundreds of dogs at that time, duly registered and cared for to appear in Bullfighting shows sacrificed all of them since they didn’t find another occupation, thus losing the opportunity to compare an Iberian origin’ Bullmastiff with a current one.

All that remains about the Iberian Bullmastiff or “bulldog” is the illustration of the Castellanos painting, together with several engravings that, compared to the current Bullmastiff and the English Bullmastiff, can easily be seen that the Iberian Bullmastiffs are much more similar to Bullmastiff today, however, the English claimed the breed’s origin and there is nothing that can be done to refute this assertion since the only copies were executed without compassion.

Main features

The Bullmastiff breed has a large size; its height at the cross is among 63 to 70cm in males, and 61 to 66cm in females. It’s a dog that has a marked but not exaggerated musculature, is athletic and elegant.

This dog has an approximate weight of between 49 and 60kg in males, while females weigh among 41 to 49kg. This dog has a life hope between 8 and 10 years old. It’s sure of itself with a stable character.

The Bullmastiff has a regal and imposing look, but this doesn’t mean that it’s a very affectionate animal and gets close to its companions. It has enough energy and especially enjoys the game sessions. It also has a guardian instinct that will not hesitate to defend and protect its home and family from any intruder who stalks nearby.

It has a well-distributed bone structure. Its skull has a squared and wide shape; its stand is slightly pronounced.

In its facial area, we have the snout, which has open nostrils, its length is short, at its base it has a width that stays up to the nose and its upper angle is straight, which classifies it as a squared muzzle, keeping good proportion regarding the skull. Its truffle is wide and flat, dark-colored, it’s not raised in contrast to its snout.

Its lips hang slightly and reach below the lower jaw. Its jaw is wide with a clamp-shaped bite without being too much prominent; its teeth are strong and hard, with the canines distant from each other. Its cheeks have slight prominence.

The eyes must be dark or medium brown without becoming clear or with yellow tones, their eyes are separated due to the width of the snout, it exposes a slight curvature at its upper base and is small.

Their ears have a triangular shape at the end, are tilted forward with an elevated implantation base, and are small and separated, giving the head a squared shape. The tip of the ear rises to eye level when the dog is alert. They have a darker shade compared to their body and shouldn’t have pink tones.

Its neck has a slight curvature, has an athletic musculature, and isn’t long; its circumference is similar to that of its head.

The back is completely straight, it’s not long, and this gives firm and resistant measures in its movement terms. It’s not allowed for the back to be split or curved.

Its back has enough width and good musculature without being exaggerated. Its extremes are very deep.

The chest enjoys wide depth, and its wide decaying in the middle of the front limbs. Its sill is deep.

The tail is of high insertion, from its base it is thick and reduces its width until it reaches its end.

It is slightly arched without losing its rectitude. Copies with the crooked tail are not allowed.

Its front extremities are straight and separated from each other, and it has powerful shoulders, slightly tilted, stocky with good musculature but not exaggerated. Their metacarpi are straight and robust. The legs have a slight curvature, and also have round fingers and rigid and prominent pads, which is known as the cat’s paw. The legs should not be flat or crushed.

The hind limbs have enough musculature with significant strength. These have good development showing strong and athletic training. The hocks are slightly sloped. Cow hocks aren’t accepted.

The Bullmastiff’s coat is short and rough, this protects the dog against the different climates that may arise. It must be straight and fixed to the body, long soft and fine hair isn’t allowed. As for the color that may occur, there are reddish, blond and striped tones; the tone should be uniform throughout its surface, a small white spot on the chest can be admitted, but if this occurs in another part of the body, it wouldn’t be acceptable. On the face it has a particular dark mask, this mask goes from the snout to the eye contour giving it its characteristic expression, this is extremely important.

As for its moving way, it has a strong movement that expresses courage and security in its actions. When they walk in the forward direction the limbs move in sync alternating without crossing each other. The front limb on the right side and the left rear limb must be synchronized so that they support and flex at the same time. The hind limbs have an energetic impulse that enjoys a lot of strength, but this doesn’t affect the performance of the other parts of their body structure during the movement, thus being a firm and balanced movement in all their actions.

Bullmastiff behavior with other dogs

How males and females behave

In general, females are much calmer than males, these are more docile and therefore easier to train, and they are recommended for owners who don’t have so much experience with this breed or who have trouble maintaining control. Males, on the other hand, have a somewhat more dominant and firm instinct, these are quite recommended in jobs such as home and family care where they perform excellently.

The Bullmastiff and territoriality

Bullmastiff has many virtues, but they have a problem, which is the little tolerance they have for other dogs, this dog is not very sociable despite having a calm and friendly personality. These don’t usually show aggressiveness, but they don’t support that some other dog annoys or bothers you, and they’re very dominant to the point that they will want to dominate other dogs so no one dominates them since this bothers them a lot.

With the family, it will be very kind and sweet but with other dogs, it will behave like the pack’s leader. If it meets another dominant dog, problems and even fights can develop since the idea of ​​being subordinate won’t be accepted.

Dominance can be aggravated if the other dog is the same sex as it will be conflicted with this.

These dogs have to get used to being with others since childhood to moderate this behavior, when they are puppy it’s much easier for them to remain calm since they will be full of curiosity and shyness, wanting to learn more about their environment.

At this stage of its life, the dominant and distant instinct isn’t yet developed, so it will be a very pleasant coexistence.

When the Bullmastiff dog is an adult and hasn’t yet had the necessary socialization it will be a little bit more difficult where you have to maintain perseverance and patience all the time. It begins with long walks where there are other dogs present but without interacting too much if your dog begins to feel uncomfortable.

After getting used to others’ presence you can start by slowly approaching it while holding it on a leash, if it starts to growl you have to let it be known that it is wrong behavior, giving you a firm “No” in response and pulling a little the belt. Once it understands that dominance is not the right way, it can socialize with other dogs by implementing games and making new friends.

How Bullmastiffs behave with other pets?

It can be very suspicious of other pets if it doesn’t know what it’s facing, it’s usually very reserved but if it sees danger it won’t hesitate to go on alert if what it sees feels it as a threat.

The dog has to develop tolerance as the main means to approach them without problems, so it can be peaceful with other species and even enjoy their company.

Bullmastiff’ diet and diet

Bullmastiff puppy’ feeding

Puppies need a good diet to develop their growth correctly, always looking at details such as their weight.

• The puppy up to 5 months old should receive 350 to 400 grams of food per day in three portions.
• The puppy up to 8 months old will receive 450 to 500gr a day.
• The puppy up to one-year-old needs 500 to 550grs of food per day.
• After the year-old, the portions will be distanced and reduced to twice per day, these being 300 to 400grs.

This feeding calendar is the default one to this breed, it may need adjustments in terms of the amount and portions that are given concerning each specimen because bad management could cause weight problems and even stomach problems, and therefore this is of the utmost importance.

Depending on how development each puppy, they will need more or fewer nutrients, these factors influence such as exercise because if it’s quite active it could need more calories in its daily intake to stay in optimal condition, the weather is also influential as well as it’s the metabolism that regulates how fast its ability to digest food is.

Try to orient yourself according to the signals that your puppy gives to you, and decide what it is best for it, a practice to know if the dog is well with its weight is to make a small pinch to the skin of one side of it and if it easily separates from the body, it can be said that the specimen doesn’t have fatty tissue under it, try to feel your hand in your dog’s skin on its sides and perceive the intercostal space.

You have to follow a daily mealtime routine, try to establish an easy-to-take schedule so that there is no inconvenience in the future. If the puppy is very small the croquettes of their food may be difficult to eat, to facilitate this task you can spread water on them for it to absorb it and soften it, you can also make a type of porridge with these, as a good option the method will also hydrate it and it will not be necessary to drink so much water after eating because the food already includes it.

Adult Bullmastiff feeding

This dog is robust and energetic; therefore you must have a proper diet that meets all the nutrient needs it needs for its day to day.

For this dog is recommended a meal that is balanced between its components, prefabricated foods made in the form of dry croquettes, natural and soft foods, although the latter has more calories. The adult’s diet should have two servings a day.

Make sure the food container is wider below so that there are no spills or turns.

The nutrition quality that it has during its adulthood will determine the health of the pet when it reaches old age, therefore it’s of the utmost importance to give it adequate food.

Bullmastiff’ recommended foods

There are also supplements for them that can complement their meals and sometimes even replace them.

The prefabricated dry food contains its nutritional decay because in the way it’s made it loses many of its nutritional properties.

This implies that many dogs’ health complications come from the lack of good food, this could lead to problems such as poor puppy growth. This type of diet doesn’t provide everything that the dog needs for its day today because it’s synthetic, it would be best to take a different alternative and prove that it’s the best for the pet.

A diet based on a fresh food that still keeps all its nutrients intact and that can be alternated with dry food to make it easier for the dog to assimilate is one of the advantages of this type of food, also the fact that it’s prepared according to its needs is another advantage of this type of food.

The variety of different foods will also be on your part since you will not get bored at mealtime.

This method is called the «BARF diet»; this specialized diet focuses on feeding with raw foods such as the diet of their ancestors the wolves in their wild state. This feeding method preserves all fresh and uncooked nutrients and has all its advantages intact.

This diet includes many elements that can be combined in each meal of the day; there is the meat of any kind, whether cow, pork or chicken, and it can be raw or cooked for a short time. There are also bones without cooking, this must-have meat still stuck, the areas that have more meat are the wings and necks, therefore your dog would take advantage of these. Fish such as sardine or tuna are full of beneficial oils such as omega 3, 6 and 9. Animal viscera can bring many benefits depending on what part it is; the liver and heart are the most sought after for their high nutritional properties. Eggs must be raw. You can also add oils such as animal fat and fish and olive oil. Vegetables or fruits should be included in 20%. Carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, and oatmeal can also be included on the diet.

Necessary cares

The Bullmastiff grooming isn’t a great inconvenience since it’s an easy routine to do, these emanate little smell from time to time and its coat is a short type that doesn’t need cuts or major treatments. A setback that some owners might bother is drooling, for this, you only have to be aware of checking when it has any excess to remove it.

How to bathe a Bullmastiff

Bathing this dog can be difficult due to its large size and can lead to difficulties if its behavior isn’t the most appropriate at bath time; many owners take the option of bathing it in a dog or veterinary hairdresser where they will leave the bath time responsibility in professional hands.

But if you don’t have the resources for this, or took the decision to do it at home, there are tips that you should follow: first, try to have as much patience as possible at bathing and drying time because it’s a long way to wash and dry until it is in its optimal state. This dog needs not very frequent baths, they have intervals of three and four months between each one, but this can be shortened if you see that the dirt begins to be seen in your dog.

How to brush a Bullmastiff

The Bullmastiff doesn’t need rigorous care in terms of its coat since it’s short and easy to keep healthy. Its hair has times of shedding and these are coming with the beginning of the spring period, at this time it will need three brushing sessions a week, this must be done patiently and insistently, you can brush its hair contrary to how it grows and in other ways to remove dead hair and keep it healthy and clean of any impurity, this can even contribute to a better smell and will expel dirt from its coat.

This, in addition to contributing to the good appearance of your Bullmastiff, also serves to strengthen their relationship as it will be a moment of relaxation and comfort for both. You can establish brushing routines to make it a habit every week and accustom your pet to not spend uncomfortable moments if it seems to be somewhat tedious.

Bullmastiff health

The Bullmastiff is a really strong and robust dog, as is its health, which enjoys the same characteristics. However, this doesn’t mean that we skip it visits the vet, prevent or not invite it to exercise or feed it with leftovers from its meals. The Bullmastiff is a dog that will enjoy excellent health if we take care of it in the same way.

The Bullmastiff is a widely robust dog, throughout its life it has been crossed with the best specimens to guarantee excellent health and physical look, but its health will depend entirely on how we take care of it since it will be our pet.

The Bullmastiff needs to be vaccinated against the main viruses that affect dogs in the early stages of their lives. Similarly, it needs to be dewormed every six months to prevent the growth and development of parasites in its stomach.

Out of this, the Bullmastiff is a dog that due to its physical characteristics is prone to suffer from some health problems, such as eye problems and hip and elbow dysplasia.

As expected, crossing members of the same litter among themselves can trigger several problems regarding the health of the immediate specimens or their children. These hereditary problems can be treated mostly with veterinary assistance, medication or surgery, with only a few who need the sacrifice of the animal to avoid suffering a life full of limitations.

For example, hip dysplasia is a malformation in that area of ​​its body, which prevents it from walking normally due to increasing stiffness in the area. This condition does not put its life at risk but limits it significantly. Another inherited malformation to which the Bullmastiff is prone is entropy.

A responsible foster home should remove puppies that present these reproduction problems, being neutered while they are still puppies. This prevents the problem from continuing to spread through Bullmastiff genealogy.

Bullmastiff’ Vaccines

No matter how imposing the dog is, the bacteria, viruses, and microorganisms are life-threatening, these could drastically change the pet’s living conditions, affecting them to a greater or lesser extent. This is why a vaccine schedule has been made and is responsible for keeping us informed of how often a dose of medicine should be placed to our dog by a veterinary professional.

Vaccination schedule:

• Vaccine against distemper and parvovirus: 45 days old.
• Booster vaccine against distemper and parvovirus: 60 days old.
• Fivefold vaccine (distemper, hepatitis, leptospirosis, parvovirus, and parainfluenza): 75 days old.
• Fivefold booster vaccine: 90 days old.
• Rabies vaccine: 120 days old.
• Hexavalent vaccine (reinforcement against previous diseases): Once every year.

Apart from this, it’s also important to attend to the animal deworming, for this you can use special syrups, pipettes, ampoules and collars against parasites. These can be found in both veterinarians and dog shops.

Our dog’s nails need maintenance if they are not worn out with daily use, they should resort to cutting them if they start to bother the dog, if the nails exceed the pads and touch the ground they will force our dog to walk abnormally to feel comfortable either bending the legs or walking sideways, this in the medium and long term could generate pain when walking and deformities.

To cut your dog’s nails you have to consider the root since it must not be cut to not cause damage or bleeding. It should be cut horizontally at the tip. You should always consider the nail of the side finger of the paw because if it grows too much it could provide wounds due to friction between it and the ground and even break the dog’s skin.

This is in any case, if your dog needs it and its nails wear out, they do not wear out what is necessary with physical activity, you must cut them, but refrain from making a nail cut that would not be appropriate.

How long does a Bullmastiff dog live?

We all want our pet to be eternal or perhaps to live at least as much as a human being. Unfortunately, this cannot be.

Dogs always live their lives to the limit, they are widely happy with just a gesture that you can consider as normal, which can be taking them for a walk, caressing them in the belly or talking to them as if they could understand you perfectly.

They also enjoy the simple things in life, such as going for a run outdoors or, more so in the case of the Bullmastiff, lying at your feet while you are at home watching TV when you take it out for a walk in a rural area and you share with it some snacks fruits for its obedience during training.

Humans are more complicated, we need more time to achieve our life purpose, which leads us to happiness, however, dogs reach it daily thanks to you, so they don’t need to live too long to be completely happy, since day by day they can be.

Such is the case of the Bullmastiff, a short-lived dog breed with a life expectancy of 8 to 10 years. While it is not an overly optimistic life expectancy, you will have a dog that takes care of you without thinking, willing to sacrifice to save you or your family members in case of danger, a dog that lives at these limits lives full of emotions and its life will be better if you treat it with the love and respect it deserves.

How to increase Bullmastiff’s life?

Either for a Bullmastiff to live longer or for a Bullmastiff to live intensely its 8 years of life we ​​minimize the answer to this question, is one: treating it as a family member, with a lot of love, respect and giving it the exercise it needs and asks.

For a Bullmastiff to exceed its life expectancy you must take care of it a lot, for this you must take in consideration its vaccines, deworming, balanced and adequate food for a sedentary (or very active) dog of its size, perform exercise sessions continuously, always lend it daily attention and change its water regularly.

Of course, the habitat where it lives will have a lot to do with it lifetime, try to ensure that the environment where the Bullmastiff lives is right for it and does not feel isolated from the family, which is a blow to it since it is a very familiar dog that would give everything to protect the family it loves so much.

Bullmastiff breed diseases

The first thing on this issue is to take care of its health to rule out any inconvenience or irregularity, you have to perform a checkup at least once throughout the year, this must include a complete review of its system to detect any disease that occurs early since depending on which one it can worsen over time and if it is serious it could not be cured if it is detected late, presenting unfortunate events that can end with the death of the pet.

These dogs due to their breed and also the large size can develop different pathologies such as hip and elbow dysplasia, heart problems, eye complications, inflammation, infections, and genetic irregularities and cancer. And in old age can develop stomach torsion as it is susceptible to it.

Recommended Exercises

This dog needs a lot of exercises because it has a lot of energy, to avoid accumulation, you must establish a schedule of exercise routines for each day and thus solve this small setback. The walk can be part of the daily exercise as this will help your dog get tired.

If your dog has gotten used to the long walks you can implement the jog to the routine starting little by little, once you get used to jogging for some time you can practice it several times a week being careful not to let your dog pass by excessive exercise, it is always better to wait for the dog to reach adulthood to do rigorous exercises, otherwise, we can hurt it because when it is a puppy its bones are still developing.

If running is too much for you or your dog, you don’t have to worry, walking is always a good option.

Other exercises that can be done with your dog would be some simple orders such as searching for the ball or jumping from fences. You can create a routine that complements even with training orders. In the games you can try to exercise it with a toy, for example, a ball, you can hold it on top of it so it will try to reach it by jumping, this is a good exercise to strengthen the hind legs.

Searching for the ball is very good exercise since it implements obedience and speed of action, this game will make your dog drain all that accumulated energy while having a fun time with you.

Swimming is also a good option, make your pet get used gradually to be in the water and then swim while alternating his limbs, your dog will exercise many muscles of its body while moving from one side to another in the water; you must have proper supervision to avoid accidents while swimming.

How to train or educate a Bullmastiff dog?

This dog has no complications at the training time because it enjoys a lot of intelligence, enthusiasm, and willingness to learn any useful order. The training should start since it is a puppy to avoid some discomforts, so when it is an adult dog it will have unwavering obedience.

We must bear in mind that it is a very strong dog, therefore it must be firm in each of its teachings, and an owner is needed who gives the impression of the pack leader and who already has experience with breeds of such caliber. This dog needs an insistent and rational training, it is not an easy dog ​​to train, you should not show insecurity or hesitation in the orders, you have to be precise and show firmness until the end. The Bullmastiff must be taught about whom of you both is in charge of the pack since the first moments to avoid misunderstanding in the future.

When the dog understands its place, stand firm with this and don’t consent actions that have been prohibited, if you don’t then it will learn bad habits and disobey since it was granted permission once and will have no problem doing it in more occasions.

To encourage it to obey each order, give it a treat, in addition to these, it can also be encouraged with affection and encouraging words in a calm and friendly tone that does not matter if they are exaggerated because your dog loves them, only treats are not healthy at all, this contributes to the overweight of the dog, in addition to this it would not be very good that every time he makes an order he waits for one of these.

The method that best performs to train this dog is positive reinforcement, this helps a lot to develop confidence and character, there may be other methods that also work, but they are not quite good since they not only mistreat and attack the dog violently and also they also raise it in a way not suitable at all, this would be creating funky and scary dogs in most cases. These methods make the dogs obey but the teaching is implemented incorrectly through the fear of the animal and not by the willingness to obey.

This dog should not present problems in its behavior if it has been correctly socialized, its behavior in this state is not noisy since it does not like to bark too much and is not restless.

While a puppy can be a little unstable in its movements sometimes a little awkward, this is because it still doesn’t know how to properly control its strength.

This breed is quite powerful and strong in strength, but with training, the dog will learn to better channel its forces and energies. This dog enjoys a great ability for self-control and is very loyal and obedient to its family.

The initial training should be done in the house or garden, it is better to choose a place that is known and comfortable for your dog, tranquility is needed so that its attention is focused only on what we say. Having a lot of patience is one of the main keys, be insistent in training but don’t overdo it. If the training is to correct a bad habit do it often and every time it tries to do the wrong action.

What to do if I want to adopt a Bullmastiff?

The first details that you should keep in mind are to have the necessary time, also have the possibilities to bear the costs of having it and also have the necessary space for it.

It is not good to acquire a dog if you don’t have much free time since they need a lot of care and attention, and require walks, play sessions and interaction with the family and its owner.

You must have the necessary economic conditions to be able to keep such a big dog, most of the expenses will be food, followed by other needs such as the veterinarian and toiletries, toys and waxes.

If you have all these needs covered, be sure that the dog will have a very good life quality. A small detail is to have the necessary strength to master it in case of any inconvenience.

Are they intelligent and obedient or surly?

The Bullmastiff is a dog that perfectly obeys its owner as long as he is firm enough. These dogs have great intelligence and understand very well what they want to propose. Training it since it’s a puppy is the best option since it will be in the process of learning and incentives.

Bullmastiff behavior with Humans

The Bullmastiff is a guard dog by nature, it has a protective instinct so it will be quite reserved with strangers due to its guardian and protective instinct, and it may become too suspicious with any new person entering its territory which is home and be alert to growl.

This is one of the best dogs to live with the family since it is quiet, loving and homely. With children they are especially careful and patient, families with children can feel comfortable with this dog, but you always have to be vigilant because if the child is very young he will not know how to treat it carefully by stepping on it or pulling his ears.

These dogs do not usually lament the fact that their owner has to leave for various reasons because they do not care so much about this fact and take it easy, there are no major problems if it has to be without anyone at home for a few hours, it will not have any stress because of this. This is in case the dog is an adult since the puppies have not yet developed this independence.

But he still needs time with the family to share it through games and pampering since they are also very necessary so that he does not become a lonely and distrustful dog.

Jobs it performs

This dog in ancient times was used as an excellent hunting and guard dog due to its great defense and confidence qualities, this is aimed at cornering the intruder or thief by jumping or simply lying down in a way that leaves him lying in the ground while immobilizing it and calling the master with barks to warn about the situation. This dog does not usually attack with bites or likes to shed blood, this is one of the best features of this breed since it has incredible self-control and power to handle its forces which is much appreciated.

It was also widely used as a dog for rangers and guides who modified their behavior in a very good way making it suitable as a family dog, homely and affectionate. These had to further intensify its good character by changing it from a fierce and territorial to a quiet one without much hustle, although it still retains some minor characteristics such as the bad encounter with other dogs on some occasions.

The rangers gave them a home full of warmth, after deciding which would be the best option for it. These moments of tranquility and fiddling with the master and the rest of the family, contrary to everything they were accustomed to, changed the Bullmastiff character in a very good way, these could then perform both as pets and guard dogs, that in addition to the positive reinforcement they trained it to be an integral dog capable of doing much more than before.

So it changed from being an aggressive and difficult dog trained to be ruthless and without compassion to a sweet and peaceful dog in the home very responsible when it comes to protecting its house, which also loves to share with children.

So that the Bullmastiff can exploit this character to the fullest, it needs good care based on good treatment and company, it should not only be overloaded with responsibilities without taking care of it effectively in this way it will develop a great affection for its acquaintances, awakening the true instinct protector it possesses.

Ideal Bullmastiff environment

This dog is suitable for living in all types of weather thanks to its coat and distribution of the fatty layer on the skin; it has no problems as long as it is not extreme.

Although they are adaptable to these, the hot weather is not to its liking, a too humid and warm climate can cause it to not be very interesting in performing activities such as exercise or walks since it will get more tired when having to deal with the high temperatures.

One solution to this is to change exercise schedules to the coolest hours of the day either early in the morning or the afternoon before the sun goes down. Make sure that your home place is cool if it lives inside the house give it a space with natural air currents through one or more windows, although the option of air conditioning is not bad, instead if you live outside the house try to give it a space with a high ceiling to let the air seep through there.

In an environment that is too cold and arid, one of the best options is to have it inside the home in a warm, but not too much, place, because if you are ready to leave the house for a while, the weather outside does not affect it so much, because it would be a temperature change too abrupt for its body. In case it lives outside the house you must have at your disposal a house of its size made with materials that retain internal heat, you must also have a bed or fabrics that cover the floor of the house, this will give it a little more of heat.

Are they apartment or home interior dogs?

This dog can adapt very well to home interiors it is a recommended breed for this since it does not have a great need to run around a wide space, even if they like to own it. There is no problem if you live in an apartment because these dogs are not bothered by this, what you have to keep in mind is that it will need daily walks to stretch its legs and take advantage of doing its needs. It can live in both urban and rural areas.

What space needs do they have?

The Bullmastiff likes houses with a large garden but developing in a small environment is not a big problem for it since it adapts to all kinds of space. It has an excellent calm and gentle behavior, therefore this covers the disadvantage of its size if you live in an apartment, it is very responsible and there will be no major problems with it and its surroundings.

Can they live together in enclosed spaces?

Yes, they can live in these spaces since they are not dogs that have as much energy as other breeds, they enjoy being in bed and quiet living with what happens around them. These dogs are not barking either, so you can enjoy a serene space with it without having to calm it down so often.