What Exactly Is A Mastweiler?
Sunday, 26 September 2010 17:40
Marisa Gordon
Traits of a English Mastweiler
Well, simply put it's a cross between a Rottweiler and a Mastiff type dog. The most popular cross we have found is the Rottweiler/English Mastiff. I started breeding these crosses back in 2005. Why breed these two dogs? Because you really do get a dog that is best of both worlds. They are more aware and agile than the purebred mastiffs. They follow you around like a mastiff; they generally don't have the herding instinct of the Rottweiler and are also less likely to wander off your property. Most mastiffs will not leave home, Rottweiler on the hand are more likely to wander and get into mischief. The cross helps length the lifespan of the mastiff - most crosses from what I have heard generally tend to live 9 years to 13 years. While I am personally trying to breed these dogs bigger (generally my females run around 110 lbs, my males upwards of 130, they do have potential for another 30 to 40 lbs and more height if we can find purebreds to bring into the mix). I do NOT want to compromise athletic ability for size though. They generally drool less than their mastiff counterparts – the Rottweiler contributes to a tighter lip.
These dogs are modern day family dogs - and not in the pint sized package. While they are not likely sharp enough to be Schutzhund dogs, they are very good watch dogs and protectors of the kids, house, and car. Their sheer size is usually intimidating on it's on. They seem to have the natural mastiff ability to discern between a child and an adult - and they are gentler on the kids; the worst you usually have to worry about is a rambunctious mastweiler playing outside knocking over a toddler. They are not generally mouthy unless you play with them from pups that way. They have the built in mastiff guilt complex - so if you are upset, they are upset. They are more resilient than a mastiff when it comes to getting disciplined but more sensitive than a Rottweiler.
Outside they play fetch, they are able swimmers, they can pull carts if you put them in harness. At a drop of a hat these guys can walk/trot for miles by your side. They are naturally more focused on you and much easier to train off leash, less dominate and demanding. Inside, they settle down quickly, and they are just as happy in a small apartment as long as they are walked daily as they would be on a farm with acres and acres to run on. They are social animals and generally get along well with all breeds as long as you spend some time socializing them when they are pups. They are not generally aggressive with smaller creatures, though like any big dog, you need to know your animals. Like a mastiff they just want to be near you at all times. And yes, like both Rottweilers and Mastiffs - they still think they are lap dogs even when full grown. They will also gladly take over your bed, your couch and any place warm and comfortable you want to share with them.
Most Mastweilers are very smart creatures - much smarter than the male Rottweilers I have happened to know. But then again, that is the intelligent mastiff; I find mastiffs to be incredibly smart dogs - because they are calmer than the Rottweiler and less likely to get caught up in the intense focus a Rottweiler might when playing a game, chasing a bug, etc.
The negatives - Mastweilers can be climbers - or even jumpers. They love to climb and jump on things. I have had a number that can easily scale 4 foot fences and a few that learned how to scale 6 foot ones. They will sometimes dig; sometimes to lay in a hole to cool off like a rottweiler would, but less rarely to dig under a fence. They are more like, as a mastiff would - try to go right THROUGH the fence. They also like to chew if they are bored – much like a mastiff. For some reason they drawn to wood.
Mastweilers use their paws as mastiff's do - it is not usually a dominant habit. It is simply I am here. All of my mastiffs and most of my mastweilers use their paws very readily and as as my one friend used to say, "knight you" on your shoulder or your arm if you sit with them long enough. Both purebreds like to sleep on their backs at times and it is prevalent in the mastweilers as well. OH, and they can snore sometimes, but not nearly as bad as the mastiffs do.
They come in many colors - basically all the rottweiler shades and all the mastiff colors and then a mix of the both - you have brindles and solids. Black and various shades of tan. Brown and various shades of tan. Solid colored dogs with black masks. You see saddles markings a lot, which are a lightening of the coat over the shoulders. You have Brindles with Brindle Points (they are marked like the rottweiler, with often a lighter color brindle where the tan points with be). You also get black dogs with brindle points where the tan points would be.
For me these dogs are a lifetime commitment. I would like to see them established a breed eventually, but I'm still trying to perfect exactly what I'm looking for... it will take many years and building up the knowledge on the cross itself. I'm taking it bit by bit, but I have big plans for these amazing dogs.
The Italian Mastweiler…..
I was the first breeders to start breeding the English Mastweiler cross formally in the United States. Prior to that, the only other concentrated effort took place in the UK - and they, like I have chosen to do, brought in other types of mastiffs to the cross. At this point we are making still making a distinction between the two - but as we evaluate the dogs through breeding that may change. I personally really like the Corso/Mastweiler cross and do not like the idea of directly crossing the Corso with the Rottweiler. The English Mastiff softens the cross just enough as well as brings in the larger size. What I have noticed in my first Corso Cross is that Audrey is stouter and has shorter legs - and doesn't have the ground covering trot I value in the mastweiler (and the rottweiler for that matter). She is currently bred back to another mastweiler and genetically speaking the pups will be 25% Corso, 37.5% Rottweiler, and 37.5% English Mastiff. I’m very excited about this litter – personality wise, they should be great, and genetically speaking they are much closer to the ideal that I’m looking for if we chose to keep the Italian and English lines separate. There is a difference physically and mentally in Audrey from the other mastweilers, but it really suits her and it suits the cross. I am looking forward to getting more corsos in the future and continuing perfecting that cross or deciding to fold them both into a single cross.
Other Outcrosses?
I don’t like the idea of crossing certain mastiffs with Rottweilers – French Mastiffs for example – I don’t see the positive in it structurally or temperamentally. The Neapolitan Mastiff maybe in something to look into though. They are bigger than Corso’s usually, but have a lot of the same personality traits. I would discourage any outlandish Rottweiler/Mastiff crosses, such as the Great Dane with a Rottweiler - the body structures are way too different between the two and you are likely to end up with some very wonky looking puppies. One of the things I really like about my dogs is they are very soild and well put together. I think the bull mastiff/Rottweiler cross also has it’s positives, but I do worry about potential birthing issues and bull mastiffs sometimes need c-sections do to large skulls. I would also discourage Rottweiler cross with any Molasser type breeds with extreme temperaments – such as African Boerboel’s, Tosa Inus’s, Presa Canarios or Fila Brasilerio’s. Those dogs have VERY INTENSE personalities and would not do well crossed haphazardly with a Rottweiler. Now don’t get me wrong, I like those breeds all on their own, but I see the different traits working against each other, rather than for the cross and I will not be promoting those crosses as for most people that is just too much dog to handle. I will say outside of the mastiff/rot cross, the one rot cross I that I like is the Rottweiler/American Bull Dog Mix. They generally have a lot of the same attributes as the mastweilers.
Last Updated on Sunday, 26 September 2010 23:47
What Is Hip Dysplasia?
Sunday, 26 September 2010 15:25
Marisa Gordon
So you may find yourself asking what is hip dysplasia? To put it in layman’s terms it is a disease that can cause lameness and arthritis in the hip joints. In technical terms, for those that want to understand it further “HD is a polygenic disorder meaning it is a genetic condition or disorder from the combined action of alleles (one of 2 alternate forms of a gene that can have the same position on homologous chromosomes and are responsible for alternative traits), some alleles are dominant over others. Such disorders are inherited, they depend on the simultaneous presence of several alleles thus the hereditary patterns usually are more complex than those of single gene disorders.” (1)
Genetics only count for 25% of your dogs chance of developing hip dysplasia.(2) This is one reason, as a breeder, I only offer a health guarantee on my puppies for one year. There are too many environmental factors out of my control after you puppy leaves my home that can cause this to happen. On the other hand, should a severe case of hip dysplasia arise in that time, I would consider the chances it being caused by a hereditary issue to be great than something that develops later on in life.
What are the other causes of hip dysplasia aside from genetics?
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Obesity (in a immature dog)
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Growing too fast
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Accidents (getting knocked over by another dog, playing roughly with a pup)
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To much forced exercise at a young age
The OFA argues that the development of hip dysplasia is solely a genetic issue. Well yes, it’s not like a virus that a puppy can get and then become lame because of it. If a pup is born with bad hip joints, their cells got some instructions from somewhere in their parents DNA, but surprise, surprise, even two parents with “EXCELLENT” hips can produce puppies with bad ones. Where did messed up blueprints come from? In my opinion, the OFA is a bit misleading in their statement; they seem to imply that if parents hips are healthy, thus pups hips will be healthy. The OFA does backtrack in the same breathe, albeit in very big words by stating “Reduced caloric intake and glucosamine products in immature animals genetically predisposed for hip dysplasia may lessen the pathologic changes associated with hip dysplasia.” So you are telling me that while this is solely genetic, there are things we can do as owners to help our puppies bodies as they grow to not to develop this condition? That the actually physiology of the bone can be affected by ENVIROMENTAL conditions (food, supplements), not just genetics? Well if that is the case, can’t almost any pup be genetically predisposed to hip dysplasia? A big leap, but food for thought.
Statistically, an HD (Hip Dysplasia) control program in Sweden showed that:
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normal to normal matings led to 18% dysplastic offspring
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normal to dysplastic matings led to 59% dysplastic offspring
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dysplastic to dysplastic matings led to 87% dysplastic offspring
X-Rays & the OFA In August 2007, Zeus and I traveled to our vet to have his hip X-rayed for the OFA to review. The first time we had this done, his x-rays were sent back as they felt the image was under developed and the hips were positioned incorrectly (basically meaning the vet took a bad picture). So in September, we went back to the vet again, and we re-shot Zeus’s x-rays. This time the x-ray developed just right, but to my vet and I, the positioning looked just about the same. We decided to send it in anyways. This time the OFA accepted the images, and sent them around to three specialists to be reviewed. He came back rated as OFA Fair, meaning, he does not have hip dysplasia. (More about his rating below) The testing process is very subjective: Method of submission: These days radiographs can be submitted to the OFA digitally. My vet is not quite that high tech. That’s okay with me; it keeps his prices down and allows me to do more for my dogs at a reasonable price. We even discussed the fact that the OFA may prefer (while not stating this) digital copies vs “hardcopys” we sent.
Level of Competency of the vet taking the images: I love my vet. Doug is awesome, and he does a great job with my animals. I have a lot of faith in him, but he doesn’t do OFA radiographs everyday. Does he know how to do them, yes? Can he look at them and tell me if my dog has dysplastic hips? Yes. Isn’t that really all I need? Yes and No. I could have spent almost double the money, taken Zeus to a specialist and possibly gotten better positioning (though, Doug really did a good job with it), thereby getting a better rating. Do I honestly believe Zeus’s hips are fine? You better believe it, and I will stand behind it 200%.
Positioning: You can’t make a dog with bad hips look good with good positioning, but you can make a dog with good hips look bad with poor positioning. A great sight to view radiographs and understand about positioning of hips is on Leerburg’s website.
Vet Review: The same vets do not review every dog’s x-rays that are sent to the OFA. While they may all follow a certain standard, they will often reach different conclusions.
Hips are more than just the parents
So Zeus’s hips are rated as OFA Fair. Some breeders would not breed a dog with fair hips. I don’t have a problem with Zeus though. Why?
1) Looking at his pedigree, he has too many ancestors with good hips. His father has good hips, his Grandparents all have good to excellent Hips, his Full Sister has good Hips, his half-sister has good hips, and his great-grandparents have good hips! The chance that Zeus is going to produce a pup with severely dysplastic hips is as much as any dog with a “good” rating or better.
2) Better x-rays could have meant a better rating. I’m not spending more money to prove that he has good hips. The proof is in the pudding.
3) Zeus has never had shown any symptoms of hip dysplasia. He has never taken one lame step, one bunny hop or even shown signs of arthritis in his back end. As my vet would say the symptoms have to match the diagnosis. Even if a dog was graded to have bad hips, if the dog is not lame or arthritic, then they do not have hip dysplasia.
Testing methods in the US
The OFA x-rays are only guaranteed after the dog turns 2 years old Did you know there is another method for testing for hip dysplasia in dogs?
PENN-HIP
This test uses three different x-rays to test for loose-ness of the joint. It is claimed to be accurate at a much younger age then the OFA test (as early as 16 weeks). Penn Hip does not just utlize a pass/fail method; they actually measure the looseness of the joint and then compare it to other dogs in that breed. This is a much more scientific method than the review process done by OFA. Also, vets have to be certified to take Penn Hip radiographs.
What is good for the hips?
We already know what doesn’t help the hips of a pup, so what does? SWIMMING!! Swimming is one of the best things you can do with/for your dog and their hips (aside from keeping them lean), It builds them muscles in their legs without stressing their joints. Believe it or not it can tighten up joints that look lax in x-rays. This is actually something you want to do before you bring your dog in for x-rays, and can help dogs that are having pain with their hips strength their back end.
Supplements such as Glucosamine, Chondroitin, MSM can be give to help the joints; you can actually purchase the human version of these at your local pharmacy, though they do sell animal versions as well, but they are generally a lot more expensive and do the same thing. Check with your vet on dosage information.
What can you do for dogs that have dysplastic hips?
In severe cases with pups, the best thing you can do is have the pup put down. Surgery can sometimes correct problems, but with very severe cases, it may even be beyond any amount of repair. Two types of surgical procedures can be done; one type is a preventative measure, the other is to actually fix the hip after the onset of the disease.You can also manage dysplasia using non-surgical methods; swimming as mentioned above, giving the dog a warm place to sleep (keeps the joints from getting too cold), drugs such as Rimydal to help ease the pain, and keeping the weight off the dog, thereby keeping weight off the hips.
Some great resources to learn more about this disease:
http://www.workingdogs.com/vchipdysplasia.htm
http://leerburg.com/hipart.htm
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Padgitt, George A “Control of Canine Genetic Diseases”
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http://www.cvm.uiuc.edu/petcolumns/showarticle.cfm?id=45
Last Updated on Sunday, 26 September 2010 23:19
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Trait Predominance in Mastweilers
Sunday, 26 September 2010 19:06
Marisa Gordon
There a few things I am seeing in my mastweilers. There is a definitive mastweiler skull - and I even see it in Oliver, who is 75% mastiff. It's a larger skull than the rottweilers usually, but shaped very much like one. If you compare pictures of Jillian, who is a 2nd generation Black/Tan Mastweiler with that off purebred rottweilers Sassy or Jewel, you can really see the differences in the dogs. You can also see the difference in the single picture of Napoleon and Jewel. I am going to try to start comparing pics of the purebreds to the crossbreds as well so we can start a discussuion on conformation in general about these dogs.
  
Also, in many cases they say the rottweiler pattern, which in genetic terms is know on the "tradtional tan points" pattern - is generally recessive. I have to say in breeding these guys - we are getting those markings on EVERY first generation cross when we breed a solid mastiff to a rottweiler. We are also seeing it in Brindle First Generation Mastweilers - Such as Jack for example, who has brindle coat, but also has brindle points (though a different shade of brindle than the rest of his coat). In the second generation we are once again getting the black/tan pups, as well as black pups with brindle points. I am still trying to figure out if the first generation pups coats are considered more sable (because they do change over time) or if they have the a diluted or modfied verison of the "traditonal tan points" pattern. I am currently doing more research on coat patterns and will write about them here soon.
Crate Training
Sunday, 26 September 2010 17:06
Marisa Gordon
Originally Published January 8, 2008 - Copyright © Marisa Gordon/Muslovedogs.com
The Basics of Crate Training
You hear about crate training all the time; some people think the world of it and others are quite skeptical and furthermore, consider it putting their pups or dogs in “jail”.
What does it mean?
All my dogs are crate trained from puppyhood; for me it’s a very important part of their training and also helps me keep my sanity when those cute puppies stop being so cute and start driving me up a wall.
A crate trained dog should willingly enter its crate, both on command and on its own. Once in the crate, it should happily sleep, eat, and play without going into hysterics or trying to break out if you leave the room. Finally, it should hold any bowel movements until it is let out of the crate. If you’ve achieved that, you have a crate trained dog.
Why?
Pups are very curious; each has varying degrees of curiosity; for example, I can leave Sassy, Sage’s daughter, at 8 months, loose in my office, and she will generally just lay quietly until I return, whether it be 5 minutes or an hour. On the other hand, if I left her sister, Jewel, alone for 5 minutes I’d be afraid I wouldn’t have an office to return to. So I will always put her in a crate if I can’t watch her until she mentally matures enough to be able to deal with being left alone in a room. If I did leave her though, these are some of the scenarios I envisioning happening:
- She chews on a number of power cords under my desk (OWW if she gets through them).
- My desk itself becomes fodder for entertainment and we have permanent teeth marks on every edge for years to come.
- She decides to pull on the printer cord and manages to pull the whole printer over on herself, which could seriously hurt her.
- She somehow makes it up on my desk (trust me, these puppies can jump, and curiously they will find a way) and knocks off my lamp. She scares herself so much from the crash when the lamps breaks that she backs up and falls off the desk backwards and hurts her leg or cuts herself on the broken glass from the lamp (or even tries chewing on it).
- My curtains are quite the chew toy, kind of like an automated tug of war; hell I like my curtains shredded, ask Coco.
Those are just a few things I could see happening. And trust me, given enough time and incentive, they ALL could happen. The biggest problem is that Jewel might get hurt. Even if she doesn’t, we both loose; her by learning to chew on the wrong things and me by having my office decimated. Even Sassy, could turn into a devil in disguise if she decided to ignore her toys. I couldn’t get mad at either of them if they did this; they are both young, and puppies will be puppies. I should know better, and not leave either of them up to the temptation if I am not ready to deal with the consequences.
So to preserve my sanity and their safety, I use a crate. And I use it till they are mentally mature enough to be without it, and then I still provide them with the option of going in and out at will.
Many of my dogs will choose to go lay in a crate over laying out in the open. In fact, I either have one of two scenarios happen. I have four dogs out and about and five crates with open doors. Left alone, they will either all disperse to separate crates to sleep or all four of them will go lay in one crate together; it looks likes clowns exiting a car when you see four 90lb – 150lb dogs walk out the crate door to greet you one, by one, by one.
So why? Because it keeps them safe, and furthermore, trained correctly, they like their crate and see it is a safe zone.
The Den/Safe Zone
Dogs are den animals, and using a crate, you can recreate that den, espeiclaly if it is a hard plastic one or you throw a blanket over a wire crate. Never use a crate for punishment; it needs to be your dog safety zone. If you have kids, don’t encourage them to climb in it with them; this is one thing that should be your dogs, and your dogs only (not that I haven’t climbed in with my own). Feed them in it, let them nap it, let them play in it, leave it open when your not home. A big house can be scary for a dog who is on the borderline of separation anxiety, and the crate will be a safe, familiar zone.
Size Matters
You really want to get a crate that fits your dog (or grows with your puppy). Too big with a dog or pup that isn’t housebroken can cause accidents. Dogs will generally not go to the bathroom where they sleep, but if you give them too much room, they will keep an area for sleeping and an area for going potty. Too small, they can’t comfortably move around or stretch out when your gone for long periods of time. Take your dog with you when you buy a crate, they will often let you test them out at the pet store. Also, you can purchase dividers with your crate that allows you to purchase one crate at puppyhood and adjust the space the pup has it grows.
Types of Crates
There are so many types of crates… wire, plastic, fabric; ones that fold down, ones that are permanent, we even have a homemade wooden one for our mastiffs. The wire ones are great, have removeable trays for cleaning and are generally cheaper than the all plastic ones (at least in the larger sizes). They are not always the best to look at (then again neither are the plastic ones) but they serve the purpose. The one thing I like about the plastic crates is the dogs can’t get out….you would not believe the number of adult dogs I have that have gotten out of the wire crates when they weren’t crate trained as pups before they came to live with me.
You’d be surprised how small a hole a mastiff can fit through; they seem to think if their nose can go through it, the rest of their body can. If you have an adult dog, like we did when we were training MyLady, who really hates being put in a crate (she’s good now though), try a plastic hardwall crate… it is next to impossible for the dogs to get them open unless they are closed wrong or put together in correctly.
Housebreaking
Crates are also great tools for housebreaking your pup. One of the keys in housebreaking a pup is that whenever you wake it up, take it outside to potty. A crate teaches them to hold it until you can get them out the door. Every pup, the minute is let out of a crate, is brought outside to go potty until it is housebroken (even then as adults, I let them right outside; usually if they’ve been in there for any amount of time, they have to go). In the beginning I carry the pups from the crate to outside, saying outside, let’s go outside. Then once they get the hang of it, I start opening up the crate door and having them chase me, all the while yelling outside, let’s go outside in a very excited voice. I will go into more detail on housebreaking in another article, but generally the pups learn very quickly that outside is the place to go potty. When I let them out, if they don’t go potty, they go back in the crate for another ½ hour, and we try outside again. I don’t put off any negative vibes to them, it’s a simple, okay, I’ll come back in a little while and we’ll try. You never, ever want to treat the crate as punishment.
Teaching Your Dog to Enter the Crate on Command
First, you start off by sitting close to the open door of the crate and a handful of treats and your dog. You say your command (mine is “Kennel Up”) and toss your treat in the crate. The dog then goes in after the treat and is allowed to come out at will in the beginning. You slowly change that into them staying in the crate patiently until you command them to come out. Once they understand the concept of kennel up, start giving them the treat AFTER you have commanded them to come out. So it’s “Kennel Up”, wait patiently, and then on command, come out for a treat. Once they understand this, you want to start moving farther and farther away from the crate, command them in, let them wait, and then command them out. Give LOTS of praise along with the treats! It got to the point with Sage where I could give her the command upstairs, she would go downstairs, find her kennel and wait for me.
Because I have multiple crates, most of my dogs just enter a crate by me pointing at it, or tapping the top of it. They really don’t mind, there is no forcing generally, and we are both happy and content. It is not a hard thing to teach, and if you make it a very positive experience you will find your dog enjoys their crate for years after you stop closing the door.
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