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Messages - DCMastiffs

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Old English Mastiff Discussions / Re: FREE FEEDING OR NOT???
« on: July 02, 2005, 04:57:23 am »
2 if my dogs actaully stayed a bit too thin when I free fed.  I now feed 2X/day, with a little water and tiny bit of satin balls mixed in.  With free feeding, I look at it this way...say you're on a diet, and don't want to overeat.  You eat a piece of toast for breakfast, an apple mid-morning, a small lucnh, snack mid afternoon, small dinner, small snack in the evening.  You never really get hungry, so you never really eat a lot.  When I free fed, it was the same with my droolies.  They'd get a mouthful here or there, and never really eat a full meal.  I fed less then, because they all (well, 3 of them) ate less overall.  Would've been fine, except that I show, and had scrawny looking Mastiffs.  I like to keep them on the lean side anyways, but not that much.  Everyone's at a perfect weight now, and I KNOW if someone's not feeling up to par immediately, just by monitoring their bowls everyday.

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Old English Mastiff Discussions / Re: American Mastiffs
« on: June 30, 2005, 04:13:18 pm »
Yep, it's a crapshoot.  Unfortunately, there are MANY unscrupulous breeders out there, just trying to make a buck.  So it falls on the buyer to do his/her homework and find a good one.  Unfortunately, so many people aren't sure of what they should even be checking for, and listen to the breeder, who of course says his puppies are great quality, and healthy.  I was just talking to a guy that has a Mastiff puppy who has hip dysplasia at 9-10 months old.  His breeder told him it was "an excellent quality pup out of champion lines, with good conformation and sound hips and elbows", hich had been "checked".  No OFA/OFEL testing, of course.  This guy believed a shady breeder, paid his money and got an unhealthy puppy. 
  It's always a possibility to have problems from litters where the parents HAVE been tested, and the breeders are actually trying to better their breed.  Anything can happen.  But those problems are drastically reduced when the extra money, time and effort is spent to weed out all but the healthiest of breeding stock. 
  Again, back to the basis of this thread.  I'm sure lots of people have gotten nice pets of the kennel in question.  When you have hundreds and hundreds of puppies, you're bound to have lots of customers.  Many will be happy.  Many will not.  Many will be healthy (just like any mutt, or people, for that matter.  The majority of us turn out ok, no matter where we came from). 
  My personal opinion, any "kennel" who always has puppies available is a huge red flag.  Any kennel who doesn't test its stock for known genetic problems, and just says "Our dogs are healthy, never had a problem yet", is a huge red flag.  Any kennel who breeds mutts and will tell any average Joe who emails that these dogs are registerable (ANY dog can be registered with some of these knock off registries.  Means nothing) is a huge red flag.  Unfortunately, people see what they want to see, and are often blind to logic when it comes to their pets.  The original poster stated she's been to many message boards where people have slammed Flying W.  Think of it this way...if you have 30 well educated (on their breed) people who all have the SAME opinion about someone/thing, and several newbies who have bought a puppy from this place and had it turn out ok (and nothing from all the ones who've bought one that has turned out horrible) who would you listen to? 
  I had a springer spaniel/lab  mix once that was the smartest thing I'd ever seen.  Amazing dog!  Did I go around saying it had no rage syndrome, which springers are succeptible to, and wasn't hyper like labs can be, so therefore it was a better breed?  No, I neutered him and enjoyed my awesome little mutt.

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Old English Mastiff Discussions / Re: American Mastiffs
« on: June 28, 2005, 05:56:38 pm »
Yes, they are mutts.  Anytime you take a breed and mix it with something else, it's a mutt.  Doesn't matter what you call it.  (Labradoodles, puggles, peke-a-poo, etc). I'm sure they're all great dogs, but their owners shouldn't be offended if someone calls their dog a mutt, because it is. 
  About American Mastiffs...the y are english mastiffs (and iffy quality ones at that) that were bred to Anatolian Shepherds.  Supposedly they will drool less.  And have the mastiff personality and less helalth issues.  Well...anatoli ans have many of the same health issues as EMs.  Many large and giant breeds do.  As for the Mastiff personality-please research the personality of Anatolians.  They are NOT friendly, family type dogs.  And the non drooling thing?  Absolutely not true.  Life expectancy for an anatolian is 11-13 yrs. For an EM it is up to 10 yrs.  Blend those and you  may get a pup from either extreme or somewhere in the middle. 
  Also, EMs and AS will both grow very quickly, if you let them.  You MUST feed them correctly or they will grow too fast and have major problems later in life. 
  As with any breed, do your homework before you buy a puppy.  Make sure the breeders have tested their dogs for defects.  Hips, elbows, eyes at least.  All mastiff puppies are cute.  Heck, puppies are cute no matter what they are.  But that doesn't mean they won't grow up healthy.
  Also...there's a girl near me who bought an AS.  Unfortunately, she's one of the many whose pup got the AS personality and the horrible hips from inbreeding and having untested parents.  She would be more than happy to answer any questions from anyone who may be interested in these mixed breed dogs.
  http://mastiffweb.com/cgi/webdiskusjon/hoved.pl?df=4326&meldID=867-3&hID=867

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