Bullmastiff Info Please

[melissajean]

Hi,
My name is Melissa. Im interested in perhaps adding a Bullmastiff to my family. I have a few other breeds Im looking into also. But I do have some questions about Bullmastiffs I was wondering if you Bullmastiff owners could answer for me?
1~How are they with children? I have a 4 year old son. I will never leave them unsupervised,andnever let Shane (My son) tease the dog in any way, but I would like a dog that will get along with him and play with him.
2~How are they with other critters?
3~How much exersize a day do they need as adults?
4~What aresome health problems Bullmastiffs can have? How do you prevent them,and/or how they are treated
5~What are some pros and cons?

Feel free to add anything else you think I should know that I didnt add. Feel free to brag or vent lol
Thank you
~Melissa~

[2Criminals]

  I answered all your questions but it wouldn't let me post. I will try again later, some pics while you wait Ann

[2Criminals]

Some adult Bully's too
Phelan and Mum, Dad, Phelan and his buddy Porter

[melissajean]

Thanks
The pics are great. Hes a real cutie. I love the middle pic of him as a baby. So cute  I had to call my mum and Shane (My son) over to show them too lol
~Melissa~

[2Criminals]

Hi,
My name is Melissa. Im interested in perhaps adding a Bullmastiff to my family. I have a few other breeds Im looking into also. But I do have some questions about Bullmastiffs I was wondering if you Bullmastiff owners could answer for me? Phelan is the first dog I've ever owned so based on my experience....
1~How are they with children? I have a 4 year old son. I will never leave them unsupervised,andnever let Shane (My son) tease the dog in any way, but I would like a dog that will get along with him and play with him.
My nephew just turned 5, he can walk Phelan (me on end of leash for safety), tell him to sit, down and "5" and Phelan will do as he says. He loves to give kisses to all kids and being at their level it is easily accomplished so to prevent scaring the random kids we are enforcing a sit before he can be pet...he's learning.

2~How are they with other critters?
Phelan LOVES all other animals, my 2 cats and EVERY dog he has ever met. We actually have to work on not having to meet everyone and every dog we meet on walks. He doesn't have a high prey drive so does excellent on trail walks, doesn't chase squirrels or deer. We recently babysat a 4mo old female black lab who chewed on him like he was a bone!! He never once retaliated, I had to rescue him a few times to calm her down.
3~How much exersize a day do they need as adults?
We are frequent flyers of the dog park, perhaps an hour or two traipsing around there and he comes home to nap. Some days we only make it out for a morning and night trip around the block and that is fine for him too. When he was a pup he really didn't make it very far at all, a trip across the road to the park meant i was carrying him home If they lay down on the walk, give them a break or pick them up, they'll let you know when it's enough.
4~What aresome health problems Bullmastiffs can have?
Any large breed is prone to hip/elbow displasia, joint diseases and bloat. Bullmastiffs are apparently susceptible to bug bites as well-haven't had this problem.
 How do you prevent them,and/or how they are treated
Promote slow growth through nutrition to allow joints to develop with weight gain, don't over do exercise, find a reputable breeder! Our breeder suggested not letting him do stairs until he was about 10mos, not a problem in our bungalow...i don't think he's seen the basement yet
5~What are some pros and cons?Pros- you have a big suck of a dog whose appearance serves as a deterent. They are not big barkers, one big Boof says it all. I can walk him down the street and be avoided be people who don't know him and think he looks scary (fine by me) and I can walk down the street and meet new people and know that Phelan will love the attention I also know that he will protect me if necessary, he has darted in front of me when a strange dog came running out of the bush barking at me, stood over me when a truck rumbled by early one morning while i was sleeping and will do his big boy *boof* if he doesn't think I noticed the person coming up the driveway. If you pretend you're holding him back when sales people come to the door they leave quickly
Cons- He does snore, it's nothing outrageous but he definately does.
The boy can chew!! He discovered so at about 7 mos and suddenly all his "indestructible" toys were destroyed. He now has a toy box that holds all the things he is allowed to chew...kongs-many to keep the frozen rotation going, the big "tough" tire that i bought last week and was severly mangled in 10 mins but still surviving, real shank bones-no small/thin bones as he can and will bite through them (we've made this discovery), i buy him cheap stuffies-they last 5 mins but he LOVES them, the clean up takes longer than the stuffie's death. Be prepared to limit access until he's proven he can be trusted and knows the boundries-Phelan at 15mos has earned his freedom in the livingroom and kitchen everywhere else is only when monitored.
Feel free to add anything else you think I should know that I didnt add. Feel free to brag or vent lol
Thank you
~Melissa~Well as mentioned, Phelan is my first pup, he scored 1st, Perfect (first ever to) and 2nd in his level 1,2&3 obedience classes, he somehow managed to come away with a first place in the agility portion too! He fears nothing so working with him is easy, he aims to please and would do anything for a liver treat. He is active enough to go for a trailwalk with me but calm enough to come home and have a cuddle. After having the visiting Lab puppy I knew that I made the perfect choice for me in choosing the Bullmastiff. Just because we need some more Bullys on the site- a few more baby pics
Check out facebook-search Bullmastiff and you'll get lots of people who love to talk about their dogs!

[melissajean]

Thank you. 
I think Im moveing the Bullmastiff towards the top of my list lol, they just sound like wonderfull dogs. Ive been reading up on em. I think Im gonna go through all my back issues of dog world/dog fancy/dog and kennel/ and all those and see if I can find any articals.
Thank you again for the info,and the pics. Feel free to post as many pics as you want lol. Hes a darling
~Melissa~