Cattle

Archive for March 7th, 2011

The Mastiff Dog has because of links to history a very long and storied tradition. Right around the sixth century or so Phoenician merchants introduced the mastiff dog into the Britain colonies. The mastiff dog was also utilized by the ancient Celts in battle. They found a major asset of the mastiff dog to be it’s loyalty.

Lived In Ancient Rome

This dog was used to fight in the ancient Roman arenas being captured during the Roman occupation. Then they were transported back to Italy to serve as guard dogs. It has even been stated that the great infamous Hannibal used them extensively. History also notes that Julius Caesar counted the mastiff as one of his favorite pets.

Part Of Ancient Britain

This mastiffs dog hunting prowess was so respected that there was a time in ancient Britain where the middle toes of all mastiffs dogs were removed. This was done so that the mastiffs would not be able to move fast enough to hunt deer who were protected by royal law. When this wasn’t done the dog owner’s were held responsible for their owners. Many British royals utilized the mastiffs dog to protect there vast estates. They did this by releasing the bullmastiff at night to deter trespassers and would be robbers. They also served as pets to the owners.

New World History

The mastiff was present right at the beginning of the Unites States. From the shores of Britain the first mastiff puppies were carried on the Mayflower to America. Seldom used as pets the Mastiff breeds popularity didn’t start to flourish until the late 1800’s. It was in the southern part of America where they started to make there name. This is when they were used on plantations in the South as guard dogs.

War Time Service

Being utilized to pull ammunition carts was the mastiff breed service during both World Wars. For some reason right around the same time period in Britain the mastiff breed was becoming very close to extinction. To help with the efforts to make sure the mastiff dog didn’t go extinct Canada and America both sent to Britain a large number of Mastiffs. Today with an increasing number of bullmastiff puppies and mastiff dogs being picked for pets on both continents we can say the operation obviously worked. This article should have exposed you to more information on the popular mastiff dog and why it’s storied history would make it even more interesting.