English Mastiffs have been around for years. However, some people do not realize how long they have been around and why they are such a royal and regal breed of dogs. Now the English Mastiffs history is wide and varied, but they have been around people for at least two thousand years in England alone. However, various sculptures show the Mastiff being around people for five thousand years. While they have had such a long history of interaction with people the dogs have not had a life of luxury.
The Mastiff breed of dogs were initially used as war dogs for nations. Now the large size of a Mastiff is enough to intimidate most people I know that my Mastiff just turned a year and weighs close to two hundred pounds, but just imagine how intimidating they would be with armor on them. That would be a site to look at. However, after they were used as war dogs the Mastiff would be turned into one of the fiercest hunting dogs around.
While hunting they would typically stalk after some of the fiercest prey around that would even intimidate their human companions. It was not uncommon to find a Mastiff hunting down a lion and killing them or even a group of them attacking elephants[1]. I know that my own Mastiff one day tried to run down a deer, but when he found out that he was outnumbered by the deer he decided that he would turn around and enjoy life in his house instead of taking on a herd of deer. He did however accomplish one of his goals of running the deer out of his yard.
While the more modern Mastiff that we know and love today is obviously not a war dog the more modern one has been bred with a variety of dogs to arrive at what we have now. However, due to the breed falling out of popularity in the Middle Ages and only royalty or people well off could afford them not many Mastiffs were around. People loved the Mastiff breed back then and still do and some of them loved the English Mastiff so much that to save the breed they even took and mixed in some blood line from short hair St. Bernhard’s[2]. I know that would help explain why my English Mastiff has such a bad drooling problem!
If you love the Mastiff breed then you will love knowing the history of this regal breed. The English Mastiff has been mans companion for years and even has ancient statutes erected honoring them. I know that my Mastiff probably would never be that violent unless provoked to, but then again he has been domesticated since the time of war dogs. So the next time you see your Mastiff you too can now imagine that they once fought side by side of people in wars, and took down some of the largest game prey around for people to enjoy.
[1] http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/english_mastiffs/110419
[2] http://www.mastiffweb.com/history.htm
