Abcalert Neapolitan Mastiffs
& Tru Blue Bandogs.
For dogs who function longer and better.Where truth does not bend to
accomodate fantasy mixed with fiction.
One this page I will tell you a lot about us, and about this breed, so take the time to read the sections as I add them for this is a total update of our old site, and after so many years of experience it does need updating, I will tell both good and bad, and if that puts you off getting a Neo you were not a worthy owner anyway, all breeds do have problems, many are in crisis, this is not being admitted by either registering bodies in general nor breeders, our ANKC is a total bunch of twits when it comes to seeing that breeders really do breed to “better” the breed.
First off, about us, then come the dogs, people these days often buy over the internet and have a great need to know who they are dealing with, and what those people stand for in how they in turn will deal with you, the buyer.
We are now retired from formal work although through Phil we do have an interest in business and have included our dogs on our ABN so that you can check that we are indeed who we say we are, you can also have confidence in the Office of Fair Trading, far more than any registry should you get ripped off. Fair Trading only pursues cases if the seller has an ABN
We began breeding dogs way back in the very early 1990’s, our first dogs to breed were Bandogs, these along with several pure bred Neapolitan Mastiffs were bought over to QLD from WA .
These dogs were so impressive with their natural instincts to guard, and in their devotion to us, that we soon bought more pure Neapolitan Mastiff pups and decided to become members of the CCC (Q) as it was then and breed registered pure bred dogs alongside our Bandogs.
We believed, way back then that this organisation was serious about bettering breeds, ought to have known better, I did already know that no grazier who wants a serious working dog gets it from any show alone lines but mostly from either a working registry breeder, or a pup from unpapered but known working line mutts or pure enough what-evers .
About here it is a good idea to simply point you at the Pedigree dogs exposed blog and let you decide for yourself if I am right when you have read what I have to say, either go off and read it first or finish here and go read, it goes on forever and not much flattering is said about us on it, but still I send you there for the knockers are mainly a Pommy who has never been near our dogs and a person now living in Australia who knocks me but had to put down an imported dog because she could not handle it and it attacked her, yet she sold his pups?
So, if this dog had a dodgy temperament why risk selling his pups? If, as I suspect, the fault was bad handling this lady would be far better to spend more time getting some proper training on how to handle Alpha type dogs than sitting on her arse in Mackay and writing things about me, whom she does not even know !
But do go and read the whole blog before you decide on what breed or where to buy, many breeders are really and honestly trying to undo damage done by absolute idiots where many breeds are concerned, and I personally would rather sell you nothing than sell you a dog you will not understand nor cherish for it’s unique character and traits.
Nor will I ever breed to follow the fashion set by fools, no typy Neapolitan Mastiff is a recreation of any “Dog Of War” for God’s sake, they cannot run a mile, how the hell would they follow foot soldiers into battle or have worked for the old Italian farmers who kept them before they were commercialised by a few Italians and an Pommy?
I know that these days you may not want a dog to run for miles, in suburbia one tends to want more laid back dogs but still you want a dog who has al least a hope of living a reasonably fit life for the usual big dog average of 8 years, current information on the huge inbred Neos is that the average is amore like 4 ½ years in Australia, a survey done in England suggested an average of 2 ½ years but as only 90 responses were sent in that may be skewed.
Abcalert Neapolitan Mastiffs have reached up to 11 years old and have died as young as 3 or 4 yeas old usually from cancer when they die young, but other odd conditions have arisen, over all our dogs do enjoy better health for longer than the general population of the larger more typy show lines do, reason being that to breed for what is being shown today you have to choose breeding stock from unsound dogs to start with, the traits being extolled by idiots are the result of deleterious genetic mutations which cause many other health issues in the unfortunate dogs along with the appearance they also cause.
The more excessive the fault the more excessive the appearance, the more excessive the appearance …………………………………………….on and on and on.
Above is ABCALERT ARDDHU below a dog from 2011 Crufts, this got Best Dog!
For those who do not follow show at all, Crufts is the biggest, most prestigious dog show in the world, this poor thing above is a crufts entry, just look at those legs, do you need to be a vet to see that they are not right?, the bitch below is an ABCALERT bitch, photo is a bit blurred, she is moving a darn sight faster than the one above is probably capable of moving!
This is our, ABCALERT, prefered type of Neapolitan Mastiff, taller, plainer, and far fitter than the CRUFTS winners that have been labelled as 'genetic mutants' by Gemima Harrison, who is famous for her material presented so well in the TV program "Pedigree Dogs Exposed" and for her now well known blog of the same name.
If you look at the coats if the show dogs above, they do not shine, yet our Abcalert dogs do, without all the care and attention one would give to a dog to be entered in the Worlds most famous show!, a dull coat is a good indication of the over all health or lack of same of any dog.
History of Neapolitan Mastiffs
An Australian view. so minus the bullshit.
I have done a quick modern history of these dogs before, but I think it is time to freshen things up, same story really but told afresh.
Neapolitan Mastiffs are NOT an ancient breed as such, although all Mastiff dogs come from ancient bloodlines, some are claiming the Neo to be the direct and one true descendant of those old dogs, this is utter bullshit, in their current form even our fitter ABCALERT dogs could not do what those ancient war dogs did, unless, as a mate suggested, those equally ancient soldiers got all those muscles from carrying all those big dogs into battle !
One Mackay breeder going on PDE (pedigreedogsexposed) blog as LYN, has actuallt been silly enought to write on PDE blog that her imported Neapolitan Masitff bitch can run for 700 hundred metres beside a bloody motor bike.
For Gods sake, our first male dog ATAKANJ BONAPARTE would follow his first owner at a gallop for some 5 to 7 ks along a river bank at as the old man rode the river on his kayak.
700 metres WOW, wake up! 5 to 7 ks is little enough for dogs who supposedly are from the dogs of war, I think those dogs did a tad more that even 5 to 7 ks a day let alone energy expended in battle, these people are a bloody joke, but not funny is what they are doing to a great breed.
As has been pointed out on certain forums on the internet by a pommy enthusiast of the breed (who of course is such an expert that she can judge my dogs from her computer desk in England) I have not done the pilgrimage to Italy to meet the lunatics who have continued on the path which, from the early 1940’s on has ruined the health of what was a fine line of all round guard and working dogs. (And maybe the show judges who gave 5 of my dogs the points needed to become Australian Champions should have consulted this wonder of judgment on the other side of the world to find out what they were doing wrong)
No wonder those old Italian people who cherished those old style Neos, tried to keep the dogs to themselves, but once others, not so idealistically minded teamed up with a Pommy who no doubt had an eye for the possible commercial value of the dogs, there was no stopping the lunacy that has followed.
Both my partner and I have enough actual working dog experience to know what is sense and what is nonsense, we do not need to go to the other side of the world and listen to bullshit to be awake to the fact that if you inbreed the fuck out of dogs chosen for ever increasing size and grotesque looks which you know require faulty genes to produce that look in the first place, you are going to wind up with an unacceptably high mortality rate in young dogs.
It has taken just 60 odd years of savage inbreeding, which is, in itself, nothing new to the dog world, what IS more unusual is to deliberately inbreed to keep deleterious genes in a breed just to achieve an absolutely over the top look.
The result of these efforts was inevitable, and sealed the day the breed became recognised as the Neapolitan Mastiff and as such became a thing of fashion and monetary worth, no longer kept and cherished by those decent old people who had kept him safe and sound (no pun there) for so long.
It has come to the point by the year I write this, 2011, that this breed is now in crisis with the idiot followers of fashion still trying to say they have sound dogs when those in the know do know that the dogs are falling apart far more often than not, that breeders are lying, that registering bodies are doing far too little to force better husbandry and breeding practices, that show judges have been rewarding freaks that are so clearly unfit that there is a push to have the breed deregistered until it can be bought back to a much higher level of health and common sense prevails and the more grotesque form of the breed is let die out, (that won’t take long)
I think deregistering is a bit harsh, but judges certainly need to stop rewarding fools for their efforts, unfit dogs should not be bred nor extolled as being of ‘true’ type, the minute you see this, ‘true’ and ‘type’ together, just after it you will see a monster of a dog who looks nothing like the original dogs from which he has risen in just over 60 years !
True Type all right, but true to what type. Certainly not the dogs of the 50's, 60's and even in the 70's there were still many good looking dogs, now, they still appear, nature tries to fight back but the plainer pups get shunted off and the mutants get kept and shown and touted as being to the 'standard' it is a standard of fools and is best left well alone before it heralds the extinction of a breed who really does have more to offer thanany other I have ever owned.
There are a few brave souls world wide who actually have managed to breed more toward a moderate looking dog of generally better health and fitness, a dog who closely resembles the dogs we see depicted in old photos.
Those of us who breed for these sounder dogs tend also to pay proper attention to temperament, many of us have taken much time and trouble to learn from the best trainers we can find about the correct temperament such dog’s should have, steady yet protective, defensive without being nervy or fear biters, we do not just put a throw away line up on an internet site assuring that we breed for ‘type’ and ‘temperament’ without knowing exactly what a good temperament is.
I must say that the one thing the showies have not yet wrecked in the Neapolitan Mastiff is his character, he is all a family guardian should be with very few exceptions, our worry would be that with looks coming first as they have with so many other breeds who now no longer do the jobs they were once intended for, that the breeders of fashion will prevail and eventually the character of this great home guardian will become another shell of what he once was, just as his physicality has suffered so will his temperament.
Most of the show brigade who will assure you of their expertise as breeders of this ‘ancient’ breed will not be able to tell you one thing about the actual working tests they have (not) done or the tests for temperament also (not) done.
One breeder in Mackay who has rubbished both my dogs and me on the Pedigree Dogs Exposed blog actually put down one of her males because he bit either her or her family, yet she sold his bloody pups!!
Now is she a fool who cannot handle the breed or did she sell a dodgy litter ? take your pick, either way she would have been better to spend her time as I have, learning how to handle dogs and pick temperaments and spend less time on her arse writing crap on blogs and forums where armchair experts gather, than writing about me whom she does not know from Adam.
Either a good dog got put down by a fool or there are pups out there who ought not to have been bred, don’t panic if you have one of those pups, most likely they are fine, my money would be on the dog having been a good hard dog who just would not cop shit from a fool, most Neos and Bandogs will put up with silly owners but the odd one comes along who needs to have respect for his owner to be easy to control, such a dog in the wrong hands will not tolerate his situation.
Either way this ‘expert’ like many others needs to learn a lot more about handling things in her own backyard, before taking to the keyboard and making assumptions about what goes on in other people backyards.
The link below will take you direct to the section of the blog that refers to Neos, you will need to scroll down a fair way to older posts to get to Neo section, tried linking it direct but it did not work for some reason, probably me. www.pedigreedogsexposed.blogspot.com
Take a look read the comments too, a long read and many other links to follow, but if you intend to pay some 3 to $ 4,000 for a dog it will pay you to do your research first, the breed is utterly unique with a character not seen in other breeds but it is in crisis and there is no other word for it, if they are to march on into the future as once went so fearlessly forward in the past the breeding of the mutant lines needs to cease.
Do not buy from those who push 'type' at you unless you are prepared for the worst the breed has to offer healthwise, with little hope of getting the best.
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Photo on the left is of an old Neapolitan Mastiff, photo on right (above) is an ABCALERT dog
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Below we have a photo from 1977 of a Neapolitan Mastiff pre utter madness standard on left, and an ABCALERT dog on right, of course pommy expert Making comments on PDE blog will tell you my dogs are cross bred mongrells she knows by their noses, she once wrote ???
I have lost the story of how old the photo of the Neo on the left is, but the one on right is Champion ABCALERT FENRIR as a young dog. Photo taken at a WA dog show.
A famous old Neapolitan Mastiff Leone on left, and an ABCALERT dog on right. Not pure bred according to Kim Slater of course, but since she is in England you can work it out for yourself weather his bloody nose looks right, apart from amything else 8>)
I think these few photos show enough for you to work out that what I have done is try to find, and breed from, dogs as close to those older Neapolitan Mastiffs from the start of the history of this breed as is possible, I do sometimes use more typy dogs if I must, but none are huge, none are way over done, all must be as fit as it is possible for a Neo to be,
Nature, given any chance will always try to correct the folly of man, it does so with these dogs, always there are born in any litter puppies the show breeder does not want to claim, the plain, little bloke, often with a ton of attitude too, those are the pup or adult I will buy, they are natures way to try and get rid of those deletorious genes the idiots have bred in, these dogs still carry faults and in some those faults will surface, just less often, this is why we give a replacement guarantee,
I leave you to work out how breeders can go from these dogs from the 1960's to what was trotted around the CRUFTS show ring in 2011 and even think they have 'improved' the breed, you might wonder who changed the standard and why,
It has served no purpose whatever and is indeed genetic cruelty.
CRUFTS 2011, dull coat and totally lax joints, and can it see where it is being dragged to?
Stories about Neapolitans and Bandogs.
"The Neapolitan Mastiff "by Mario Zacchi (English Edition, revised 1987 John Twinham. Jersey Great Britain ) First published in 1983 by Calderini. I have been lucky enough to borrow a copy of this now almost unobtainable book, and would like to share some of Mr. Zacchi's stories with you. He had a great knowledge of these dogs and their ways, and even so long ago expressed his concern that they were in danger of becoming "Like a hot-house flower" due to the breeding practices already becoming common . Even though he was right to be concerned regarding the general health of the breed, one thing which has not changed is their ability to think and act with an almost human understanding of any situation. It is this quality which makes them one of the best natural guards to be found in the world today. The Neapolitan Mastiff is not inclined to be more violent than any situation calls for, though he may be made that way by ill-treatment or training. His devotion to the loving owner is almost unbelievable. I feel a couple of anecdotes related by Mr. Zacchi illustrate this very well . Maya Di Ponzano, an Italian and Swiss champion, always very hostile towards strangers, was with her owner Mr. Senaurd when he was gravely wounded in a road accident. The bitch welcomed the rescuers mute and trembling- under ordinary circumstances she would have chased them away. She stayed unmoving by the side of her owner until his wife came. Only on her arrival did Maya allow herself to burst into desperate howls, but seeing the owners wife was frightened and crying suddenly put aside her own pain and devoted herself to encouraging the woman just as a best friend would do. Mrs. Bindini would send Darma, another Neapolitan Mastiff bitch to check whether her husband was at the bar: Coming back home Darma could perfectly recount the outcome of her trip: by her attitude- downcast and disappointed when the search had been in vain, calm and reassuring if she had seen her owner. This good bitch, already old, had a deep affection for Mrs. Bindini who had reared her and who cared lovingly for her when ill even allowing her to sleep in her own bed and feeding her treats. However, when Darma felt the end coming, she got out of the bed and went looking for the master-the Mastino has only one. But he was out and she was too weak to follow his footsteps. Darma tracked down a pair of his shoes in a corner: on them she rested her head in testimony of her last thought and there quietly passed away. Near Parma a Mastino saved his lady owner who had fallen to the ground in a faint from the fumes of a fire which had broken out in the kitchen. Heedless of the flames and asphyxiating smoke, the dog pulled the seemingly lifeless body across the paving and outside into the garden where the lady came to, marked by the rescuing teeth, her faithful friend anxiously by her side. Lotar, belonging to Mr. Bruni was a perfect baby-sitter for his owner's young children. He could be seen unfailingly placed between them and any steep edge during country walks, keeping them well away from dangerous agricultural implements, badly balanced objects like the motorbicycle left on it's gantry. He was more expeditious and uncompromising than a German nurse in bringing their games to an end when he saw they were becoming too violent. Nor is it always true that the Mastino is a cat exterminator. When the cat belongs to his master and the animals are acquainted with each other from childhood, he often takes to being its defender against other dogs. Nor is it rare either to see domestic puss trustingly dozing on his protectors flank. When they believe an object under their care is particularly defenceless (a child, a lady, an unoccupied house), many normal watchful Mastini become implacably cantankerous, going through the most inexorable paroxysms. No longer on duty the same dog may well appear quite meek and mild to you. A Mastino on a walk with his owner may look at you rather indifferently and put up with your caresses, a pet on the cheek, a gentle tug of his dewlap (still better to ask in advance if he is tolerant). But when he is alone on house guard, you will find him quite different, uncompromising, on the alert and menacing. In the exercise of his functions he will decline all transient familiarities which have previously occurred. Those are just a few of Mr. Zacchi's marvelous anecdotes about Neapolitan Mastiffs, to those who have never owned such a dog they may seem too good to be true, to me they ring very true indeed, and are very indicative of the character of the Neapolitan Mastiff.
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This desctipion sent to me by the proud owner of JD suits the Australian Bandog to a T. Hello Maria,That was great to hear back from you....I am still in a rush...but the answers are all positive....I'd be delighted if you would like to put his picture on your site...would you like me to send you up a print?He is a good guard dog as long as he is not asleep!! JD is actually quite unique in that from day one he will respond to people based on what they think of him....if you don't like him or think he is ugly (how could you!!) he won't have anything to do with you. He is a bit of a mix really...overall his guarding is great.....he has kept a number of truly undesirables down at the gate and not even let them put their hand on the fence.....he also will go off his nut at people we know who do not really like him....however once they are in the yard with us he then looks thoroughly disgusted....puts his tail between his legs, turns his back and disappears....but as soon as they go to get in the car he will re-emerge and is very happy.I named him after my oldest brother....they both have big feet!....and John is a King with animals...snakes, lizards, every crawling thing will lay in his hand like he is God....however when he met JD, John thought he was a bit of a woos....remember I asked you if he had been traumatised?...and JD would not have anything to do with John.....interestingly enough when John had a baby, JD would not have anything to do with her until her own feet were on the ground...so long as she was too little to walk and carried by John or his wife....JD would not come near...but as soon as Georgia was big enough to be independent, JD absolutely loved her and used to babysit if she was outside.There are two children now and they both come out quite a lot....David 2 yrs...has suddenly become scared of our dogs....but JD has always been magic with them....problem is that he is so big and I suppose to a wee one he looks like a giant!!I must tell you one of my favourite things with JD is his refined taste!! He loves to eat rice crackers...like you do if you sit down with a Gin and Tonic in the evening!!! He will come and sit like a giant toy and gaze longingly at you...when you offer him one tiny little cracker he lifts his huge snout into the air and purses his lips like a dandy gent and you 'post' this tiny little morsel into this astoundingly dainty mouth that he 'creates'...quite hysterical if you ever compare it to the vision of him mutilating a bone in the most Neanderthal manner! Sorry Maria...but I could wax lyrical about him forever...you really have given me an extraordinary experience by breeding this boy....I am not someone who goes all out of whack, putting animals above the rest of humanity and so forth...but I just adore this dog...he fascinates me...I truly fell in love with him....he is so funny. He stretches like a cat, he is regal like a lion, he watches you like a crocodile, he curls up like a mouse, he cries like a baby, snores like a man, (I actually love his snoring!!), loves luxury like a woman, and cleans his feet like a dandy! (he doesn't like wet weather..not that we have any!, because he hates getting his feet wet. He also growls and barks like thunder and if you try (we never bother now!) to shut him in a run or tie him up...he goes completely berserk! JD. Australian Bandog. If you want to know more about the nature of a good Bandog read this email sent to me about the Bandog Sarge. (edited a little to make it shorter)
Hi
The reason for this note is I am sure my parents have one of your bandogs he is so similar to Kylie and Rat Pack, his name is Sarge and was purchased from the Townsville pound after being surrendered by some guy that could no longer afford him.
But the little history we have on him is he came from 'out west' and was a a cross between 2 pure breds thought to be G/dane and Neo but thats what we were told (thats kinda what he looks like too) but he is everything you talk about with the Band. He has a head like Rat but the colouring and shape of Kylie, black as the night with the bit of white on the chest.
Now this guy has the look and everything you say about the breed. proud, gentle, smoochy, fearful & fearless, loves children and enjoys watching ants. My father had a stroke while out walking and fell to the ground Sarge lay on the traffic side of him so cars would have hit him before Dad, allowed a passerby to check on him and when the ambulance screamed to a halt allowed first aid but put his big foot on his wallet and didnt want them to touch it, luckily the other walker knew both my father and Sarge and was able to calm things.
There too is another case regarding cats...a neighbours cat is permited to stray and comes into my parents yard and attacks their burmese which Sarge hates, he loves his Berny but none other as they are all threats to his cat. While living at home for 6 months I took my young Ragdoll kitten for the period I was there, Sarge stared at her through the screen door and never once attempted to to attack her, she would go up and smack him through the door and shadowbox as kittens do, she was wary of his size though.
There was never a problem until Tooly went downstairs by herself. Sarge was there too and Mum didnt trust him with cats other than his own, she yelled and screamed at him to get away and more or less stirred up the situation, Tooly jumped up with a fright, hissed and fluffed out whereby Sarge grabbed her, she screamed and so did my stupid mother, I camly walked over opened Sarges mouth and extracted the cat from beteewn his canines, took her to the vet due to the amount of blood on her and felt for sure she would have had serious internal injuries, I picked her up from the vet the next day... the blood was NOT hers it was Sarge's, he did not come out of his bedroom until Tooly came home he actually sulked and looked remorceful, I felt so sorry for him as I am sure he acted on impulse and wanted to give her a bit of a shaking for scratching the inside of his mouth and tongue and particularly the tip of his nose - he was in so much more pain than she was both physically aand mentally, and the very sad thing of all was he stayed upset for some time I am sure he couldnt get over it, she forgave him but he coulnt forgive himself.
Another time I got out of my daughters car and said to my 4 year old grandson - be careful of the 'dog' - his indignant reply as he pushed past me to get to the 'dog' was Sarge isnt a dog nanna he's a Sarge. This child honestly believes that Sarge is NOt a dog and will argue the point he also isnt an elephant, a hippo or a black panther, he is a Sarge an animal just like horses, cows, cats etc are animals and then there are Sarges.
You have created a new animal species as far as my grandson is concerned. He is right as Sarge is not a normal dog.. he is so very very much like the animals you describe on your site and I am falling in love with this breed, I have always had a soft spot for neo's but your site gives me a further look into the breed and though it may be a while before I get one the pups often I am now after the 'LOOK' and I have seen this in a couple of the pups in the pics you have shown.
thanx for letting me ramble but it is so good to see some one breed true dogs, what true dog lovers want, a saviour a protector a best friend
########################### Honey is a Bandog.
This one is sure she is not a dog at all, for was she not reared in our bed from a tiny puppy?
My oldest daughter has three young daughters, when Honey would see their car approaching she used to jump up and down in the one spot just as a little girl might do on seeing playmates coming, she loved to play with the children, I’m sure she saw them as her own kind of “pup”.
As I have seen other Bandogs do, Honey regurgitates food for her puppies, just as wild dogs do.
On one occasion I had locked a Neapolitan Mastiff bitch in a separate pen to her 7 week old pups, these pups were within an area with a 5 foot fence. Honey, on cruising by must have decided that the pups might need a feed since their mum was not with them, so she jumped the fence regurgitated a heap of food for them and then jumped back out. Little Zac is a Bandog
When the time came to take Little Zac’s litter away he was ill and so we kept him home, when he was about three months of age he was living in a yard with some younger Bandog pups, he would on occasion bully them and we would yell at him to stop it.
One day we heard a pup squeal and looked out our back door from which we could see into this yard, what did we see but Little Zac going flat out away from the pup which he had obviously just bashed. He skidded to a stop on the furthest point he could get from the squealing pup, lay down crossed his front legs and closed his eyes, to all intents just an innocent little boy, sound asleep. Grayson
Grayson, a Neapolitan Mastiff had seen his mother, when she was in our house yard open a gate which leads to a paddock.
When Grayson was 3 months old he went to a new home but did not settle in, so several months later we bought him home, we put him in our house yard, within 15 minutes he was out, I thought I must have left the gate open as it has a large barrel bolt which must be first lifted up and then slid across and I did not think he could have leant to do this so quickly, he had only seen his mother do it from a distance of 10 metres, and months ago at that.
I bought him back in and closed the gate, this time he was out even sooner. He DID know how to open that gate, just from watching his mother do it when he was little.
Neapolitan Mastiffs and Bandogs never forget something they have learned to do.
Another time he did a thing which goes totally against the nature of a dog, my partner, Phil had taken a number of Neapolitans for a walk, on the way home all the dogs ran on ahead once inside our boundary, Grayson came running back to Phil then ran toward the house then back to Phil as if to say “HURRY” Phil did hurry and found the other dogs attacking my little Shi Tzu dog who had gotten out of the house yard, if Grayson had reacted as most dogs would and joined in, the little dog would have been killed or at best badly injured. Thanks to Grayson he was fine. Retro
This story came from people who had bought a Neapolitan Mastiff bitch called Retro from us, Retro was particularly fond of their small child and at times the baby would lie on Retro and go to sleep. Retro would not move until the child awoke.
Gentle as she was with her family Retro would allow no one to enter her yard until her people had invited them in.
Retro was with her family at a park where they were having a BBQ, one chap had walked off from the party and on returning he happened to walk past some swings, he grabbed the chains and clanged them together making a loud noise, Retro flew at him, hitting him in the chest and knocking him to the ground, she did not bite, just stood on him until called off, much to the amusement of all except the poor sod on the ground.
Retro had considered his act as violent and Neapolitan Mastiffs will not tolerate that. The children’s Neapolitan Guardian
The story of this Neapolitan Mastiff appeared in a Brisbane news paper. This male dog slept in the bedroom of his small charge.
One night the family were woken by screams coming from the child’s room, on entering they found a man on the floor, the dog had the man by the head, he was not savaging the man but nor would he let him go, they left him there and called the police.
It was later established that this man had entered through the child’s window, and that he was a known child molester.
The dog had reacted with only as much force as he needed to, this is a common trait of the Neapolitan Mastiff, they do not react with an all out attack unless they must do so, and they have the presence of mind to determine just how much force they need to use. Ametrious
Ametrious is a Bandog his owner, Joyce, had a pure Neapolitan Mastiff pup about 6 months old who was somewhat mischievous, Ametrious observed Joyce searching for the pup, she called and called, he did not respond.
Ametrious went and stared into the fenced off veggie patch, looking in there then at Joyce, sure enough the pup was in there, he knew quite well he should not have been as he had been taught from a young puppy not to go there, Joyce was so annoyed that she smacked him, a thing she almost never does to any of her dogs.
Ametrious came over grabbed Joyce gently by the arm and stared at her, she let the pup go, Ametrious then grabbed the pup, shook him, then looked again at Joyce as if to say “that’s how to do it”. TRUBLUE SMILEY
Smiley at the time of writing is only 8 months old, a gangly pup, always easy going and calm he had never shown any sign of aggression, but had on a few occasions stiffened to attention or barked at something he thought not right.
I took Smiley along with his brother to our trainer, as he is in the proses of training an older dog of mine, we (and he) thought them a bit young to test for suitability as future protection dogs, however Colin did test them, and both proved their metal, neither pup backed off, and Smiley actually threatened the agitator within seconds of his approach.
This, from such a calm pup is very pleasing proof that my years of culling and breeding for a natural guard are producing just what I have had in mind for so long, a dog with the instinct to guard, yet not be a threat to the innocent.
ABCALERT NOCCI at 5 years of age she is still a fit and healthy dog, plain compared to the CRUFTS winners for sure, but will be around to care for her family for far longer than they can ever hope to be
Probably THE most dangerous breed of human dog owner is the 'Chap that knows the lot' he has a cunning streak which at first will pass for intelligence, He makes all the right noises to acquire what he thinks he wants, he will agree to keep in touch, he will agree to rear the dog according to instructions, and do recommended training.
But watch this one, once away, he decides he 'knows' all about these, and all other dogs, he will then proceed with his own agenda, regardless of warnings, he will take no further heed of what he was told by the breeder, he knows better, so, he will allow the young pup or dog he has bought to run in the same yard with his, and even visiting children, he will recall the 'old dog' who allowed kids to jump all over it, pull it's ears, poke fingers in eyes, ect. and be quite sure the new dog will do the same, no training, no supervision. this 'pre programmed' animal will, in his book just grow into the perfect dog without much further input from him.
The chap that knows the lot will also let his dog off lead anywhere he thinks he might like to, he knows that if it chews up another dog, or gets run over because it ran out into the traffic or bites somebody, he has the perfect answer as to what went wrong!!
If the dog is a pure breed, the breeder is at fault, they sold him a 'brummy' dog, if it is a cross WOW, this chap will tell you it is x or y breed being in there that has caused the problem, he 'KNOWS' this, did not before he bought the dog, mind you, but he knows it now, and how.
Recommended course of action for this very nasty breed is , steer well clear, as current laws do not allow him to be put to sleep along with the unfortunate dog he has acquired through his cunning actions.
Almost always untrainable.
THEN comes the bloke who wants the worst dog on the block, a real manstopper, you will often be able to pick this one by the way he bays about violence and 'getting' all and sundry with his dog, he will inform you that he intends to 'bait' the dog from day one, 'Knows' how to train it himself. DO NOT SELL THIS ONE A DOG. He will proceed with his intent and rear a dog of mindless savagery, so tormented it will very likely even wind up biting him.
This one will work diligently toward getting your dog on the banned breed list in his shire, needs to wear a brand on his forehead to identify him to the new breeder.
Can seldom be trained.
NEXT on our list of dangerous owners is the lovable 'Cuddly person', who loves their dog sooo much it is allowed to do as it likes, so cute when that little pup growls and will not give up his place on the couch or bed, so charming when he demands and gets a feed from the table, how utterly delightful when he challenges the owner for supremacy in the house. UNTIL, cuddly bear person, finds one day that they have a 60kg. monster who jumps all over all and sundry knocking them to the floor in play, or decides to attack a family member who has had the temerity to dare sit on his favourite chair
With patience many of the 'cuddly' ones can learn not to be dangerous dog owners.
TOTALLY unacceptable is the 'Keeping up with the Jones' type he is a danger more through neglect, once the novelty wears off, a bored and untrained dog who is relegated to the back yard is often destructive, and uncontrollable, and because he is uncontrollable he is left even more often to his own devises.
These types are best distracted with stuffed toys, or electronic alarms, that way they may be left to exist in peace and so may the rest of the community they live in.
POSSIBLY the worst of all is the 'Cruel bastard' almost as cunning and indeed often crossed with the 'Chap that knows the lot' there is an unofficial movement to put this breed down, or at least ban them from dog ownership as soon they are identified in all shires.
Not worth trying to train.
As time allows I will put some stories of people we have dealt with over the years down this column so check back now and then.