I have an important question about a puppy…english mastiff?
Posted: April 21st, 2011 | Author: admin | Filed under: Common Questions | Tags: About, Important, Mastiff, puppy...english, question | 9 Comments »I know I posted this earlier…but more advice wont hurt 
Ok. So we might be buying a 4 month old mastiff pup. (She said that she expects him to be 180-200 by the time he is 3)
This pup has lived outside his whole life. Will it be really difficult to get him used to living inside? What should I look out for? I am going to crate him until he is potty trained and I can trust him in the house.
Will potty training him be really hard?
Is there any other advice you could give to me? Anything and everything is appreciated!
and yes he is UTD on shots and everything. she says he has a great temperament.
so @ 4 months I would be able to get him neutered then right? I know some people say different things…but whats the general healthy age?
I’m going to enroll him in obedience of course and hopefully do CGC
we have an almost 2 yr old spayed female great dane with hip dysplasia (which we are getting treated) and we have a 4 year old spayed female boxer/airedale mix. both are great dogs.
and we feed candiae als. is that acceptable for him? and do gentle leader head collars work well on pure bred mastiffs? if he is about 4 months old…what size crate should I use?
thank you all!!
I dont have him yet. I just wanted to plan ahead
just a pet.
http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff41/hotelcali2202/left.jpg
he is the one on the left
he’s 10 weeks in that pic
measure the puppy first then use a certain size crate that fits.
English Mastiffs are very lazy dogs. He’ll do just great in the house. Crate training is a fantastic idea and will help him to get housetrained more easily. There are a million different theories on the right time to neuter. I say wait till at least 6 months, but others will tell you that you can do it sooner.
Canidae used to be a GREAT food, but they have recently changed their formula and now it is a so-so food. Still better than grocery store foods, but I had to switch my dog because the new formula gave him diarrhea.
The crate needs to be JUST big enough that he can stand up and turn around it. You will need to adjust up as he grows so it would be a good idea to get a crate that comes with partitions that can be moved as the dog grows.
Goodluck with your new pup!!!
Here are some tips:
1. for a dog that age, she should LOVE being inside even if she has been outside. For that certain breed, they love to be inside with their families but have plenty of access to a yard to run around and play in. After all, it would be helpful for when they grow bigger!
2. for a crate, they puppies grow fast so buy an ex-large sized crate that has a “spacer” inside to block off at least half the crate. You can make more room inside the crate as she grows, which will save loads of money. Here is a link to what I’m talking about:
http://www.costco.com/Browse/ProductSet.aspx?prodid=11240163&whse=BC&topnav=&cat=64222&Browse=1&hierPath=48025*48086*64222*%E2%8C%A9=en-US
3. Do NOT get him neutured that young! It is not healthy and you’ll damage your poor puppy. Please take me serious! The age is when the dog hits puberty, which will be at the age of six-to-nine months. The earlier is six months.
4. As a puppy, a thick/wide nylon collar would work best. As the puppy nears a larger size (maybe around six months) get a ticker leather collar. If you puppy misbehaves when on walks, a chokercollar will be best—but wait until around nine months.
As the owner of a AKC 5 month old female mastiff pup I can tell you your going to need a BIG crate! Lol. She was fairly easy to crate train. Housebreaking is going really well though she does have the occasional piddle mess. It really depends on the dog and your consistency in the housebreaking. We also own 4 other dogs besides her, 2 pure bred APBT’s, 1 Pitbull mix, and a Shihtzu/Poodle mix along with a temporary 10 week old Pitbull foster.
Also a puppy that breed needs special nutrition. We feed ours ProPlan Giant Breed Puppy food mixed with 1/2 a can of ProPlan Large Breed Puppy wet food. With the size of those cheeks it’s just easier for them to eat if the food is semi moist.
Sounds like you are a responsible owner and the pup will be very well taken care of. If you have any other questions please feel free to email me. Good luck and congrats on the new addition!
* Oh yeah…the questions of getting him neutered, it would be best to ask your veterinarian what they recommend. Your going to get a wide variety of answers to that.
And as far as the gentle leader collar, I do believe they make them in varying sizes, able to accomodate the x-large breeds also. Here is a website with more info. Their X-large ones are made specificly for dogs over 130lbs.
http://www.premier.com/View.aspx?page=dogs/products/collars/gentleleader/description
At 4 months, the puppy is still quite young and housebreaking should not be any more difficult than with any other puppy. He should adjust very quickly to living indoors.
For a normal-sized dog, 4-6 months would be the ‘normal’ age, however, neutering in ‘giant’ breeds is thought best to wait until 18-24 months of age due to their slow development. Apparently because of the amount of weight their joints will bear later on in life, it is best to wait until their growth plates are fully closed and their joints totally developed before neutering to avoid interfering hormonally with that process.
Canidae ALS should be fine for him, the protein level is not extremely high, but I would check with your vet to make sure that they would not recommend something even lower protein to moderate his growth rate.
The Gentle Leader shoudl work fine on a Mastiff.
As far as the crate size, wait and see how big he is- you want him to be able to get up, turn around and lie down comfortably, but not be much bigger. You may want to look into a large crate with an adjustable divider made for growing puppies so you don’t need to buy several as he grows.
Dog’s can get used to anything and 4 months is plenty young enough to retrain.
Size of crate? Buy one that allows the dog to stand, lie down and turn around with ease. It won’t need much more space than that. Make sure you make the crate a nice place to be by encouraging the pup to go in there even when you’re in the room and praise it and feed it treats when it does. Don’t ever leave him in it alone longer than a couple of hours (apart from overnight)
To potty train you’ll need to go right back to basics:
- take the dog into the garden every hour. When out there tell him in a nice encouraging voice to “go pee”. Keep repeating this until he does then praise her like crazy.
- do this every hour
- if you see him peeing in the house, say “no” firmly (not shouting) and take him immediately and without delay into the garden where you start the “go pee” process. Even if this means interrupting him mid-pee and not cleaning it straight away
- once you feel confident he’s making it through the hour without accidents, lengthen it out to 2 hours. Do all the same stuff until he makes it through 2 hours all the time with no accidents. Lengthen it to 3 hours. Then 4 (don’t go over 4 hours).
In almost all cases of dogs not learning toilet behaviour it’s because owners don’t watch them closely enough to recognise when they need to go. The dog then gets caught short, pees in the house and thinks it’s ok. As you get under way with the new training regime watch your dog like a hawk. When he starts pacing and circling in once spot, seems fidgety, take him outside straight away and do the “go pee” routine. Even if it’s only been 10mins since you last did it. His pacing is a clear sign she’s thinking of going again.
Whatever you do, do not punish him for peeing in the house, just clean it up thoroughly, disguise the small (if dog’s smell old pee on the carpet they think it’s the right place to pee again) and reward him when she does it right.
Oh, and for the smell in your house: after cleaning the pee up thoroughly spray with diluted white vinegar which breaks down the protein in the pee and stops it smelling.
Be patient – potty training can take several months but relax, follow the routine and you’ll get there.
When to neuter? About 6 months is a good age.
if you are going to use the crate for the puppy his whole life then get one for a large dog.
you can try the lead collar. i would suggest a chain. my dog has a chain cuz she can break anyother kind of collar out there and i know she isn’t as strong as any kind of mastiff.
and i don’t know about the food. (sorry)
Whoa. That’s a lot of questions.
It’s possible he will fall right into living inside, and he might not. Mirrors, stairs, carpet, linoleum, all of these things might end up being strange and overwhelming. Main piece of advice, just be patient. Don’t force anything, he’ll adjust on his own when he’s ready. I’d think potty training might have a bit of a leg up (get it??), he’s only ever pottied outside, so that will be the natural place for him. Just use the crate and be vigilant.
You could get him neutered at four months, but waiting can be bbeneficial depending on what you want to DO with him. If he’s just going to be a pet, four months is fine.
Canidae is fine food. If he thrives on it, keep feeding it.
His crate should be large enoug for him to stand up, lay down, and turn around. I recommend buying a VERY large one so you don’t have to buy him two. You can always section off part of the crate so you don’t have potty in crate risks.
I’m not sure a head collar would work on a mastiff. I’d ask the actual manufacturer of the head collar.
If he’s only 4 months it shouldn’t be too hard to get him use to living inside. Just make sure you let him out to play. You may end up deciding to keep him an outdoor dog though because he will grow to be HUGE.
I think potty training will be up to him and you… it may be easy if you do it right and are consistent, but could be difficult if you can’t handle him and his size.
Yes you can still neuter him. You shouldn’t wait too long to do that because he’ll get bigger and most places charge higher prices for neutering if they weigh a lot, which he definitely will weigh a lot.
For your other questions, i’m not sure what answer to give you. But you should definitely get him the biggest crate you can find.
OH and if your other doggie has trouble with her hips you should watch out with your new puppy as he gets bigger because he may get too excited near her and hurt her hips even more.
P.S.
thanks for answering my question about my husky mix doggie. =D