[lit-ideas] Mastiffs in our backgrounds
- From: "Lawrence Helm"<lawrencehelm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 6 Aug 2007 01:24:19 +0000
I probably mentioned at some point that Susan and I have always had Rhodesian
Ridgebacks. When her illness progressed to a point where she could no longer
work, I insisted that we get a protective dog to be home with her while I was
at work. We were living in a condo at the time and I suggested a condo-sized
dog; specifically, the Irish Terrier and the Standard Schnauzer, but she said
"a dog isn't a real dog unless it is big." So after much debate we narrowed
the selection down to the Rottweiler, the German Shepherd and the Rhodesian
Ridgeback and then went to the Beverly Hills Dog show to see these breeds. She
had never seen a Rhodesian Ridgeback or a Rottweiler before. The Rottweiler
(also with Mastiff in its ancestry) had just been shown and the breeders were
walking them out to their vans and trailers. Some of them were lunging at
passers by. Susan decided they were ugly. The German Shepherds had been shown
earlier that day, but that was okay. She knew what they looked like. The
Rhodesian Ridgebacks were about to be shown. She fell instantly in love with
that breed at first sight http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhodesian_Ridgeback.
And interestingly, there is Mastiff in the background of the Rhodesian
Ridgeback as well. The original Rhodesian Ridgeback that gained fame for its
ability to hold African lions at bay until hunters showed up weren't as big as
they are at present. The ideal male circa 1900 weighed 75 pounds and the
female 65 or 70. They needed to be fast and wise enough to escape the lions
charges but have jaws strong enough to hurt the lion when they nipped them on
the rump. And, most importantly, they needed to be unafraid of lions. Very
few breeds, if any, met those qualifications. The Rhodesian Ridgeback as a
consequence became famous in Africa. Everyone, so it seemed, wanted one, and
in the 1920s some fanciers standardized the breed, with the male weighing 75
pounds.
At some point hunting lions with dogs was abandoned and as the Ridgeback was
exported to other places some breeders thought it desirable that the Ridgeback
be given more size; so the Mastiff was introduced. The Mastiff increase in
size was then kept but the Mastiff look was bred out; although Canadian and
English Rhodesians are purported to have a more mastiffy look than American
Rhodesians. The new size standard was approximately 85 pounds with no penalty
if they were larger as long as they were proportionately proper -- "proper"
meant having the Dalmatian proportions. At the present time, as I understand
it, Ridgeback males winning shows weigh between 90 and 95 but no judge at a
show actually weighs them. I have had two males in the past and both weighed
between 90 and 95. I presently have two females who weigh only slightly less
than the males -- if at all, but they are very well built. That is, they both
retain the Dalmatian proportions more or less; so who cares if the Ridgeback
weight more closely approaches the Mastiff than it used to?
Another breed I have been interested in from time to time is the Anatolian
Shepherd: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatolian_Shepherd_Dog. It also has
Mastiff in its background. Whereas the AKC standard for a Bullmastiff male is
130 pounds, for the Anatolian Shepherd it is 150 although no one weighs an
Anatolian either. My male Ridgebacks were about 28 inches at the withers, but
the Anatolian is more than that, 30 inches or more is apparently common. The
English Mastiff is slightly taller and larger (30 inches or more, with the
"more" being more than the Anatolian and 160 pounds or more). The reasons the
Anatolian is attractive to me are 1) as I mentioned, they haven't much of a
prey drive, 2) they have traditionally been content to walk alongside the
shepherd as he follows the sheep from pasture to pasture (something I would
appreciate on my long walks on the river or in the mountains) and 3) they are
much longer-lived than other large breeds. The Mastiff, the Bullmastiff, the
Rottweiler and the Boxer, for example, are very short-lived: 6-8 years is
common.
Years ago I saw a Mastiff at an Animal Shelter. He dwarfed the cage he was in,
and he looked miserable. I guessed him at more than 36 inches at the withers
and 200 pounds. I had an instant Quixotic need to make sure this dog was not
destroyed; so I went into the office and inquired. I was told that three or
four people had put their names on the list to adopt the dog if the owner
didn't show. I don't recall whether I added my name to the list, but I checked
later and found out the owner had retrieved his Mastiff. I didn't have a large
car at the time. I would have needed to remove my rear seat to transport him
home. We were still living in the condo at the time. Susan has attempted to
discourage these mysterious (to her) visits to Pounds.
Lawrence
------------Original Message------------
From: "Judith Evans" <judithevans1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Sun, Aug-5-2007 5:07 PM
Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Kant's Mastiffs
>They turned out to be Preso
>Canerios, 'Canary Island Dogs,'
an English Mastiff cross. The Fila Brasileiro ('Brazilian Mastiff'?)
is a more complex cross.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Robert Paul" <rpaul@xxxxxxxx>
To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, August 05, 2007 11:31 PM
Subject: [lit-ideas] Kant's Mastiffs
> A Bullmastiff is an ancient cross between the English Mastiff, like
> the one you saw, and a Bulldog. It isn't supposed to weigh 200
> pounds as one of Rhames Bullmastiff's does but only 130 pounds. It
> isn't supposed to be as high at the withers as an English Mastiff.
> It was developed to knock a poacher down and hold him for the
> game keeper.
'English Mastiff' is another name for a plain old Mastiff, which is,
as Lawrence says, a bit larger than a Bullmastiff. (The origin of the
English Mastiff is simply 'antiquity,' while Bullmastiffs date only from
the 1800s.) Any Bullmastiff that weighs 200 lbs. should go on a
diet. There are numerous mastiffs: French, Argentine, Brazilian,
Spanish, and Neapolitan (Mastino Neapolitano); most of them were bred
for guarding, hunting, or dog fighting. The Encyclopedia of the Dog
says that the Neapolitano is a 'superb drooler.'
Rhames is said to have Bullmastiffs, and a Brazilian Mastiff (Fila
Brasileiro), of which he is especially fond because these dogs had been
'slave catchers'; he is embracing this dog, 'Kong,' at
http://www.usmagazine.com/second_ving_rhames_pos
The dogs that attacked and killed Diane Whipple outside her San
Francisco apartment in 2001 were initially described as Mastiffs,
Bullmastiffs, and English Mastiffs. They turned out to be Preso
Canerios, 'Canary Island Dogs,' although one site says that they were
a 'rare cross' between Presos and Bullmastiffs. Reporters and the
police are seldom dog experts, and often dog owners are not themselves
sure of which breeds they own.
Kant always wanted a dog but he believed the leash laws in Königsberg
denied dogs their autonomy and settled for a parakeet.
Robert Paul
and the aging Terriers
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