Mastiff Temperament

When we went out to see the puppies, though, they were all huddled together in a corner, and you could tell right away that they hadn't been played with. She cringed when you tried to pick her up and squirmed for a bit before settling in. We fell in love with the expression on her face, though, and decided to take her home with us.

Macy is submissive beyond words! If you get near her, she rolls over on her back to get her belly rubbed. She holds her head down when you're loving on her, and she is fully aware that Chesty's the boss. But she's also very loving and playful! You couldn't get a sweeter dog if you searched the world over! She's especially great with the kids because she drops to the floor and exposes her belly, then licks them all over - they love her!

She's also a pretty good guard dog, believe it or not. She is protective and quite vocal about it. Those websites that tell you that Mastiffs don't bark haven't met any of mine. Of course when Macy barks, we just laugh at her because we know the moment she sees someone, she's going to roll over and wait for a belly rub. Endless amounts of love and affection haven't been able to bring her out of her submissiveness. That's just Macy. She's fast becoming the favorite of the whole family.

So you can see that even though most Mastiffs have the same general temperament (loving, affectionate, loyal, protective), they have their own unique character and personality traits. And goodness knows, you grow to love them so much that you'll put up with their individual bad habits and smile while you're doing it!

In the next article, I'm going to discuss Mastiff mixes. There seem to be lots of them around, and I'd like you to know what to expect before adopting them.

And of course now that you've heard all about my babies, I'd love to hear about your's!

Some interesting sites on Mastiff temperament: