The Gentle Giant Dog

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Capone – Mastiff

This wonderful dog lives in Lake Tahoe, California.  His name is Capone.  He only looks scary.  In fact, he is a gentle giant.  He walks with dignity and grandeur.  Not only is he good natured generally, he is even good with children – except his size could knock them down if he walks by them.  Loyal to his own and courageous, he is definitely an amazing dog.

Mastiffs have a very, very long history.  Some authorities claim they were roaming about in Asia around 2500 BC.  Britain developed the breed, the Romans took them home when they invaded Britain, and they came to North America in the late l9th century.

Their jobs were many and varied.  They fought in arenas, they acted as guard dogs and in the First World War, they pulled munitions carts.

Unfortunately, rations were very short in England post World War I.  Nobody could afford to feed the enormous dogs, averaging 200lbs.  Sad to say, entire kennels of Mastiffs  were euthanized.  (The Illustrated Directory of Dogs, Juliette Cunliffe).

Mastiffs were almost extinct in England in 1920.  Nothing was done about this until post World War II. It was at this time that the breed’s supporters went to great lengths to bring the dogs back to England.  They imported some mastiffs from America and Canada. The U.S. leads in numbers of the breed.

Only kind training without excessive demands or aggression will work with this one.  The dog needs to be close to owners it loves and does not do well if left alone too long.

Capone does not demand long walks, but I’m sure he takes short ones with his owners.  Mastiffs tend to be lazy so might need encouragement to get the mild exercise vital to their health.

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Capone, taking a nap

Capone is friendly and affectionate to his family whom he adores.  Loyalty is one of his strong suits.

Recent visitors included a Chihuahua, feisty as most of those little dogs are.  Capone behaved with his usual dignity and backed away from the toy’s attack.  Dogs have no concept of size. Of course, he could have stepped forward and crushed the little dog with one paw.

I hope you enjoyed meeting Capone.  Thanks for coming back to my blog.  I’ll be happy to answer any questions you have.  Please leave a Comment or email me. You will find my email in About Us. Click on About Us and scroll downThe banner of dogs remains for the post, About Us and Reviews.

Acknowledgements of authors who contributed to AstroPups, which I use to write my blog, can also be found in About Us, top right of page