Everything about the Neapolitan Mastiff, often called the Italian Mastiff, the Italian Bulldog, or simply the Neo, suggests top notch suitability as a guard dog. First and foremost, the Neapolitan is a super-loyal family dog. While the breed is generally suspicious of strangers and politely tolerant of friends, it becomes enamored of its human family, particularly to its one master. In fact, among the many Neapolitan Mastiffs I have known, if I have detect any problem at all with the breed's devotion to its family, I would have to say that the problem is that these dogs tend to really miss their owners when they are left alone and will spend long periods whimpering pitifully until everyone is together again.
The Neapolitan is also an extraordinarily intelligent dog with a great ability to distinguish its friends from its enemies. Don't let the droopy face of the Neapolitan fool you into thinking that the dog is a dullard. Nothing could be further from the truth.
As a deterrent against crime the Neapolitan Mastiff is as perfect as a dog can be. Its overall appearance, both head and body, suggests a potential for unprecedented brutality and, while the dog is exceptionally gentle around its family and friends, this brutality can easily be realized should the Neapolitan's home or family be seriously threatened. Its size is also a substantial deterrent. A good Neapolitan should stand on short but massive legs, and, though it is relatively low to the ground, a large dog will weigh about 200 pounds. Every inch of the dog suggests terrific power which is put to work even as the dog moves casually.
Functionally, the Neapolitan Mastiff is even more capable than its appearance suggests.When you examine a Neapolitan closely, you will realize that, in spite of its heavy appearance and deliberate movement, this is a dog that can really spring into action like a shot should something unexpected happen. Its heavy muscle is very obvious, even though its tough skin is loose and does not connect to the underlying tissue, as does the skin of other dogs. The head of the Neapolitan is huge, the jaws are short and powerful, and the teeth are big and strong. In general, this is most definitely not a dog you want to find yourself face to face with as you step through a stranger's window in order to burglarize his home.
Historically, the Neapolitan Mastiff is among the most interesting of all breeds. Probably descended from the great mastiffs that Alexander the Great regarded so highly in Greece, the early Neapolitan Mastiffs are described in literature of the Roman era as having been used in Rome as gladiator dogs in the arena and in war, as well as in homes as guardians. A description of the Neapolitan in its role as home guardian in Rome comes to us, through the centuries, in the writing of Columelia: "The guard dog for the house should be dark in color so that during the day a prowler can see him and be frightened by his appearance. When night falls, the dog, lost in the shadows, can attack without being seen. The head is so massive that it seems to be the most important part of the body. The ears fall toward the front, the brilliant and penetrating eyes are black or gray, the chest is deep and hairy, the hind legs are powerful, the front legs are covered with long, thick hair, and he is short-legged with strong toes and nails."
Caesar also describes finding fierce mastiff dogs fighting alongside their masters against the Roman legions during the Roman invasion of Britain in 55 B.C. Many of these British fighting mastiffs were brought back to Rome for use in the arena against the native fighting dogs. At this task, the British dogs proved to be superior. As such, it is likely that today's Neapolitan Mastiff contains much of the blood of these ancient British dogs as well as the blood of the indigenous Roman breed, for breeders of the ancient Roman fighting dogs would have taken advantage of the best qualities of each breed in the composition of the ultimate arena dog.
There is evidence of Mastiff-like giant dogs dating back as far as 2500 BC in the mountains of Asia. Bas-reliefs from the Babylonian palace of Ashurbanipal (now on display in the British Museum) depict Mastiff-type dogs hunting lions in the desert near the Tigris River. Their coloration, of course, cannot be told, but other than being taller and leaner than current-day Mastiffs (as ours would be if raised in a desert and fed lightly), they are remarkably like our modern Mastiffs, despite the passing of nearly 4500 years.
After this clear visual evidence, we must rely on folklore and oral history. Phoenician traders are believed to have introduced the Mastiff to ancient Britain, where the Romans found them and brought them back to fight in the arena.
Marco Polo wrote of Kubla Khan, who kept a kennel of 5,000 Mastiffs used for hunting and war.
When some of the great Roman leaders crossed the Alps, they took with them several battalions of trained war mastiffs, who, during their long travels, "fraternized" with local breeds to produce what became the St. Bernard, once called the Alpine Mastiff, as well as other giant breeds.
All of the massive mountain dogs of Spain, France, Turkey, and the Balkans can trace their size back to Mastiff blood in their ancestry. Even the Chow Chow carries Mastiff blood, as does the Pug, which was originally a form of dwarf Mastiff.
Theories advanced by various authors have focused on one or more of the above to try to identify the *origin* of the breed. What should matter the most to us is what the breed is like now, and how it came to be that way. Despite the differences of opinion on where the Mastiff originated, most agree that the British are the creators of the breed as we know it today.
Of all the countries who used the Mastiff, it was the British who kept him in his purest form, and it is to them that we owe the Mastiff of today. They kept Mastiffs to guard their castles and estates, releasing them at night to ward off intruders. Henry VIII is said to have presented Charles V of Spain a gift of 400 Mastiffs to be used in battle.
The Legh family of Lyme Hall, Cheshire, who were given their estate by Richard II (1377-1399), kept and bred Mastiffs for many generations. Stowe's Annual, a reference book, shows that King James I (1603-1625) sent a gift of two Lyme Hall mastiffs to Phillip II of Spain. These, or their immediate descendants, are certainly the Mastiff-type dogs shown in famous portraits of the Spanish royal children.
Other sources indicate that Mastiffs were used as war dogs by the ancient Celts, and accompanied their masters into battle. When the Romans invaded Britain, they took the dogs back to Italy and used them to guard property and prisoners, as well as using them to fight in the arena.
The Mastiff was one of the few breeds mentioned by name in The Forest Laws of King Canute, the first written laws of England. There, Mastiffs were required to be checked by the tax collector, who would make sure the middle toes of each front foot were removed so the dog could not run fast enough to catch the deer (which traditionally belonged to royalty). Tax collectors have not evolved much over the centuries; the penalties for failing to meet their requirements were extreme. In the Forest Laws, Mastiffs were mentioned specifically as being kept for protection.
In the Elizabethan Era, the Mastiff was used to fight wild animals (e.g., bears, tigers, etc.), usually for the entertainment of the Queen. After the cessation of this cruel sport, Mastiffs continued to be bred by the Dukes of Devonshire and Sutherland, the Earl of Harrington, and other nobles.
According to the scanty records of the Pilgrim Fathers, two dogs, a Mastiff and a spaniel, accompanied the Plymouth colonists aboard the Mayflower on their journey to the new world.
In England, dog showing became popular in the mid-1800s. Wealthy people kept and bred Mastiffs and started the first recorded pedigrees. These were registered with what was then the only kennel club in the world, The Kennel Club in England.
During the World Wars, Mastiffs were used to pull munitions carts on the fronts. In America, they were frequently found on plantations as property guards.
The size of the Mastiff and its need to eat about as much food per day as an adult human made a Mastiff too costly for most common folk to keep, except perhaps for butchers. In England they were sometimes called "the Butcher's Dog" because a butcher had enough meat scraps to feed a Mastiff well, and could therefore afford to keep one, even though he was not wealthy.
Mastiffs began to decline in popularity until the late 1800's, when interest revived briefly, and Mastiffs started to be imported into America. World War I saw their decline again in England, and by the 1920's they were almost extinct in that country in their pure form. It was considered unpatriotic to keep dogs alive who ate as much in a day as a soldier; entire huge kennels were put down as a result.
World War II all but finished the breed in England. At the end of the war, fresh blood was imported from Canada and the United States to revive the breed. Now, fortunately, Mastiffs are well established again, the United States having perhaps the greatest number.
Breeders today have bred the Mastiff for gentleness and have created an excellent companion, large enough to deter intruders and yet gentle enough to be dependable around children.