Pet Health And Care >> Dog Breed >> Belgian Mastiff

Belgian Mastiff Dog, Puppies, Breeders, For Sale and Average Life Expectancy

The Belgian mastiff, as its name suggests, is a mastiff.

This is a beautiful dog that comes in red, fawn, brown brindle, and black colors. The dog has a dark colored mask, and sometimes, also white colored markings.

This large dog is very strong and muscular. The dog seems to have imposing strength, and its athletic built adds to the looks of this dog.

The Belgian mastiff also has a very short coat, which is close to the skin, soft and velvety to the touch. The dog also has a wide forehead over a well-developed skull. Belgian mastiff puppies have large ears, which hang at the sides of their head. The back is higher than the front, making it ideal for them to be used for pushing carts.

The Belgian mastiff dog is known to be extinct, but in its time, it used to be a fairly popular dog. There are several Belgian mastiff breeders that are attempting to recreate this dog breed. The mastiff is a very hard working dog. Though primarily used as a draft dog, the Belgian mastiff was also used to pull carts, especially by those who were too poor to afford horses.

Though generally loving and affectionate, the dog is known to become vicious and turn on people. Overall, not an aggressive dog, the Belgian mastiff is intelligent, courageous, and extremely strong. The dog faced strangers with relative ease and could also be used for guarding the house. Since the dog has a lot of energy in it, the owners ideally needed to find an activity where they could vent it. All in all, the breed is extremely calm and obedient.

The breed needed regular exercise and a lot of training. Housebreaking could be a little difficult to some, but mostly due to the high intelligence, the dog could be trained relatively easily. The dog has an average life expectancy of about 10 to 12 years. Their close coat acts as an advantage requiring very little dog grooming. The Belgian mastiff for sale could be expensive since it is extinct.

The FCI has placed this dog on a suspended list. While it was not completely extinct a few decades ago, it is difficult to ascertain whether a few dogs are still in existence. The breed is known to have originated in France. However, the initial mastiffs did not possess the traits intended for them, and the breeders ended up reintroducing certain traits. The new breed was formed in Belgium and therefore was called Belgian mastiffs.

Submitted on September 5, 2011