Spanish Bull Mastiff:

The Spanish mastiff dog, also known as the Spanish Bull Mastiff, is a rather large, stocky looking canine that was originally bred in its native Spain to serve as a sheep dog and guard dog because of its keen ability to defend livestock from wolves and other predators.



History shows that these dogs were originally introduced to the Iberian Peninsula by some Phoenician tradesman that had either brought them from Syria or India. Also known as Mastin Espanol, the canine is very popular in Spain, but very rarely see in any other countries. Over the last few decades, studies have shown that the breed has suffered somewhat as a result of large scale crossbreeding with other mastiff breeds such as the St.



Bernard and Dogo Argentino, causing a sharp decline in purebred specimens.

The facial features of a Spanish bull mastiff are very similar to those of a St. Bernard.



They have small eyes and pendant shaped ears while the folds in the skin around the face give it a very hound dog look. Like most other Mastiff breeds, the Spanish bull mastiff has a broad, muscular body. They have short coats that are covered with straight hair and a dense underlayer that is characterized by an almost wooly texture. The most common colors include plain yellow, black and combinations like red – brown or wolf – grey. It is not uncommon to see Spanish Bull Mastiffs sporting coats featuring spots or broken colors.  The Spanish bull mastiff is a very independent dog that does not have the tendency to be as affectionate as other dog breeds such as the golden retriever and boxer and are not really too bothered about how much they are petted. They will usually act rather aloof, even to their owners but are extremely loyal. Their original guard dog instincts are extremely sharp and the animal may even sacrifice its own life in order to protect the life or possessions of its master and livestock.  Due to its independent mind- the animal will surely require a very strong minded and focuses individual to train or own it. Anything less will allow the animal to develop a mentality where it believes itself to be the pack leader, thereby even further ignoring the owner or trainers instructions. The animal is very distrustful of both, human and canine strangers so any degree of shyness or socialization should be significantly encouraged in Spanish mastiff puppies. Due to their immense size, they do not make very good apartment dogs as they can be somewhat inactive indoors, but require substantial amounts of exercise.