Togo is now two

Togo just recently turned two years old. Some one told me once, that dogs are puppies until they are two and then they are just plain dogs. Well, he might be officially a "dog" but he will always be puppy to me.

He has definitely calmed down though, he is not quite as crazy as he used to be. He certainly gets excited and all that, but in general, much calmer.

Do your dogs have naturally the "chase" instinct? Togo has none of that, he just don't know that he can chase things... we have some stray cats that come to our back yard, and the first time Togo saw them, he just sat down next to them and stared at them drooling. (A snack?) We had to chase the cats and show Togo how it is done. He was a fast learner though, now we just open the door and say:"Where are the kitties?" and he runs out to chase them. No more stray cats hanging out in our back yard.

It is starting to look a lot like fall here in Atlanta, finally the day temperatures are hovering around 65 - 70 degrees and it goes down to upper 40s or low 50s at night. I was getting tired of the constant 80s - I am truly a fall person. Have a great fall everyone!

Hammerhead Ears

We both think the way Buford's ears have developed make him look like a hammerhead shark. He's doing great. 10 months old, still very puppy, about 80 lbs., very happy.

Togo's new collar

Togo got a new collar - kids are heading back to college and it is the start of the football season. And anyway, our children are very considerate and go to colleges where the colors look good on the dog - what's better than gold and black on a black dog?

Togo has lost some weight and we did not even know it. I guess taking your dog to 2.5 mile walk every evening does good for everyone, this summer he has gone from the 122.5 lbs to very slim 105 currently. We found out yesterday when we took him for his check up (15,000 mile service as my hubby called it). He got couple of shots, has some gunk in his ears that need some medicated ear drops (nothing too serious though) and he is now very fit dog obviously.

Dogs are like kids when you take them to the vet - you worry about them, you worry about what the vet is going to say, even though it is the routine check up and there really was nothing wrong when you took them in.

Note to Mark: the doctors did empty his anal gland sacs just as a routine, they have done it once before, they said that they just do it so that they don't get a chance to get infected and start stinking... who knew?

~Leena~

Rocco at the beach

Just some beach pictures. This was from April. He likes to dig in the sand, then sit in the hole. He doesn't mind that I cover him in sand. And yes, he's drinking out of an ashtray. We forgot to bring a bowl and brought that from the motel we stayed at, which is dog friendly!

This was in Ocean City, Maryland. They allow dogs on the beach and boardwalk in the off season.

Size Updates?

Hi everyone,





I noticed in the last few posts people mentioned how big their dog currently is. As Jade is a puppy, her weight is ever changing and I thought it would be fun and informative for everyone to post their dog's stats. Here are Jade's:





English Mastiff mom, Labrador/Rottweiler dad


Unspayed female (for now)


16 weeks


39 lbs.

Jade at 12 weeks

Jake stinks!

Hi everyone, sorry Ive been out of touch. Trying to make a few bucks in this lousy economy. Anyway as some of you might have guessed, Jake spends a lot of time down at the stone yard that I work out of. If anyone wants to see what I do, go to www.artezens.com, thats me. You can also find me at www.buddyrhodes.com

So down at the stone yard Jake spends most of his time in the little river swimming. You can see the videos from the Mastador YouTube link. He's been really smelling lately. I thought it was due to the muck from the river, so I banned him from the yard for a week, and he only smelled worse. Kinda like nasty athletes foot, or my sons soccer cleats after a game! I thought it was an ear infection but after smelling in that area he was fine. His rear quarters seemed to have the worse offense.

Finally my wife Googles "smelly Labs" and comes up with a diagnosis based on his symptoms. She thinks he has a clogged anal gland. Apparently wandering dogs leave their sent when they defecate, and their glands can get clogged. Well my wife tries to get me to take Jake to the local vet to have him check, luckily I just happen to be busy, ha! Turns out she was right, Jake needed to have his anal glands relieved, possible on a regular basis. $40 a pop. Apparently there are two glands to the sides of his anal pore that if analyzed "pardon the pun" and are swollen, are a good sign of clogged glands. Excessive licking in that area also. The vet says Jakes physique is just prone to this symptom. Its not due to swimming in the river, runny feces, diet, etc...

As he lies next to me now, the smell has not gotten better. I find myself placing chairs next to my side of the bed, and empty grocery bags near me when I watch TV, he's frighten of those.. luckily. But hes still my buddy, and I take him down to the yard to swim when I'm not to busy. I just usually get busy when he's due to have his glands relived as scheduled.

By the way, Jake is now just a little over 2 years old, and weighs 85lbs. I think he knows he smells, and my be a little proud of it.

Mark

Mastiff vs. Lab moods

I read several postings about how your dogs act, and it's funny that Rocco has many similar moods.

Like when it is hot, or when he's tired, he will lay out on the hardwood floors or the tile floors to try to cool off. And when he's real tired, he barely even opens his eye when you call him, let alone wag his tail. But like Togo, he bounces right up if we even hint that there might be food around.

He also LOVES ice cubes. I also give him a bowl of ice cubes when we get back from our hot walks. Only he doesn't mind them being in his bowl of water. He dunks his muzzle in and pulls them out.

Also like Jade, he will pout when he's in trouble. If we tell him he has to come inside because he was misbehaving, he walks sloooowly through the door, goes to his bed and plops down. Often, he lets out a huff, too. He also plops down and lets out a huff if we tell him he can't do something he wants to do.

Another funny thing Rocco does: He guards the barbeque grill when we are cooking. He will sit in front of the grill even if we go inside if there is food on the grill. If it's too hot on the deck, he goes behind the grill where there is shade and will sit there, guarding the grill. Lest some pesky squirrel tries to come and take his hot dogs! That or maybe he just likes the smell.

Buford, The Duck Hunter

Buford is 6 months old and getting used to his new home. We recently moved across town to a new place. There is a small "lake" in the middle of our new complex filled with ducks. To Bu these ducks NEED to be chased, constantly. We bought him a new stuffed duck so he might stop trying to catch a real one (hasn't worked). He's about 60 lbs.

This is what we call Togo's "flat puppy" position. I think it has something to do with him trying to get all the "coolness" out of the hardwood floors to his body. It is also when he is very tired and just observes the life and does not really participate. You might get a tail wag out of him if you really talk to him, but most of the time he is too far gone to wag his tail. If you offer him food it is then totally other matter - he will pounce back to life in no time. This is mostly on his mastador moods - when he is in a Labrador mood he will chase his tail for hours without any reason. During the hot summer (that is just now starting here in Georgia) we see more of the Mastador. It is way too hot during the day for him to be outside. We try to take him for walks in the late evening when the sun is setting and not so hot anymore. He absolutely loves his walks. And when we come back his treat is bowl full of ice cubes. Togo likes to eat ice versus drinking water after we come back from walks. Don't even think about putting ice cubes in his water, he thinks they are intruders in his water bowl and he just barks at them until they melt. Silly dog. But those little quirks are part of reason why we love him so much - they make Togo the lovable Mutt he is.

Happy Summer everyone

Leena

New pup in the group!

Hello! I'm new to the world of Mastadors, I recently brought my first one home. Her name is Jade, and she's 8.5 weeks old right now. She got shots yesterday, and weighed in at 16 lbs, so it looks like she'll be a pretty hefty girl! Jade's mom is an English Mastiff, dad is a Chocolate Lab/Rottweiler mix. His body type is a Lab, markings of a Rottie, color like a red Doberman. Jade got her markings from him.

Jade lives with me and Kai, my 1 yr. old male Kai Ken, in Texas.

She is independent, loves every dog and person she meets, learns quickly, and doesn't like to get in trouble. When she does, she will walk to the other side of the room, plop down, and pout! We start puppy kindergarten next week, and she's getting bigger every day, so I'm sure I'll have plenty to write about in here!

Jasmine

Introduction

Hello everyone! My name is Leena, I am Togo's Mom and I am new to this site. We live in state of Georgia, in the northern side of Atlanta, we have three adult kids (last one is graduating high school in a week) and we have Togo.

Togo was a Christmas Present to our youngest for Christmas 2006. When he came to us he was 12 weeks old and weighed 22 pounds. We got him from a Mastiff breeder in Wisconsin - they had had an "oops" litter, when their black lab male got too closely acquainted with a young female mastiff. The breeder's guess was that Togo would grow up to be about 125 lbs - and guess what, he is currently 125 lbs! Togo is still a puppy, very eager to please, very loving and affectionate - and totally unaware that he is a size of a small horse and therefor not a lap dog!

We have a blog spot page for Togo on his own, where my children also blog for him. That page is http://mistertaco.blogspot.com if you are interested in Togo's life through the eyes of all of us. I will also blog on the mastador site for updates every now and then. I should have plenty of time in my hands next year since all the kids will be out of the house. But we will have Togo.

Leena

Old Yeller - the mastador?

I have read in a couple places that the dog who played Old Yeller in the 1957 Disney movie was named Spike and he was a mastador (half yellow lab, half mastiff). Although I am not 100% sure (can't believe everything you read) Here is a video clip of the movie. I think I can see it, what do you all think?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7SnGX_x8is

Barks

Have you guys noticed two distinct barks from your mastadors?

Rocco has a very lab-like bark when he wants to play. But when he's "alert" -- like when he sees something he feels might be a danger (or if he's scared) -- he's got a very deep, mastiff-like bark that almost ends in something like a growl. It's a longer bark and drawn out.

Also, I have never heard Rocco really growl before. And he really doesn't bark too often, even when other dogs bark at him. He does bark when we tell him to "speak." Sometimes it seems like he doesn't really like barking, because when we say speak his first bark sometimes is more like a huff of air.

He's a funny dog.

Buford @ 5 months

I adopted her

I got my mastador today! We are naming her Bella. She is very cute looks more chocolate lab to me then mastiff. But we couldnt bring her home today because shes only 5 weeks. So two more weeks and will be able to love and cuddle her all we want.

heres a pic of her at the shelter.

Lab or mastiff?

Which breed does your dog tend to act like more? I have done a lot of research and they all say pretty much the same thing that with the mix of breeds you can get characteristics of either breed and that you might even get the worst of both?....what do you think about it?

I might be getting a Mastador.....

Hello, I need a little help. I am looking into getting a dog. I love big dogs so I am leaning more twards those breeds. We already have a 9mo boxer and he is spoiled rotten. (all my fault) I also have kids from school age to 1 year. I found a Mastador at my local Animal Shelter she is only 5 weeks old and they said I would have to wait two weeks before I could take her home. So I am using this time to make sure she would be the right pet for our family. Are they good with kids and other dogs? How large do most Mastadors get? I know how big labs are and I have researched Mastiffs but there really wasnt anything other then your site about the mixed breeds of the two? Could you give me a little over site and let me know what you think of one of them beautiful dogs joining our large family of 7 including our boxer. So lots of kids and other animals.Thanks
-- Heather

Confused

Buford can't seem to decide which type of ears he would like to have. Most of the time when we are inside they are down but when I walk him outside they both stand straight up (he looks like a rabbit). This picture was taken right after a long walk so I guess he was in some sort of transition mode. He does often walk around with one up and one down. I think it looks pretty funny. Does anyone else's dog do this?

Rocco's latest mishap

Well, Rocco ran into an SUV today. Yep... He didn't get hit. He hit the car. I wasn't exactly sure what was going on in his mind since I didn't see any animal, though he could have seen a squirrel.

Anyway, the car was already coming up the road and Rocco was beside me in our yard so I wasn't worried. But then he just ran into the street and smack into the side of the car. The driver stopped and I apologized. I said my silly dog ran into her, she didn't hit anything. The car was fine, so was Rocco. Though he looked kind of sheepish afterward.

I know we are very lucky he didn't get injured. Things could have been much worse!

Welcome Buster!

I'm posting this for the owner of Buster. Mark, I asked the person to e-mail you if they want to blog. Anyway, this is Buster, at 13 months old. He looks huge. When I get more info I'll post more up.

Here's another photo of Buster, at 4 months old.

He's a French Mastiff and Lab mix. He's a tiger brindle and lives with his family (mom, dad, 2 kids and 2 cats, which he adores). The family lives in Scotland. Buster was last weighed at 7 mths old and was about 38 kg (83 lbs). He cant be far off 57 kg now (which makes it a whopping 125 lbs!). He's very powerful, has a lot of muscle mass but is very friendly.