# Anyone dealing with mastiff tantrums!



## LMH (Jan 2, 2008)

If anyone has had experience with dealing with a mastiff throwing fits I would love to here it. This is the same dog who has bad dog park manners. Well he has some bad manners at home too. He is generally a really good dog.He's been in the house with me most of the weekend cuz of the rain, he is usually outside most of the day, so it was fun having him in the house. Well a tree fell in our yard and knocked out portions of the fence.So i need to take him out on a leash. Last night he was being so good and obedient that I took him outside with out the leash. He went potty and then jumped up the little hill where the fence is broken and he started racing back and forth barking. I got anxious and called him down very sternly. He came down in protest so I said let's go, so he could follow me back to the house, but he didn't want to. So I walked up to him went to grab is collar and he totally freaked out! he threw himself on the ground while I was still holding his collar. then he jumped on me with muddy paws and he's 150 lbs- I am not. then when I wouldn't let go of his collar his mouth is open and snappy, my wrist hit his tooth which cut and bruised me. After we struggle like that he'll all of a sudden switch to being very very submissive as if I had been beating him.All i'm doing the whole time is trying to keep hold of his collar and trying to drag him. I'm not even yelling. Then he finally allows me to lead him by the collar to the house.I don't understand what I am doing wrong or what I need to do when he does this. It is very stressful for me and him i'm sure. I love him so much and I feel our bond is being broken everytime one of these episodes happen.


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## mastiffmama27 (Nov 18, 2007)

I go through the exact same thing with Sugar. It's tantamount to I don't want to go in yet Mommy!!! I'm not sure that this will work with you and your dog but....
Sugar is very clingy and needy... if she doesn't want to come in I invite her to come with me......if she refuses i simply tell her 'Fine I'm going in without you' and go inside. Within about 10 seconds she's pawing at the door howling to come in with me. Sometimes when I open the door she'll race off instead of coming in.....ok fine stay out there.....shut the door. She's back in 5 sec lol. She's much better about this now than she was say 2 mos ago. Work on his recall. Also it sounds like he *might* need a bit more excercise. If Sugar is worn out, and this doesn't seem to take too long to accomplish, I have no trouble getting her to come in.

P.S. She also throws herself to the ground like that when I grab her collar. I counter that by working on her recall so I don't have to. But in all honesty if you can't control him off lead with your fence down keep him on a leash.


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## LMH (Jan 2, 2008)

I'm so glad i'm not the only one!  I will not be taking him back there without a leash again- i learned that the hard way. Usually I would leave him out there it's just that since the fence is down I didn't want to take the chance in him running out. He acts like such a rebellious teenager. I will work on his recall and for the exersice, he hasn't had any for the last two days really. We've just been stuck in the house due to the rain. I'm walking him today. Oh ,how much do you exersice yours? he gets tired out after only a 25 min brisk walk or light jog but then by the end of the day he's wired up again. It's hard sometimes to walk him twice a day.what kind of games do you play with your? Mine doesn't like catch he mostly wants me to chase him or play tug of war. I just want to relax and throw a ball to him-haha.


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## mastiffmama27 (Nov 18, 2007)

It usually takes anywhere from 15 min to half an hour of fast walking or rough playing (ie chasing them or wrestling). What I do with Sugar when I want to wear her out quickly is chase....keep her running.

Also playing with Elijha our (about 1yr old) pit bull works wonders to wear her out......still working on him though lol.


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## LMH (Jan 2, 2008)

Yeah, that sounds right.He would get tired if I ran the full 15 min. did you get yours together or one after another? How did you introduce them? I want to get him girlfriend  Not right now but in the future and I want to make sure I introduce them properly.He really needs a companion and a dog that he can wrestle and rough play with. Post some pics when you get a chance, i would love to see more of them.He is my first mastiff and first dog. I love them. When I get another one I will go to the mastiff rescues. I would like a mix mastiff.


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## mastiffmama27 (Nov 18, 2007)

Oh *I* don't run the full time but I make sure she does lol. I actually have 6 dogs. Introductions are best done slowly but it depends on the dogs' personalities too. For instance Rat is my ambassador..he sniffs a new dog a bit then pretty much ignores them unless the other dog initiates play. Mama is good with younger dogs and pups...she shows them their place and who's bos lol.Sugar and Elijha never meet a stranger.just new friends. Cookie does not play well with others.......any others. if you look here...

http://www.dogforums.com/8-dog-pictures-forum/19514-pics-all-my-fur.html
Those are pictures of all my furry kids.

Introductions also go much better if everyone is spayed or neutered beforehand.


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## Mdawn (Mar 3, 2007)

I know very well the Mastiff tantrum! LOL!! I have Uallis, 10 month old, English Mastiff. If he doesn't want to come inside he does the same thing with throwing himself on the ground and won't budge. It drives me crazy. I do a similar thing as mastiffmama, I let go of him and just walk in the opposite direction. He'll get up and start to follow, if I grab on to him again, sometimes he'll throw himself back on the ground, sometimes he'll just cave and do as he's told. I really think that he does it because he's not ready to come back inside. Lately he's been coming to the door like he wants in and when I open it, he'll back away and run off and repeat. He's such a brat!

Also, mine has started throwing other kinds of fits as well. If he's frustrated with us about something, he's starting to jump up on us; not a pleasant experience with any dog but more so with a giant breed. He's also started barking angrily a lot of times if he doesn't get his way. Oh....let's see...also he'll destroy things to get attention. He'll purposely get into something that he doesn't normally bother and destroy it, this mainly happens if we leave the room for 2 seconds. Other times he'll bark and whine until we come back. 

I'm convinced he'll grow out of all of this....sassiness!  He is only 10 months and a adolescent. 

As for exercise, Uallis goes out to play for about 30 min. everyday and plays hard with our Lab. After that he's ready for a nap and stays lazy for the rest of the day. For walks, I never walk him fast....just nice slow walks on grass to protect his growing joints..that is per vet orders. He's really very easy to care for in comparison to my Lab.


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## mastiffmama27 (Nov 18, 2007)

Does Uallis 'backtalk' too? LOL Sugar will stand there and actually argue with me! I thought it was so funny that I have taught her to 'say please' for treats and such. We'll also have 'conversations 'where she'll tell me how rough her life is and I'll sympathize lol


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## LMH (Jan 2, 2008)

Haha, so my dog is a normal mastiff. i had no idea because the few friends of mine who have dogs have small ass dogs and when i tell them my problems they think it's horrible. But he does bark at me when he's protesting or I have my back to him doing the dishes. When he throws himself to the ground he gets this crazy eye look on his face and I tell him he has a face only a mother could love-haha. And he does jump now which is strange cuz when he was more of a pup he never jumped cuz that's how we trained him.He also managed to get his good canine citizen certificate but I think they would revoke that from him now-haha. He also does this tribal dance when he's really frusterated. It is so funny,i try to catch it on tape.He's two now,but I did get worried about his joints so I usually walk or do a light jog. I really need to get him a playmate.I guess I shouldn't take it so personally when he's back talking me


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## Mdawn (Mar 3, 2007)

Uallis will backtalk. The other day, I brought home some take out and was eating it at my computer desk...most likely browsing these forums....lol One thing I have never been able to tolerate from dogs is begging. It drives me insane. Uallis is pretty good about that and most of the time will just go lay down while we're eating. This time he was determined that he wanted some of my food and started barking at me and he had his alert, angry face on...LOL...I told him really stern to knock it off and go lay down, which he did but he also had to do his infamous pouting routine in the process. He walked clear across the room from me, as far as he could get, threw himself on the floor hard, laid his head down, sighed really loud and just stared at me. Every now and then he'd grunt or sigh to get me to look over...LOL!! It never fails to crack me up when he does that. 

If the day ever comes when these dogs realize that they are strong enough to do whatever they want and take whatever they want....we'll be in serious trouble.


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## LMH (Jan 2, 2008)

mastiff mamma your animals are so cute! I love the markings on the brindle and cookie. Mdawn do you have any pics of yours? I'd love to see them.


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## Mdawn (Mar 3, 2007)

There are tons of pictures of them in the pictures sub-forum...but I'll save ya a search! This is Uallis, my English Mastiff:


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## Mdawn (Mar 3, 2007)

....And this is Eddie, my Black Lab:




























And one of them together:


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## LMH (Jan 2, 2008)

Awe such precious pooches. I just figured out how to download the pics so here are some of my Kameha(male name).


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## mastiffmama27 (Nov 18, 2007)

Ohhhhh!! You have a neo too!!!


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## Mdawn (Mar 3, 2007)

LMH said:


> Awe such precious pooches. I just figured out how to download the pics so here are some of my Kameha(male name).


In this picture, you can really see what a nice looking dog he is...Really beautiful.


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## Durbkat (Jun 26, 2007)

How could you have held out on those first two new pics Mdawn?!?!? They are hilarious.


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## Mdawn (Mar 3, 2007)

Durbkat said:


> How could you have held out on those first two new pics Mdawn?!?!? They are hilarious.


Silly Durb!! I didn't hold out...I posted them before... 

http://www.dogforums.com/8-dog-pictures-forum/19123-uallis-eddie-christmas-pics.html

You must of missed it!


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## Durbkat (Jun 26, 2007)

Oops, must have missed it!


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## LMH (Jan 2, 2008)

Actually he's not a Neo he's a Cane corso which is a cousin of the Neo but he's not nearly as big or has as much skin.


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## Mastiffluvr (Jan 7, 2008)

MDawn,

My wife and I were laughing reading your post about "pouting." Bubba our last bullmastiff did the exact same thing. It's funny to learn that he isn't the only one to have the pouting act mastered.


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## cshellenberger (Dec 2, 2006)

What you're describing is called "Zoomies" it's just play and should be allowed, just stand back stay out of the way!!!! I know of people that have been injured when they got in the way of zoomies being performed by a mastiff!!!! BTW, he's beautiful!


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## LMH (Jan 2, 2008)

Shell,
How do you know it's called Zoomies-haha. That is a funny name for it. Tell me more about it. I didn't know if it was him challenging my authority and that's why I shouldn't let him do it or if it was just part of the breeds personality.I do get a better outcome when i either ignore it or laugh at it, I just didn't know if it was a good idea to let him freak out like that.


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## Durbkat (Jun 26, 2007)

Snoopy had a zoomie yesterday where he was just sitting there and then he just felt like running. He was running back in forth so fast you could hear his nails dig into the carpet so he could turn around and go the other way.


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## Mdawn (Mar 3, 2007)

Ahhh...the zoomies...nothing like a Mastiff running through your house like his tail is on fire... 

We usually just try to herd him outside to run it off when Uallis starts acting crazy...

Eddie constantly has the zoomies I think.


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## Durbkat (Jun 26, 2007)

Ha ha, I'd be jumping up and grabbing onto the ceiling fan to try and avoid getting flattened by uallis when he has a zoomie.


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## LMH (Jan 2, 2008)

Oh zoomies- I know what you're talking about. He does have those but his tribal dance is different. His posture goes hunch back and he growls and grunts and he jumps high in the air towards me then stops himself midair and pulls himself back. It is so funny to watch,maybe a little scary too.


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## Mdawn (Mar 3, 2007)

Durbkat said:


> Ha ha, I'd be jumping up and grabbing onto the ceiling fan to try and avoid getting flattened by uallis when he has a zoomie.


HAHA that thought has crossed my mind when he's running around the house.



LMH said:


> Oh zoomies- I know what you're talking about. He does have those but his tribal dance is different. His posture goes hunch back and he growls and grunts and he jumps high in the air towards me then stops himself midair and pulls himself back. It is so funny to watch,maybe a little scary too.


LOL!!

Actually, I kind of feel bad for giant breeds like Mastiffs. At least for me, its difficult and sometimes painful  to actually get down on the floor to play with him. With one swipe of his paw he topples me over. Like just earlier, I sat down with him on his bed to snuggle and he decided he wanted to play. When he play bites, he does these little tiny bites that just brush your skin...you know, kind of like how they scratch themselves? He bites like that...at first. Then he gets even more excited and goes on to fully putting his mouth over whatever body part he can grab. He's not trying to hurt but it does hurt. He tries to knock me over so he can climb all over me and THAT hurts because of his weight and I'm stuck under him. So usually our "wrestling" consists of me just trying to get him off me. With my Lab, I can actually get down on the floor with him and play and he's climbing all over me, trying to lick my face and whatnot but it doesn't hurt me at all. Uallis just can't have people play with him like that unless they want to get hurt. Like now, I have a bruise forming on my arm from where he grabbed it with his mouth...and a hole in my shirt from where he tried to play tug with it.


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## LMH (Jan 2, 2008)

Yeah, I know what you mean. I would love for him to have a dog he can really wrestle with. I always have bruises on my legs or my arms from him. People especially guys always want to challenge him then they get surprised when they get hurt. Like he's the bad dog for that. I can rough play with him for a while but I generally know how to stop him from getting out of control. About that biting think you said like when they are itching- he would do that to this other dog i was watching.It was so funny. The older dog didn't want to play so when my dog would pester him he would get really mad and even bite my dog on the stomach and my dog would do that small biting thing in his face. Like he was saying-you're lucky i'm nice old man- haha.


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## Mdawn (Mar 3, 2007)

So far, we have been lucky that no one has tried to wrestle much with Uallis. Most visitors just pet him and comment on how huge he is, but they don't interact with him much. My Lab gets more attention from visitors in the way of company playing with him.

Eddie and Uallis play together all the time. They chase each other around the yard. Eddie will get a stick or something and shove it in Uallis's face, like he's teasing him with it. Uallis will decide he wants it and then the chase is on! It's funny watching them interact with each other because they act like little kids, because they can't share and get aggravated and "fight" with each other. It makes it even more funny because Uallis will chase Eddie as fast as his legs will carry him but Eddie has no problem evading him. Uallis will get bored because he can never catch up to him and start playing with something else and Eddie will run over and shove the "prize" in Uallis's face again. Uallis will get jealous and start trying to chase Eddie again. They also wrestle with each other but I try to limit that because it never fails that one will grab ears or jowl and it leads to a wrestling match that is just too rowdy and one will end up getting injured. Uallis has a temper and when Eddie grabs his ear or something, Uallis lets loose on Eddie and Eddie ends up squealing...I didn't realize for the longest time how hard Uallis would bite Eddie until I happened to see a chuck on skin missing under Eddie's chin...It was a sore the size of a nickel...so I have to watch them really carefully now.


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## LMH (Jan 2, 2008)

We don't have much visitors so he doesn't really know how to act when visitors come. That sounds like so much fun to watch them play like that. you gotta take a picture of them playing like that.


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## mastiffmama27 (Nov 18, 2007)

I love it on the afternoons that all the kids are at school and I can let everyone except Cookie out to play........Zoomies doesn't even describe it lol. We don't have a fenced in yard so we play indoors. I actually perch on TOP of the couch with a bag full of tennis balls........


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