Mountaineer Mastiffs

Recommended Products

If you are new to mastiffs, you are probably going to need a lot of experienced help to get you thru the raising of your mastiff. Plan on it. Even if you are an experienced dog owner, it doesn't take long with your first mastiff to realize that mastiffs are a very different type of dog. They have different needs, different requirements, different likes and dislikes.

So to try to help out other mastiff owners, these are some of the products that we use and recommend:

Nylabones, Galileo Bones, and Kongs - These come in different sizes. Although I wish that they would come in even larger sizes than they do, I still recommend them. The largest size in these toys is acceptable for most younger mastiffs, and many smaller adult mastiffs.

Pooper Scooper - These are great yard tools for any dog owner, but they are essential for anyone with a mastiff. We have several. We keep one on each end of our kennel and one by the house. Be sure to get the aluminum type. Buy the version with the spade (the rakes are more trouble than they are worth). Buy the large size of course.

Grannick Bitter Apple Spray - This works for many (not all) dogs, to prevent chewing on the wrong things. I have also found that if you have a puppy that likes to bite hands and feet, you can set up a "sting operation" In which you spray your hands and feet with this, then sit back and wait for them to learn that nipping hands and feet is not a good idea.

Stainless Steel Bowls - Use these for food and water. Dishes need to be raised for mastiffs. There are conflicting reports on whether feeding & watering from raised dishes has an effect on the chances of bloat. Some reports say that it does, while some say that it has no impact at all. But my opinion is this; even if it doesn't have an impact on the issue of bloat, it does make their meal a lot more comfortable and enjoyable.
If you aren't sure what I'm talking about, put yourself in a mastiff's shoes for a moment. Would you want to bend over at the waist (legs straight) and have someone put your dinner plate on the floor by your feet? Give it a try. It isn't comfortable. And my years of experience with mastiffs has shown me that they are far more comfortable when eating from an elevated bowl.
Stainless steel is best because it is the easiest to keep clean, and doesn't have the potential allergy problems that plastic does. There are lots of types of raised feeders, most are very expensive. I prefer to buy aluminum buckets (like from Lowe's or other hardware stores). Then remove the handle, and the bowl fits perfectly inside. It is far more sturdy and more cost effective than anything else I have seen. And if your mastiffs are prone to doing a lot of rough housing, you can put some rocks in the bucket (under the bowl of course), to make it more stable and even harder to turn over.

Nylafloss - is a flavored, knotted nylon rope. The strands work exactly like dental floss to help clean teeth. This is the ONLY rope toy that I recommend using with mastiffs. It is the only one that has ever lasted more than two seconds around here. Still do not let them have this unsupervised. I cannot stress that enough! Because if a mastiff works hard enough, they can tear up just about anything. That means, do not leave it in a crate with them EVER, and do not leave it unsupervised in a fence, yard, etc. This should strictly be a toy used for short periods of time and with supervision, like to play fetch for example, and limited and observed chewing. This way, they can get the tooth cleaning benefits, without getting enough time with it to tear it to shreds and possibly ingest it and harm themselves.

Petrodex Toothpaste for Dogs - I prefer this to all the other dog toothpastes that are available. My dogs love the chicken flavor. It also comes in other flavors, but chicken has by far been the favorite with my dogs. My mastiffs actually want it so bad that I have to put them in different rooms to brush their teeth, or they pull the toothbrush out of each other's mouths while I am brushing! (Brutus is the worst about that! ) They all sit and beg every time they see the tube. Which is great because it gives me something to keep their teeth clean and breath fresh with, that actually tastes good enough that it distracts them from what I am doing and allows them to enjoy and look forward to the process.

Hand-Held Shower Head - "Back in the Day" you had to purchase a special pet shower attachment if you wanted to do this, you may remember them, they attached to the side of your normal shower head. But now they have become very popular and mainstream for humans. So instead of having an extra piece of equipment floating around you just buy a shower head on a hose. Make sure you get the LONG version.
If you want to wash your mastiff inside of your house, these are a God send. Mastiffs are really big. And if you don't realize just how big they are, you will the first time that you try to bathe one. These things are so great that I've become so accustomed to them that I don't know how I ever bathed a dog without one. Not only is it far far easier, but it gets the dog a lot cleaner, and you can easily get rid of all of the soap residue. Improper rinsing after baths can irritate skin, so this is a great tool.
Once I had my children I also learned that they make a great tool for bathing kids too! You can run a bath and wash and rinse hair with ease. So if you still have a standard shower head, say Bye-bye to wetting and rinsing with a cup, and get a new shower head!!! You will not regret it.

Crate - this is an absolute essential. I find it less important (and somewhat risky) later on dealing with a larger mastiff. But when your mastiff is a puppy, and young, you must have a crate. It makes house training a breeze, and gives the puppy a safe place to go and use like it's den. I will write more about crates in a future article, but for now I couldn't make a recommended products list, without including the crate.

Extra Tall Baby Gate - I like the wooden & wire type, in the extra tall size. These are essential when wanting to gate off access to certain areas of your home. Mastiffs are of course, strong enough to demolish one of these gates if they want to, but mastiffs are surprisingly respectful of baby gates. I've never had one damage a baby gate, ever.