Me and my husban our having our first child this year and we wanted to get a dog.Well before we even had the thought of pregnanancy we talk about getting a dog.He wanted a pittbull but i said no becuase if we had a kid i would just want to be safe(not saying anything about pitts i love them).So i told him we could have any dog and he picked english mastiff.Are they okay to have around babies and children?Does anyone have any info??Thank you
Answers:
hi. I own an English mastiff who is close to a year old now. I also run a mastiff group with near 70 members now. Mastiffs are very loyal and unusually gentle with small children including toddlers. I would get a puppy so you can train it from the start and be able to socialize it to give you the best chance. I had mine when he was nine weeks old and have trained him myself and been vigilant with socializing as much as possible. He has been sensitive and gentle with every child he has encountered so far and with the smallest ones he appears to actually force himself to slow down and sits in front of them to be petted. On a few occasions with very small toddlers he even hunched his shoulders in and made himself appear smaller while reaching out his paw trying yo greet them and im not kidding at all. I think they know somehow that if they dont do something to appear less intimidating, they wont get to know the small kids and mine LOVES kids. I use meeting kids as a reward and make him do two tricks to greet them because it truly is one of his favorite things. Having said all that, you have to be ready to train everyday and really get them out there every day so that they embrace their social sides. They grow super fast so IMO when they're puppies it's best if someone is home a lot. They need companionship and do best if you spend lots of time with them. Make sure you have a car eventually that can hold them. We have a subaru forrester but if it were any smaller it wouldnt work... Write me if you need any other help...
They're fine around kids. They're just big. If he falls onto the kid..
My friend has a mastiff that is wonderful around her baby and young child. Of course it knocks the kids down (and heck even us over sometimes when he gets really excited) just because he is so huge and she watches them together carefully when the kids start to walk/run/play (and of course even afterwards) to keep the dog from accidentally knocking the baby into something hard or accidentally stepping on him, but temperament wise he is great, loves the baby, protective, very gentle when smelling him, etc..
Mastiffs are gentle giants! I really think that would be a great choice for you. Just be sure you to remember a new puppy and baby are a lot of work, and can't be left alone together!
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