History: After WWII the mastiff was almost lost. In October of 1946 enthusiastic mastiff-lovers gathered for the first time since 1939. The meeting took place in London, and was the beginning of an almost hopeless mission saving the English mastiff from extinction. They promised to do all they could to prevent this from happening. Their first task was tracing all living mastiffs in the country. This didn't give results, basically because most of the twenty dogs that still were alive were too old to produce. A male called Tarsus became the father of three litters with 18 puppies, but only one of these survived. At the end of 1947 only seven dogs were still alive in England. This situation led to a visit to the USA in order to cooperate with Americans. The breed was so rare and of such poor quality in the US that no dogs were brought back to England. In 1948 two promising puppies from District of Columbia (USA) were sent to England, and these two individuals created the foundation that prevented the breed from disappearing. In 1949 there were 15 mastiffs in the country, and in 1950 the number was approximately 50. The mastiff was saved! To achieve this one had to make use of other breeds with familiar background and history the Great Dane, Bullmastiff and St. Bernhard were used to save the mastiff from extinction.

Temperament: Calm, affectionate to owners, but capable of guarding.

Size:  about 180-220 lbs.), but this varies quite a lot within the breed.

Today's Uses: A very large pet for the most part but some have weight pulled and carted.

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