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DISCUSSION OF THE BREED BY GIUSEPPE ALESSANDRA
 

In 1997 the United States Neapolitan Mastiff Club held its National Specialty in Gilbertsville, Pennsylvania. Arch. Giuseppe Alessandra judged at this show. Arch Alessandra is a long-time FCI judge, and author of a four-volume encyclopedia on the canines. He is founder and President of the ATIMANA, the Technical Society for the Lovers of the Neapolitan Mastiff and is frequently seen judging the mastino in many countries around the world. On the Saturday evening after the 1997 USNMC National, he also gave a lecture on the Neapolitan Mastiff and participated in a question-and-answer session This a transcription of his lecture and of the following questions and answer session.

It is a pleasure to be with you. Because your club is the second-largest club in the world. In 1996 this club registered 851 pups, and was second only to Italy. I believe that soon Italy will be number two. This is a wish that I hope with all my heart.

It is a pleasure to speak to you as the president of ATIMANA because our goal is to advertise to the entire world what a Neapolitan Mastiff should be. We want to advertise what a true mastiff should be because often you see dogs that are mastiffs only in name.

It is a pleasure also to speak with you because amongst you there are a lot of true lovers of Neapolitan Mastiffs, excellent breeders, and excellent judges. And finally, I am happy to speak in front of you because there are so many beautiful women. In Italy, the audience is mostly made up of ugly men!

I didn't bring any video or any pictures or any slides because the mastiff is a unique breed. There is no such thing as the perfect mastino. Every dog is different from another dog. Although they are both mastiffs and both belong to the same breed. It is a breed that has a lot of "type" and therefore there are no two dogs that are exactly the same. Therefore, I think it is easier for you if I speak about the ideal model rather than speaking about individuals by showing you pictures of individual dogs. Mastiffs are dogs that must be seen. There is no video, no slide, no picture that can actually show what the Neapolitan Mastiff should look like.

So, let's look at the general aspect of the dog. It's a dog that must appear massive. It must appear heavy. The legs are like columns in a building that must support a powerful animal. Just to give an example, a Neapolitan Mastiff must look like a Greek Temple, where you have the huge columns which support all the architecture, which is extremely heavy. The Neapolitan Mastiff is a Greek Temple, even now. Because it is a very harmonious dog. If you look at an ancient Greek temple, from any side, it's always a harmonious construction, and the Neapolitan Mastiff must be the same way.

There must be harmony between the muzzle and the head, harmony between the head and the body, harmony between the body and the legs. With that, it must be clear to all of you, that it should never never look light. It must never look weak. It must never appear not harmonious.

The head is what is most noticeable about the Neapolitan Mastiff. The head is made up of two cubes, one attached to the other. The muzzle is one, which represents 1/3 of the total length of the head. The width of the muzzle should be as close as possible as the length of the muzzle. It must have a very wide jaw, powerful teeth, and it must appear in the form of a cube from whichever way you look at it. The other cube is the cranium, the head, which must be twice the length of the muzzle. And here, as much as possible, the two sides of the head must be parallel. The cranium must be flat. And the ears must be very high.

That's the outline. On this construction, you have the wrinkles. The wrinkle must be clearly demarked. It must never be thin. It must be made up of very heavy skin. The most important thing, when you look at the dog from the front, the upper lip must be an upside-down V. It must be a very abundant lip. And from the outside of the eye, you have two wrinkles, that seem to have been put in by an axe, these come down to the jowls, which must be abundant and clearly separated into two dewlaps, which should droop about half-way down the neck.

In all this design of these wrinkles, you have the eyes which are the soul of the Neapolitan Mastiff. The eye must be as expressive as possible. It must show the ability of the dog. It should never be too light. If it is too light, (sky blue in color) the dog is disqualified. The eye must be a slit. When the dog looks at you, it looks as if it is scrutinizing you. It should never be too wide open, too prominent. And the lower eyelid should not be too relaxed. The expression of the eye should tell us immediately if we are looking at a male or a female. Because even the expression of the eye should clearly show the difference in sexual form.

The teeth must be complete. Because if you lack some of the teeth, the jaw gets shorter as you keep breeding the dog. And when I spoke to you about the two cubes before, the muzzle and the head, the axis of the muzzle and of the cranium must be parallel to one another. They must not be divergent or convergent. The teeth must go like a scissors or like a pincher. A little undershot is tolerated, but if there is too much it must be disqualified. And there is something that is must be fought in breeding the dogs. Because we have the undershot situation, the muzzle becomes shorter, and then the axis between the muzzle and the cranium becomes shorter. As an example of this, we have the Boxer, the Dogue de Bordeaux, and the Bulldog.

Regarding how much undershot is too much, there is no manual. As far as I am concerned more than two or three millimeters is too much. Because it is a genetic characteristic, it is transmitted from generation to generation, so it must be carefully watched.

The neck must be extremely powerful and very noble. It cannot be straight. Because if the neck is straight, then the shoulder also becomes straight. It should come out from the withers with a nice arc up to the back of the head.

The chest must be very broad and never narrow or slab-sided. The shoulders must have an angle of about 70 degrees. The depth of the chest must be more than half of the height of the dog. The front legs must look like two columns. The feet must be compact, as compact as you can get them. And the pastern cannot be too weak, it cannot have a very sharp angle.

Topline as straight as possible. Again, it is wide and powerful. And the croup must be a continuation of the topline, slightly inclined. The tail must be attached, in a continuous line from the croup. The tail could be held slightly over the topline, never straight up like a pointer. Because this will be a disqualification.

 The coat must be short in every part of the body. It must never be of different lengths, and the length must be uniform on all parts of the body. In the face and on the muzzle, it is a little shorter, and of a velvet-like quality. The colors are black, gray, and lead, it could be also mahogany or tawny. They can be solid-colored or brindle. It could have a small white spot on the chest, not very wide, not very big. And it could have white on the feet, but it should not extend over the toes. There should never be a white spot on the head, that is a disqualification.

The skin must be thick and abundant throughout the entire body, but it must also display the volume of the muscles which must show enormous power in the neck, the shoulders, the kidneys, and the rear end. From 65 to 76 centimeters height for the male, from 60 to 68 centimeters for the female. You could tolerate 2 or 3 centimeters on the plus or the minus side, but it had better be on the plus side, not the minus side.

The relationship between the height at the withers and the length of the body is another of the basic characteristics of the breed. The length of the body is about 10% more than the height at the withers. In my personal opinion, I prefer a dog that is slightly longer rather than see a Neapolitan Mastiff like a square. Because the length of the body, the angle of the shoulder and the type of angle of the posterior which gives, in the Neapolitan Mastiff, the typical movement, motion, which is a step that is sort of a glide, that makes it very similar to the motion of a lion. I was pleased to see a video that compared the movement of the Neapolitan Mastiff to the motion of the large mammals. It's the best video I've seen in my life about the movement of the Neapolitan Mastiff because it is incredible to see how when he paces, he moves like a bear. And when he trots, he moves like a lion, even down to the movement of the shoulders, and a little pigeon-toed. The dog does not gallop very often, but when he does, he looks like one of the large felines. The movement is another of the very important characteristics of the breed.

The last of the characteristics of this breed is the temperament. It should never be uselessly aggressive. It does not bark continuously. If the Neapolitan Mastiff is by himself, very rarely will he bark. It must be conscious of its own strength, which must be used only when necessary. So this is advice to the friend who are visitors as well as friends who are judges never have dogs that are too aggressive, and get out of the ring dogs that show any aggressiveness. Excessive aggressiveness is the worst advertisement for our breed. Because when a Neapolitan Mastiff is really aggressive, it is very difficult to control. I repeat this all over the world.

This is a dog that is to guard property and the people who are on the property. It is not a defense dog, not an attack dog. There are other dogs bred for those purposes. We should never get involved in Temperament tests because if you test a Neapolitan Mastiff, it must be at home, where the dog lives, because that's where he works, that is what he must be protecting.

Let me say a couple of things about judging. Here it becomes difficult. Because comparing a dog to the model we describe, in the ring you see a whole lot of dogs, each one different than the other. It is up to the judge to identify the qualities of the dog because it is very easy to recognize the faults. But the first job is to recognize the qualities, and you must point out the qualities, and then you can point out the faults. And when you see a typey mastiff, you must tolerate even small faults. I said it before, this is a very difficult breed to judge, because it is difficult to see dogs that are not well turned-out. It is hard to see a topline that is always a little bit not straight. It is difficult to see the typical movement. You have to think, when you are judging this breed, you have to think about how difficult it is to breed this dog as you are judging. No other breed must be judged with as much attention as the Neapolitan Mastiff. The one breed that comes closest is the English bulldog. But while the English Bulldog has been turned into a monster by man, the Neapolitan Mastiff has remained pretty much as it is after 40 centuries of history.

In judging a dog, ideally you would like the perfect dog. But since the perfect dog does not exist, first weigh the qualities of the dog, and then the faults. And you have to come up with a balance of what a large dog, such as the Neapolitan Mastiff should look like, keeping in mind a dog that weighs 80-90 kilograms is fundamentally different from a dog that weighs 20-30 kilograms. So you must keep in mind, that once you think you know everything about the Neapolitan Mastiff, you still have a whole lot to learn. I've been judging mastiffs for 30 years. I wrote the last version of the standard. And every time I see a new mastiff, be he beautiful or ugly, it is always a discovery. And I am aware, that I still don't know the mastiff real well.

And one last recommendation to judges. You must have a lot of humility as you approach the Neapolitan Mastiff, because the Neapolitan Mastiff, in 40 centuries of history, has been to wars, and has been starved, but he doesn't take any bullshit!

QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION

QUESTION: Does any breeder in Italy breed or train the mastino directed towards doing Schutzhund?

ANSWER: No.

QUESTION. This is a very long question. AKC judges like a very flat topline, like the Doberman, the pointer, the rottweiler. But all these dogs are very light. When we look at large animals, like a horse, a cow, they usually have a slight dip in the topline. If a horse had a flat back it would look very strange to us. Contrariwise, even the larger animals, like a rhinoceros, or an elephant, have a hump back. But a humpback doesn't look good in a dog, and we don't want a weak topline, very swayed, but isn't a slight dip, more like a horse, normal for a mastino or not?

ANSWER: I spoke about the ideal model. The standard says that the topline must be straight. I have seen only one with a very straight topline, that was Caligola. You must also be careful how you look at a dog. When the dog is relaxed, even if he has a perfect topline, it will be a little bit curved, the important thing is that it is not a lot. It should never be deeply curved. Particularly in the females, because when they get pregnant the condition becomes even worse.

QUESTION: How are mastiffs related, we talk about the Dogue de Bordeaux, the Neo, how are they related, like their temperament, and their basic backgrounds?

ANSWER: Obviously they all have the same origins. There were the large dogs by the Assyrians, the Babylonians, which developed along typical lines. One physically came up from Greece, Macedonia and Albania, the other from along the North African coast, the other the Middle East. And the Phoenicians were the ones that transported the dog over the whole world. These breeds are very similar among themselves.

We're talking about breeds that are all over the Mediterranean, and also Central and South America, which should be proof that the Phoenicians went all the way to South America with their dog. They all have the same origins.

Now let's talk about the mastiffs. When Julius went to England, now the United Kingdom, he found British war dogs, which must have been brought there by the Phoenicians. He brought these dogs to Rome. The Phoenicians also brought molossus-type dogs into Italy. Some of them were also brought by Romans who conducted war all over Italy. From all of these, we have all the large molossars. The Mastiff, the Bullmastiff, the Dogue de Bordeaux, and all the other big dogs that came afterwards such as the Bulldog, and a dog, which was the origin to the Boxer.

So we know the origin of the main lines. But after that man took over and bred dogs to their different situations. There is no doubt that the one origin for all mastiffs, all mastiff-type dogs is the Tibetan Mastiff. The characteristics of each breed are different. The Dogue de Bordeaux is smaller, round head, the axes of the cranium are convergent, and it is undershot. The Bulldog is derived from a dog that was originally used to fight bulls. What we have now is an exasperation of the breed. We arrived at the current "look" at the beginning of the century. The bulldog at the end of the 1800's had longer legs and was much taller than it is now.

QUESTION: My question has a couple of parts. After defining the columns of the legs, the mass, the size, the type, the topline, the angulation, everything you are looking for in the type of the dog and the standard and what you want to see, as a judge, you might be in the ring looking at two dogs or two bitches with the same qualities, as a prestigious and renown judge, do you feel, after looking at these two dogs, and you find that the two dogs or two bitches have the same qualities but look totally different, do you find that it's an opinion and a preference as a judge to what you pick?

ANSWER: I pick as number two the dog that belongs to my friend! (Laughter)      

This is a very intelligent question. It deserves more than an answer with a joke. I train a lot of judges. And I always use the same joke. Your question deserves a broader answer. It is very difficult to find two Neapolitan Mastiffs who are really equal and very much alike. But if you do run into this situation, you must pick the dog that is a little bit larger, even if the topline is a little saggy, because it is carrying more weight, and that might cause the topline to sag.

QUESTION: I just bought a Neapolitan Mastiff. I bought it for a guard for my home and family. I understand when you say massive and power. But when you talk about massiveness, I can make my dog massive by feeding it and making it big, but then he has genetic muscle, with mass and power that he can use. When you look at two big dogs like this, with the loose skin, how do you judge for that power? For when you say the Neapolitan Mastiff doesn't take any bullshit. How do you judge that?

ANSWER: I talk about mass not fat. You do not obtain mass by just feeding the dog. Mass is a genetic feature. I was judging last year's Italian Specialty (I am the vice president of the club) This is also to give a little insight to the judges. I was looking at 17 or 18 males. And there were some excellent dogs. There was one dog which must have been about 100 kilos (220 pounds). But I picked as number one a dog which was just skin and bones but who had mass. The fact that he was skin and bones was not his own fault.

Mass is not just size, not a steroid-type of mass. It is the build of the chest, the power of the bones. Today, I saw some excellent judging by Michael Katz and I would like to pay him some compliments. I also saw some Mastiffs with bones too thin. It is a structural thing. A dog's bones are not going to get any bigger.

If you pick something just to guard your house, and you're not looking to show him, you can rest assured that the Neapolitan Mastiff is going to be a tremendous guard even if he doesn't have huge mass.

QUESTION: This is about pacing. The standard says the dog can walk, trot, or pace. Is it pretty or ugly for a dog to pace? Because here, the AKC does not like pacing, and they penalize a dog who paces.

ANSWER: Pacing is one of the typical movements of the Neapolitan Mastiff. All the large mammals pace when they travel large distances, especially the elephants when they walk miles and miles. You must judge the Neapolitan Mastiff to determine if the pacing comes from difficulty of other movement or if it is a temporary condition. That's why, when the judges judge the dogs, they also want you to make the dog trot, but that doesn't mean that you should penalize too much a dog which doesn't feel like trotting that day and just wants to pace

Speaking about movement, this is what the standard says: Movement it is one of the typical characteristics of the breed. It moves slowly and like a bear. In the trot it has a strong push from the posterior and a good drive from the legs. The preferred motion is the walk and the trot, the pace is tolerated. Sometimes they pace because of dysphasia, or because they have other health problems. In order to ascertain what the problem is, the judge often asks the dog to trot.

QUESTION: You are the vice president of the Italian Club, the president of the ATIMANA, and you get to see a lot of clubs. Do you feel this dog should be AKC or not?

ANSWER: On Tuesday I will go to the AKC with a letter from the Italian Kennel Club, as an ambassador of the Italian Kennel Club because the Italian Kennel Club wants the dog to be recognized. (Applause)

These are the reasons.

In a country as important as the United States, and in a country where if you were to count all of the Neapolitan Mastiff that are born, the United States has more dogs born here than in Italy. Yet there is a problem of quality. The Italian Kennel Club cannot conceive that two champions, Italian International and World champions come to the United States, they are bred and they have puppies, and these puppies don't have an official pedigree. That's the number one reason.

The second reason is that given the development that the Neapolitan Mastiff has in the United States, the Italian Kennel Club wishes, hopes, that there will be a more sever control of registration. This is no censure of your club, I know that your club is an extremely serious club. And that is why your club, and not the other Neapolitan Mastiff clubs is part of the ATIMANA. I also know that in the United States some people make up pedigrees by just going to a typewriter. And when you're trying to protect the breed from an easy market, you must do that through a very serious control of registration certificates. Again, we're not talking about your club, but it is a problem throughout the United States.

And finally, I don't see why a breed that has 4000 years of history should be considered less than a breed that was created 20 years ago. (Applause)

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