WHaM

OVERVIEW THE ESSENCE OF THE MASTINO STANDARD JUDGING MORE INFO HISTORY

FIVE KEYS TO INTERPRETING THE STANDARD
PART !: THREE CRITICAL ASPECTS OF TYPE

The Neapolitan Mastiff, as many breeds, is an amazing complex and wonderfully interesting animal. Judging it can be marvelous adventure. Without taking away from the challenge of understanding the essence of the beast, we'd like to present five basic things to understand.

Remembering these five aspects when reading and learning the standard, and when meeting the breed specimens, will help you understanding and appreciate the monstrous beauty embodied in this ancient canine.

The first three aspects are the essence of Breed Type. And we call this the "WHAM factor"

Wrinkle

Head

and

Mass

The proper mastino MUST have Wrinkle. There must be loose skin all over the body. There must be wrinkles and folds on the head, and there must be a dewlap. Lack of wrinkle is a disqualification. Lack of a dewlap is a disqualification.

grace&nelson3.jpg

The proper mastino MUST have the distinctive Head. The Head is large in proportion to the body. The proportions of the head are very important...the description of the head takes up over 1/3 of the entire Standard. Seven of the nine serious faults relate to the Head.

The proper Mastino MUST be Massive. Massive bone, massive structure, massive massive massive. And we don't mean Mass such as you see when you see a solid stocky blocky Labrador and say, wow, look at the bone on that Lab...we mean MASS...the dog must have a presence. Lack of Mass is a disqualification.

When the mastino walks in the ring, you should be almost hit in the face with the WHaM factor...WOW...what a dog...look at that head...look at that wrinkle...Look at that DOG!!!

Click NEXT here to learn about the other two important factors
to understanding the standard: "Big E" and the "little e"