Base colour
Apricot, fawn or brindle
- In any case, muzzle, ears and nose should be black with black around eye rims, and extending upwards between them.
- Excessive white on body, chest or feet is unacceptable
About the Mastiff
Origin: Great Britain- FCI status
- Recognised by FCI
- FCI group
- Pinscher and Schnauzer - Molossoid and Swiss Mountain and Cattledogs
- Origin
- Great Britain
- Known hereditary risks
- Not researched yet
About
What the breed standard says
- Bred for
- Watch and security dog
- Behaviour and temperament
“A combination of grandeur and courage. Calm, affectionate to owners, but capable of guarding. Usually is unacceptable. indifferent with strangers; timidity”
Quoted from FCI standard n°264. It describes the breed the registry recognises, not any individual animal.
Characteristics
- Size
- —
- Exercise needsRead from what the breed was bred to do, in the registry’s own words: “Watch and security dog” That is a working purpose, not a measured exercise requirement — an individual dog’s needs depend on its age, health and household.
- 2 of 5
- Easy to train
- —
- Amount of shedding
- —
- Grooming needs
- 2 of 5
- Good with children
- —
- Cost to keep
- —
- Tolerates being alone
- —
- Intelligence
- —
- Health of breed
- Not researched yet
Pros & cons
Pros & cons for the Mastiff
What you get with the Mastiff
- Purpose stated in the standard: “Watch and security dog”
- The standard describes the breed as: “A combination of grandeur and courage”
- Low grooming needs, fitting for a busy owner — the coat is “Short and close-lying, but coarse over neck and shoulders”
What you are taking on
- Shorter-lived than a crossbred dog — median 9 years across 1849 animals, against 12
Drawn from sources rather than written as an opinion — cited health research, the registry’s own standard, and peer-reviewed longevity. FCI breed standard; McMillan et al. 2024, median age at death. One breeder’s animals can differ from any of it, and an empty column means we hold nothing for that side rather than that there is nothing to say.
Characteristics
FCI standard · Mastiff
Coat and colour
As the FCI standard sets it out. Every line below is the standard’s own wording.
Coat
Short and close-lying, but coarse over neck and shoulders
Colour
- Preferred
- Permissible
- Undesirable
- Disqualifying
Preferred, permissible, undesirable and disqualifying are FCI’s own words about the breed. They describe what the standard asks for — not an assessment of any individual dog, and not ours.
Shortened from FCI standard n°264 — each label is the standard’s own wording with the verdict lifted into the tag beside it. Read the full clause at source.
Breed-level information from The Dog API. It describes the Mastiff in general; any individual animal can differ.
Health guide
What to ask for in a Mastiff
No breed-specific health panel has been written up for the Mastiff on this platform yet. That is a gap in our records, not a clean bill of health — ask the breeder which hereditary conditions their lines are tested for, and ask to see the results for both parents, dated and from a named laboratory.
Gallery
No photographs yet
This is where Mastiff owners’ own photographs will go, from the pet profiles they keep here. Nobody has added one to a public page yet.
A photograph in a pet profile stays private to its owner. We will not put one here unless they ask us to.
Puppies
No puppies listed right now
No Mastiff breeder has a record on this platform yet, so there is nothing to list. That is a gap in our coverage, not a fact about the breed.