The Spanish Mastiff is a historic breed with an impressive physique. It is considered the largest dog breed originating in Spain. Among his qualities, his ability as a guardian of houses and land stands out. Therefore, many families choose to adopt a Spanish mastiff: in addition to enjoying their company and affection, they especially value their characteristics as a guard dog.

Both for its physical characteristics and its character, the Spanish mastiff is an excellent furry friend to live at home. To have a total conviction of its adoption, it is important that you know everything about this breed to verify that you are able to welcome it into your home. To discover how to know if a Spanish mastiff is pure, the importance of its purity and the differences with the Leonese mastiff, in we recommend that you continue reading this article.

Is it important that a Spanish mastiff is pure?

The importance on the purity of the Spanish mastiff is relative. It can always be useful to know the breed or if it is a mongrel dog of any breed that we identify to have all the possible information, to know a little more about what their most specific physical and mental needs are, to be aware and check if we are able to adopt and take care of it correctly. For example, it is convenient to know if you are more likely to need to spend a very high level of energy or not, which is important to know if we can have it at home and offer you what you need or not; In this sense it is not the same to live in the countryside than in a flat in the city.

Beyond this aspect, whether a Spanish mastiff is pure or mongrel should not condition your decision about its adoption. The affection, affection and dedication it will deserve from you will be the same regardless of its purity.

Many people have a special predilection for pure dogs on the whim of having a small furry breed, without paying attention to their most basic needs. The most important thing is the predisposition to take care of them, dedicate time to teach them a basic education to socialize and live together and give them both physical and mental conditioning. Everything else, including his purity or being mixed-race, is a secondary factor.

We recommend you take a look at this other post about What to know before adopting a dog.

Characteristics of a pure Spanish mastiff

The Spanish Mastiff stands out for its impressive physical characteristics:

• It is a strong dog, large and muscular power. Its skull is large, with a compact and corpulent skeleton.
• The hair of this dog is fine, short and smooth but very dense to have several layers.
• The minimum height of this breed is approximately 77-78 cm in males and 72-73 cm in females. However, they can exceed this average minimum height by several cm and reach more than 80 cm at the withers in the case of males and more than 75 cm at the withers in the case of females.
• The weight of females is also slightly lower than that of males. That of females ranges between 40 and 60 kilos while in males it is between 50 and 70 kilos.
• The large head of the Spanish mastiff supports tremendously strong jaws, carrying a large dewlap.
• The ears are drooping, the eyes dark and small in size and the nose or truffle is dark.
• The color of the coat is diverse: gray, brindle, yellow, black, fawn and even reddish and with spots combining these colors.

What is the character of the Spanish Mastiff?

These are some of the character traits and behavior of the Spanish Mastiff:

• The character of the Spanish mastiff is authoritarian and imposing in front of strangers and unknown animals that may seem intruders, which is the result of his instinct guardian of the herd and the family. Therefore, it brings it out when it acts as a guard dog of any territory, whether it is a house, livestock, land or farm.
• His bark is hoarse, intense, deep and of high gravity. Therefore, it is easily perceived from a distance.
• With people known or related, it is a noble and meek furry. It is very intelligent, so its training is simple to enhance its virtues as a guard dog.
• He does not support loneliness, so it is convenient that you do not leave him alone for a long time: keep him close to you or a family member if you spend many hours away from home so that he does not fall into problems such as separation anxiety or depression. Being a guard dog there are people who tend to let him spend many hours alone guarding in a certain place, but it is important to avoid it. He will have no problem in acting as a watchman in an area or a herd while the person or people in charge of him are also in the place, but then it is necessary not to leave him right there and take him home. To constantly monitor, today, there are alarm systems and cameras.
• Receiving the attention it deserves, the Spanish mastiff is a breed (and the mestizos of this) with which you can live without any problem. In addition, it is also good living with other animals, especially if you have taken good advantage of your puppy stage to socialize it with other dogs and animals.

How to know if a Spanish mastiff puppy is pure

To check if a Spanish mastiff puppy is pure, it is necessary to analyze its physical appearance and the behavior it has:

• Above all, the first thing we will see is that to be a puppy is very large, strong, with short and fine hair, but very dense, with several layers of fur. It has a large head, drooping ears and dark eyes. Hair color can be gray, black, yellow, brindle, fawn and reddish.
• The character is noble and meek with his close circle, but authoritarian and imposing to strangers. It stands out for its watchdog skills and its great intelligence. However, in this case, we must bear in mind that although you can begin to differentiate some of these characteristics of its character, it is a puppy, so it will have a puppy behavior; For example, he will be much more active and curious than an adult.

However, the most effective method to discover if a Spanish mastiff puppy is pure is to request the pedigree certificate from the parents of this or submit it to breed and beauty contests.

Difference between Spanish mastiff and Leonese mastiff

There are hardly any differences between the Spanish mastiff and the Leonese mastiff. In fact, to speak of Leonese mastiff is to speak of a breed derived from the Spanish mastiff and that is emerged from the area of León and that, in some cases, is mentioned as a subrace.

Thus, it is practically the same breed with very similar characteristics. They are often confused by their enormous similarity of temperament and physique. In the case of the Spanish Mastiff, other mastiff breeds developed in the peninsula with a large size, intelligence and strength are included, while the Leonese Mastiff can be distinguished from the rest by the type of fur and corpulence, but in the end, both are mastiffs from the area of Spain.

Now that you know all this about the Spanish mastiff dog breed, we encourage you to read these tips on How to care for a Spanish mastiff.

If you want to read similar articles to How to know if a Spanish mastiff is pure, we recommend that you enter our pet’s category.