Mastador Information & Dog Breed Facts

The Mastador is a designer dog originating from the United States. An international mix between the English Mastiff, an old guarding breed, and the Labrador Retriever, which has ranked first in popularity for the last quarter-century, according to the American Kennel Club. The resulting hybrid is a very large and friendly animal that can be particularly animated during their younger years.

Furthermore, there is very little documented history about hybrids, so it is uncertain when specific breeders even began specializing in the Mastador. However, according to experts, it is highly likely that the first litters of this new breed were born sometime in the last 15 to 20 years. There is a lot of variety with this type of designer dog breed, some will resemble a Labrador more, and some will resemble the Mastiff more, each Mastador will be unique. Apparently, breeders wanted to mix the two parent breeds to minimize health problems that are associated with the inbreeding of pure breeds and also to create the perfect family companion.

Although to be able to understand Mastador’s history, we need to look at the history of the parent breeds. The origin of the Mastiff is perhaps the most disputed and contentious of all dog breeds, with theories as to when and where it was developed ranging from 10000 to 1000 years ago and from Ireland to Tibet. What is known for sure, is that the breed is one of the oldest English breeds, if not the oldest and that it has been well-known in its homeland since the Dark Ages. The origin of the word Mastiff is unclear. Some believe that it comes from the French word Martin, meaning ‘tame’. Others claim that it comes from the ancient Anglo-Saxon word Masty, which means ‘powerful’. Furthermore, originally they were bred as English war dogs, where they had the job of attacking the enemy soldiers. Between the wars, they guarded the rich and wealthy homesteads and were occasionally trained in the sport of bear-baiting. They were aggressive animals, kept chained to a stake during the day. Eventually, improving military technology had made the Mastiff useless as a military combatant by the end of the Renaissance, although it continued to be a very common guard dog. In 1835, bear-baiting was formally banned by the Parliament, and shortly after the strong aggressive tendencies were eliminated from the breed. They became a gentle, protective giant and began to be kept primarily as companion animals, especially by butchers who had enough to feed them. However, the great cost of feeding these dogs, as well as the introduction of new giants breeds such as Saint Bernard and Newfoundland, decreased the number of the breed. By the end of World War II, there was only one half-blooded Mastiff capable of reproducing left in England. This dog was subsequently bred to the fewer than 20 Mastiffs remaining in the United States along with a female, Dogue de Bordeaux, to restore the breed’s population.

On the other hand, the Labrador Retriever is the traditional waterdog of Newfoundland, long employed as a duck retriever and fisherman’s friend. The breed became popular in the early 1800s when Labs were spotted by English nobles who were visiting Canada. These sporting lords returned to England with fine specimens of ‘Labrador dogs’. Exactly how these dogs of Newfoundland became associated with Labrador is unclear, but the name stuck. During the second half of the 19^th century, British breeders refined and standardized the breed. The physical and temperamental breed traits recall the Labrador Retriever’s original purpose. A short, dense, weather-resistant coat was preferred because during a Canadian winter longhaired retrievers would be encrusted with ice when coming out of the water. In its ancestral homeland, the breed would be assigned to a fishing boat to retrieve the fish that came off the trawl. Moreover, the breed’s thick, tapering tail serves as a powerful rudder, constantly moving back and forth as the dog swims and aids the dog in turning. When it comes to characteristics, the breed is described as one of a kindly, outgoing, tractable nature, eager to please, and nonaggressive toward man or animal. The Kennel Club of England recognized the breed in 1903, and the AKC registered its first dog of the breed in 1917. The Labrador Retriever topped American Kennel Club registrations for the first time in 1991 and has reigned as America’s favorite breed ever since.

Although Mastadors are genetically amicable with most people and animals, they usually retain enough protective instincts to make an excellent watchdog and are fairly easy to train, although some may tend towards stubbornness.