Sally,
I accidentally pressed the submit button twice on my comment about the stray Mastin. I thought it didn't go through and pressed twice. . I can't delete the extra comment , so can you remove it for me , Thanks !

hi Franz, are you referring to the last two posts on the forum ?
I have put them in spanish cause its about two monografic shows here in Spain, I copied and pasted them, one was an email that came to me, and the other was to help a friend that has organized one in Asturias, because they haven't got it on the AEPME page yet. So I thought I would just open a couple of posts to let spanish mastin owners know incase they would like to go and compete or go and watch.
At the mo, I haven't got time to translate, will try and do it later on ok.
xx

Tracey,

There have been times that you gave us an English translation ,or a resumé, of your Spanish Forum-messages ...

Sally I wrote a thread on the heat wave nearly a year ago, to move it up to the forum box again I have written a bit more so people can see it and remind them. I will see if I can find any links on it if you can't find it ok. xxx

Carlos, will you put a photograph of Rufo at a show on mastininfo or mastingallery ? It would be very nice to see the winner

Carlos, felicitaciones a Rufo ganar el título de campeón en el Internacional Costa Rica 2010! ¿Tienes algún nuevas fotos de Rufo para la galería?

Tracey, you are right ...
It is not very hot here in Denmark, so I just forget that it is different in other countries.
I think you sent a link in Spanish about about heatwaves / golpe de calor last summer, didn't you?
I will try to find it,,,
Thanks for reminding me Tracey

buenas Rufo quedo campeon en la internacional Costa Rica 2010

Hi Sally,
Its starting to really heat up here now , so I think its a good idea to put your warning article up about heatwaves / golpe de calor for the mastin owners to read and to remind them of.
un beso
Trace xxx

Hi Sally,
Think its about time to put the warning again about heat with mastines,(golpes de calor) the weather is starting to warm up here lots!
hugs
Trace
x

Both of mine snore. Frankly, I love it!

The best advice will probably be: learn to live with it !
Some mastines have it; others don't ...
Is she "just moving the air" when she is snoring ?? Nothing can be done ... Does she also makes the floor vibrate ?? Then give her a mattress to lay on ...

My beautifull mastin female sleeps with us inside the house.
She snores like crazy!!!
Does anybody have a sugestion or advice??
Its really funny but also imposible to sleep.
Help!

My beautifull mastin female sleeps with us inside the house.
She snores like crazy!!!
Does anybody have a sugestion or advice??
Its really funny but also imposiible to sleep.
Help!

I wonder if there is any difference in longetivity between mastines who work with / guard livestock for a living compared to those that are strictly show ring dogs or pets. Has anyone studied this? It seems to me, if a dog is allowed lots of room to safely roam and exercise, it can only assist in his living to a ripe old age. I wonder if having a 'mission' to protection some stock helps a mastine 'hang on' and live longer....? Not that competition in the ring isn't a 'mission' and I am sure there are dogs who live to show and parade before judges and are very happy, healthy dogs who live long lives.... Just pondering this...that's all... !

Do you suppose the foundation stock of today's breed when AEPME was formed, came out of a small gene pool and was there a lot of line-breeding going on? would that be the reason there are so many problems in the breed now?

I think health, temperament and workability should come first and conformation second priority. Breeders ought to goal for the "entire package" if you know what I mean..

Frans, as usual I did not express myself very well
I am sure many mastines live more than 6-7 years, but many of the mastines I saw at shows - and many of the mastines who had great results in the shows - suddenly past away at the age 6-7... Quite too many...
I am sure (hope) that breeders take things like overall health and longevity very serious and want to integrate these factors in their breeding-plans...
I think it would be a great idea to publish "lineages" of mastines that reach a GOOD, ACCEPTABLE age instead of lineages of mastines that "produce" champions...

Sally, you say that dying at six, seven years of age is starting to become the norm. I really hope that's not correct. I also know that there are (several ? many ?) breeders -as well in Spain as outside Spain- that take things like overall health and longevity very serious and want to integrate these factors in their breeding-plans. Hmm ... maybe we should publish "lineages" of mastines that reach a GOOD, ACCEPTABLE age instead of lineages of mastines that "produce" champions. Shall we start with reviving the forum-topic on "life expectancy for mastines" ... ?

Frans, it may be a sad story behind the photo of me and Toro - the hard thing for me and my son was to loose him at such a young age...
6 years of age is not an acceptable life expectancy for a mastín.
Unfortunately, Toro's untimely death is not unique. It's unfortunately not uncommon that Mastines die around age five, six seven years. That is actually quite before it approaches the norm. It's scary, especially because there just does not seem to be any interest in exploring why these Mastines had such a short lifetime.

MastinMel, yes I had a nice 'happy' birthday - NO, everthing did not went well, I crossed the line - and entered into the 'flock' of 'old people'
If you ever go to Spain, and with your 'obvious passion' about the Mastín español, you really should visit Spain sometime (might give you quite a new opinion about the breed) ... it would be a very good idea to visit Gregorio, he is on my top list too... - but remember, there are many breeders/shepherds/owners in Spain that are very much 'worth a visit'

Sally,
It is a very sad story behind the picture of you and Toro on the frontpage, but the picture as such is great.
Not everyone who lost his (or her) mastín has a "last memento" like this.

Sorry this is late, Sally (haven't been here in a while) - hope you had a happy birthday and all went well! If I ever get to Spain Gregorio of Abelgas will be on top of the list of breeders to meet as I am quite impressed with his mastines!

Best wishes
-Mel

Well, the mastin at the main page is actually a SHE: Isara de Abelgas (Jorge told me )
He or she...it does not matter to me - I love(d) this one...

Norma, this mastin was just wonderful, I loved him at the very moment I looked into his eyes and reached out to 'pet him'... I am not really sure who it is...When I visited Gregorio he told me the names of the mastines I met at his place, I wrote it down, but I cannot find these notes right now
For a moment I thought it could be Erek de Abelgas (when I saw the resent photo Jorge Arévalo uploaded of Erek, but I am not sure)... I will have to ask Gregorio or Jorge...