bulmastiffs?

[falabalamb]

We have decided to get a dog sometime in the next year and are now looking into which breed would be best for us (and we would be best for). I grew up with lots of different rescue dogs, collies, greyhounds, golden retriever and some total mixtures who came to us to be fostered, but someone has recently suggested a bullmastiff to me. I know nothing about this breed at all except what I've learned from google searches. Do any of you have any experince of them? We have 3 children aged from 2 and a half to almost 8, decent enough sized garden, cat and guinea pigs. I work 4 hours a day so would be home alone in this time, but would go for a long walk in the afternoon. Thanks very much :)

*whippet not whipped

whipped! Ok, so having started this thread on bulmastiffs, I (and you lot) seem to have convinced myself that whippets are the way to go . I have seen an advert for someone living fairly locally who's Chinese Crested accidentally got mated by a whippet. She's had to pay out at least £1000 in vets bills to make sure everything went smoothly in the pregnancy and has ended up with 8 pups who look more like tiny whippet/collies (some are hairless but not all). She's not looking to make a profit on them and just wants to recoup some of her costs while finding them the best homes. I am very tempted to go and look at them but again, other than what I've read, I know nothing about the Chinese Crested (bit of a leap isn't it, from bullmastiff to this!)

This will probably sound harsh, but...

Breeding is expensive, even more so if she'd decided to do it properly, it was her choice to allow her bitch to have pups, I wouldn't be helping her pay back the cost of that.

There's no reason at all to put a bitch through an unplanned pregnancy even if the dog literally broke in to her garden she could have taken her to the vet for the mismate injection and it would have been much kinder on the bitch and on her pocket.

Then you've got the issue that the dogs won't have been health tested, neither of them are massively unhealthy breeds, but there are tests available for both of them that won't have been done.

Accidental matings happen but there's no such thing as an accidental pregnancy, a decision has been made to continue with this litter. I'm always slightly suspicious of "accidental" matings, especially when there's such a size difference as there is in this case. I'm sure it can happen completely unaided but I'm not convinced it happens quite as often as it apparently does.

Whippets are generally very healthy, there are no inherent health issues within the breed. CCs however should have several health tests in place before they're used for breeding, namely DNA tests for PRA (progressive retinal atrophy) and PLL (primary lens luxation). It's fairly common for CCs and their crosses to have dental issues, including incomplete dentition.

Personally if I'm buying a puppy I would much rather support a breeder who is doing everything right. If you're happy to take a gamble on a cross then you do get whippety lurcher pups turning up in rescues fairly frequently.

Totally agree with the above. No need for an accidental litter. I'm very suspicious too

if I was to spend money on a pup I'd rather for for a working whippet parent (from what I read those are well looked after dogs)

or a rescue dog which suits my family needs (I have cats and a dog but no small kids so not many dogs would suit us - but this is just an example)

Thanks for all your advice. I can completely understand why this situation seems suspicious. I was suspicious too but have had an email conversation with the puppy owner and went to meet her yesterday, just to see her set up. She seems really genuine, very well informed and caring. She has done a fantastic job of socialising the pups, pup mum is calm, well balanced and clearly a very loved family pet. The owner clearly would rather keep all the pups than see them go to the wrong homes and is asking for donations only towards the pups. Still, I'm not going to rush into anything.

Take a look at Evesham Lurcher rescue. They have some 5 week old pups that need a home.

My whippet pup is 6 months now and by far the best dog I've ever had. She is superb.

Whoo I would strongly recommend that you slow a bit and take your time over this decision.

Within 5 days you have gone from wanting a bullmastiff to a whippet (after comments from strangers on the internet) to going to visit a litter of puppies.

This is a mega decision and needs to be researched in depth, slept on and then researched some more.

Please do not rush in a decision that you will have to live with for up to 16 years.

Guinea pig, cat and whippet could take a lot of time to manage to get to be a harmonious house.

Muttynutty: Don't worry, I'm not going to rush into anything. Sighthounds were always on my list having had a few growing up and knowing what lovely dogs they were. I began this post by saying that someone had suggested bullmastiffs to me and that I knew nothing about them and wanted to find out more. Having researched them, and thanks to the great advice I got from all the people who answered my post, I quickly decided that they are not for us. I'm not rushing into anything, I'm not that kind of person. I spent almost all my childhood and teenage years helping my mum with rescue dogs that she fostered, I'm all too aware of the consequences of making the wrong decision, having cared for dogs who've previously suffered extreme neglect and abuse. Thanks though for your comments, I'm sure there are people out there who would rush this decision, which is why there are so many rescue dogs out there needing to be rehomed. I did go and see the home set up of these pups but I deliberately went without my children so I could do it without getting their hopes up.