Assessing Movement of the Neapolitan Mastiff – Not Elegant, Not Showy

Assessing Movement of the Neapolitan Mastiff – Not Elegant, Not Showy

Assessing the movement of the Neapolitan Mastiff causes grief for judges used to seeing “normal” dogs. This is big, heavy, massive animal. If we compare the movement of most dogs to the splendid grace of an Arabian horse, we would have to compare the movement of a Mastino to the wonderful power of a Clydesdale, another animal that moves with awe-inspiring intensity.

The Mastino moves like a lion. He slouches and lumbers. The head is naturally held lowered and forward. There should be strong extension of the front leg and power from the rear. When you recognize the slinking lion or think of a clumsy bear, you have absolutely typical Mastino movement.

Because of the looseness of the skin, you may see the body sway and the skin roll from side to side. All of this is normal and typical. Remember, in most “regular” breeds this is considered excessive and wasteful movement as it interferes with endurance. For the Mastino, this does not interfere with the function of the breed, as while the dog certainly can and does work it is not meant to run for hours at a time like sporting dogs, hounds, terriers, or herding dogs.

When you are judging the Neapolitan Mastiff, and you ask for the dog to move, if it paces, by all means, feel free to ask the handler if he or she can get the dog to trot, since the pacing may simply be due to an inexperienced handler and the wrong speed. However, some dogs prefer the pace, and cannot be convinced to do otherwise. Personal anecdote: I had a female who, somehow, learned to pace inside the show ring. She trotted beautifully anywhere except inside the ring. I put her out with a handler who worked with her endlessly. Lovely dog, had a lovely trot. The handler worked in the evening at an empty show site, running around the show site, trot trot trot, running into the ring without pause and the dog broke from a trot to a pace. The handler said she’d never seen anything like it!

If the Mastino does not trot, you must not penalize the dog for it. Do not assume pacing in this breed is because of a construction flaw or laziness. Remember that a judge doesn’t say “trot the dog around the ring,” a judge says “move the dog around the ring.” You don’t want to see if the dog can trot, you want to see if the dog has typical movement for the breed. The trot and the pace are both typical for the Mastino.

The dog should be shown on a loose lead. While handlers may indeed tighten up the collar for control, it is not important that the dog carry its head high in a flashy manner and it isn’t important to “snug up” the lead behind the head in a way that will tighten the wonderful folds of the all-important dewlap. Unlike many other breeds, we do not show off a nice, smooth neckline.

While well-ring-trained dogs perform as requested, in warmer weather the owner-handled Neapolitan Mastiff may not (actually probably will not) gait ahead in the typical, impressively flashy manner of a show dog. In fact, if the dog has run around the ring once already it may move more slowly the second time. Again, do not assume that this is due to unsoundness. It is very typical for the Mastino to realize that it has been around the ring once already and there are no bad guys here, and nothing really interesting to see or do. So, the dog cooperates but simply isn’t interested. Ask it to go around a third time? Well, in really hot weather you may see some dogs, especially the mature heavy dogs, refuse.

Let us learn from the Italian judges. First, Dr. Massimo Inzoli (when he judged one of our breed Specialties in North Carolina in 2019):

The dog is not only head, there is nothing sadder than to looking a good-looking dog that is limping or looked to be immobile when trying to move. The Neapolitan Mastiff is not a statue, it is a living creature. We must find and breed soundness and well-balanced dogs with all of these traits. In older eras judges would tend to pick a specimen with good head, but now we have the type issue resolved for the most part, head and movement equally assessed.

Being a massive, long-bodied Molosser with feline-like movement will enable the Neapolitan Mastiff to gait with the head at topline/shoulder length. The dog with an erect/high head catches the eyes of people and judges, but we are not here to judge grace and elegance, we are judging Neapolitan Mastiffs, which is a breed of immense power, it’s a Molosser with a long body, feline-like movement; drives and exudes power. The Neapolitan Mastiff should look imposing, there should be centuries from the Roman Empire that [are] present in the dog. Elegance should not be the most important characteristic of the Neapolitan Mastiff.

From breeder-judge Antonio di Lorenzo in a presentation after judging (pre-AKC recognition) in California in 2002:

So, we can have at a dog show, Mastino very elegant, with movement very badly for the nature of the Neapolitan Mastiff. But good for a dog show. But we don’t care for the dog show. We care for the Neapolitan Mastiff. So be careful. When the Neapolitan Mastiff moves, the movement is first of all of the back. The back takes the ground. The forearm uses the movement, this power. The Neapolitan Mastiff must cover a lot of ground like the lion.

So, you must also have proper type of the body. Forget the dog show. The Neapolitan Mastiff must not be elegant. Must not be elegant. What do you think, that the Roman Coliseum is elegant? No, he is ancient, he is proud, he is history. The Doberman is elegant. But the Neapolitan Mastiff must not be elegant; must be proud, like the Coliseum, like the Pieta of Michelangelo, like Leonardo. Because in action, the elegance was not the most important moment of the story.

From Arch. Giuseppe Alessandra, long-time FCI judge and breed doyen who has judged our National four times, both pre- and post-AKC recognition, between 1996 and 2015:

…the length of the body, the angle of the shoulder, and the type of angle of the posterior which gives, in the Neapolitan Mastiff, the typical movement, motion, which is a step that is sort of a glide, that makes it very similar to the motion of a lion… about the movement of the Neapolitan Mastiff because it is incredible to see how when he paces, he moves like a bear. And when he trots, he moves like a lion, even down to the movement of the shoulders, and a little pigeon-toed. The dog does not gallop very often, but when he does, he looks like one of the large felines. This movement is another of the very important characteristics of the breed.

And finally, from the late, great Dr. Mario Perricone, a still-pertinent commentary from 1993:

If the dog is walking at its slow and shuffling gait, it appears indolent and lazy, incapable of the explosive power needed for a guard dog, which must be able to chase and bring down an intruder. As a breed, the Neapolitan Mastiff often paces, and this bear-like gait does not constitute a defect.

At the trot, especially in action such as patrolling the boundaries of its territory, the Neapolitan Mastiff becomes a different, more determined and agile dog. The hindquarters have ample power to propel its considerable weight and the forelimbs stretch well forward. The Mastino movement is fluid and flat, and the bones of articulating joints may be seen to undulate beneath the thick skin. It is more feline than canine. It seems to be a panther, capable of overcoming impossible obstacles to bear down its prey.

Always remember that the first paragraph of both the AKC Standard and the FCI Standard describes the Neapolitan Mastiff as not “showy.” The Neapolitan Mastiff draws the onlooker’s eye by its incredible appearance of massiveness, its commanding nature, and the innate power of the breed, not because it is an attractive and showy dog.

In fact, one might validly interpret the Standard to mean that “showiness” (and by this we mean vivid alertness, bounciness, or “asking for it,” etc.) is a fault! And so, we are back to the first statement of this topic: correctly assessing the movement of the Neapolitan Mastiff is difficult for judges used to “normal” breeds of dogs.