The Neapolitan Mastiff – A Look at the Form & Function of This Ancient Breed

This article was originally published in Showsight Magazine, September 2013 issue.

The Neapolitan Mastiff – A Look at the Form & Function of This Ancient Breed

The Neapolitan Mastiff is an ancient war dog known throughout the world as one of the most fierce and loyal protectors of his family and estate. The Neo is a dog of immense power, strength, substance and formidable looks. His unmistakable bestial appearance and expression are created by an overlay of delineated, and symmetrical wrinkles and folds on the head. A well-divided dewlap serves as protection of his vital arteries in the event of combat.

He is capable of escaping and destroying his opponent due to his loose thick skin which provides him his suit of Armor for battle, and finally his massive size and musculature, by design, enables him to overcome his opponent and explode into a warrior, defending himself and his loved ones to the end.

The breed standard is built around these characteristics, distinguishing him from any other breed. It should always be kept in mind that the general appearance, balance and head type are essential when judging the Neo. The essence of breed type is the embodiment of all elements of the standard that are essential to setting correct breed type. It is easy to judge a sound moving dog, but no matter how well he gaits, if he does not look like a Neo, then he is not typical for the breed.

Over the past nine years since the Neapolitan Mastiff made his way into the Working Group he has been revered as a big sloppy, slow moving, overly wrinkled, lumbering, Hypertypical mess of a dog. By most standards known to those judges that do a lot of all-around judging, the movement of the “Neo” is something peculiar to himself. One of the biggest misconceptions in our breed is that the Neo is a giant breed that just lumbers around the ring with no purpose or constitution. Through Judges work-shops, like the ADSJ Group, breed-specific education, and technical seminars, I have been the voice of the parent club serving in the role as JEC. I have invested a great deal of time and energy working on dispelling these rumors. It is our continued GOAL to communicate to the judging community that the Neapolitan Mastiff is a true warrior behind that heavily wrinkled face! He is very capable of defending his owners and property at a moment’s notice!!

With the increasing large decline in show entries across the USA, it is becoming seemingly more and more difficult for new and experienced judges alike to witness a large entry of the breed; aside from attending the Nationals. As a result, the number of “quality” Neos that are being exhibited is very small. There are pockets within the USA where judges can make kennel visits and get their hands on these dogs, but this is still a young breed in the AKC, supported by young breeders that are just learning the breed themselves, making it even more difficult for aspiring judges to truly understand the “Essence of Breed Type.”

Understanding breed standards involves grasping important details of how a particular breed matures. This is even more crucial for breeds that grow exponentially, like the Neapolitan Mastiff, where the weight alone can increase variably from 50 to 150 pounds in the first 15-18 months of age. During this critical maturation period, the changes can be so dramatic that it is often times difficult to recognize the same dog! This has a huge impact when it comes down to breed-standard interpretation and the choice for placing your class.

Most Neapolitan Mastiffs are not usually mature enough to fit the breed-standard description before 15-18 months of age. In the first year the majority of dogs and bitches will excel in height more than width, and usually will not carry the substance we want in the finished adult. The growth in head and body starts invariably after one year of age and will continue to steadily improve over the next four to five years without much interruption.

Where the majority of judges have the most difficulty in understanding the young Mastino is in the area of “wrinkling and loose skin”. We have a term in our breed referring to excessive wrinkling and too much skin known as “Hypertypical”. Rewarding the young Neo under the age of two years bearing an excessive amount of skin, as would be seen in the mature specimen, is a very common mistake thinking that this dog or bitch will “grow into its own skin” like that of a Shar-Pei.

When judging the young Mastino you have to be conscious of their bone structure that supports the skin load and to keep in mind that we are looking for a dog that has balance and harmony—not excessive features—and it is equally important not to penalize them for not having enough wrinkling. There have been judges who have actually disqualified a young Mastino for, in their opinion, not displaying enough wrinkling. There are those quintessential wrinkles over the skull, muzzle, dewlap, and shoulders that are paramount in the breed standard. Anything more is truly considered an exaggeration of the standard and is to be faulted to degree of severity.

There have been judges who have actually disqualified a young Mastino for, in their opinion, not displaying enough wrinkling.

The loose skin and wrinkling in the Neapolitan Mastiff develops gradually over time and should never overcome the skeletal bone in this breed. A young dog with excessive dewlap and skin in his hindquarters is not a good example of the breed standard and this condition will become even more excessive with age. It is more desirable to see a youngster with excellent bone construction and correct movement who is still developing skin than a lighter boned adult with an unnecessarily excessive load of skin throughout the head and body. One needs to evaluate correct “thickness of skin” by simply lifting and feeling the skin between the thumb and forefinger. The density of the skin should feel thick and healthy—not thin or diseased.

As the Neapolitan was a breed used as a war dog and protector of the estate, the loose thick skin served the specific function of protecting the vital arteries of the neck, as well as creating the classical intimidating and formidable look to ward off any potential enemy.

Think of the skin of the Neapolitan as his armor; if the skin is too light and thin to the touch or too tight, he is deficient in the armor that is to protect him in battle against his opponent. If his skin is too excessive and exaggerated, hanging all over the body, he is most likely unhealthy. This exaggerated and excessive skin type often is combined with relaxed ligaments, weak joints, and a weakened lymphatic condition leading to disease that has cursed this breed for years. The skin must appear to be attached to subcutaneous tissues, and the muscle of the body and its appearance should be healthy, and in harmony and balance with the body. One does not have to start pulling or stretching the skin during the hands-on portion of the exam. Once the Neapolitan takes his first steps around the ring you will see the bones of articulation begin to undulate under the loose connective tissue and folds. Equally important when you evaluate the movement of the young Neo the skin in the young Mastino should be noticeably more connected to the body; as stated before, this skin will loosen up gradually with age.

The overall make and shape of the Neapolitan Mastiff is that of a rectangular dog. We look for a specimen that is literally rectangular in outline. Our standard calls for the length to exceed 10-15% of their height. We look for a dog that leans to the greater of 15% giving him his rectangular outline. He is a massive, powerful, heavy boned, awe-inspiring dog with a bestial appearance that is created by thick delineated folds of skin giving him his formidable looks! He has a level topline and stands with equal proportions of body depth to length of leg when measured from the ground to the withers. He comes in a variety of solid coat colors ranging from gray (blue), black, mahogany, and tawny. Some brindling may be present in all colors, and some white markings on the feet, pasterns, belly, penis, and chest up to the throat. White should never be seen on the trunk of the body or head as this would be an immediate DQ.

The head and expression of the Neapolitan Mastiff is unique to this breed. It should be a massive Brachycephalic head, supporting cubic bone structures, with planes of perfect parallelism embodied by a balanced delineation of folds and wrinkles that do not interfere with his ability to see and or perform his duty to bite and hold. Excessive wrinkling over the eyes that impedes his ability to see his opponent is a huge fault in the breed. While the eye is deep-set and protected by the skeletal frontal bones, in no way should the Neapolitan Mastiff not have a clear view of his surroundings. You must be able to see into the eye of the Neo when judging and the eye should be free from entropion disease or ulcers.

The exposed haw on the Neo does give him a bit of a “devil look”, but the haw should not be so exposed as to give the appearance of being unhealthy. The tighter the rims of the eye, thus exposing less haw of the eye, the better! The skin load will often give way to a partially exposed haw due to gravity; this is normal, but should not occur to the extent of exaggeration!

When examining the head of the Neapolitan you must keep in mind that the head is slightly larger than the body, but not to the extent that it is out of proportion to the massive frame of the Neo. There are two clearly defined geometrical shapes of the muzzle and skull. You should view the dog from the front and easily see a cube on a cube effect. The muzzle is the first cube and the skull is the second. The head is Brachycephalic (meaning short and massive); the width of the head must be equal to its length. The muzzle width is almost equal to its length, and the depth is about double its length. Most important are the planes of the muzzle and skull… the Neapolitan Mastiff has complete parallelism from every view both laterally and frontally. There is no divergence or convergence of the head planes and the stop is well-pronounced, forming nearly a right angle. The proportions of muzzle to skull are 1/3 to 2/3rds and the prominent frontal bones are positioned just above the eyes, and are well-pronounced, supporting the muscle and skin, thus preventing the eyes from taking on an expression of being closed or shut down!

There has been a great deal of discussion on the ear of the Neo. The ear is set on high, and you will see a variety of ear crops ranging from large equilateral triangles folded over the skull to what most of us call a teddy bear ear that stands erect just above the ear canal. The ear of the Neo can also be natural (uncropped), triangular in shape, and you should pay close attention to the outer margin which is slightly flared, and the interior margin should be framing the cheek. The ear should never be “houndy” or fleshy, creased or folded, and should not extend beyond the margin of the throat.

The lips of the Neapolitan are heavy, thick, and long; the upper lips join beneath the nostrils to form an inverted ‘V”. This is the classical “Lily” formation of the lips detailing the expression of the Neapolitan Mastiffs head. In congruence with the lips of the Neo, we find an ample dewlap that has to be fully divided and symmetrical. Each side of the dewlap will extend below the corner of the lips and must NOT drape or extend in exaggeration as to take away from the balance of skin surrounding the head. Typically if the dewlap is extended to or below the prosternum, the dog is Hypertypical in this area. When this excessive amount of skin is present you must remember to prioritize your judging to select the specimen that has the best overall balance of loose skin and wrinkle to body mass.

The bite ranges from scissors to pincer (level), and a slight undershot is allowed. All of these bites are acceptable and the reversed scissors bite is the most effective for biting and holding onto the opponent. A serious fault is an undershot jaw that protrudes or disrupts the outline of the lower jaw causing the expression to look bulldoggish. Do not reward this type of bite!!

The tail of the Neo has been a nightmare for many to comprehend. Our standard says the tail is to be docked by 1/3. This is pretty ambiguous because as a judge you were not there to witness what 1/3 of a fully intact tail was when it was docked. As well, the standard does not speak to a DQ for too long of a tail—only for too short of one. The reasoning behind this was to keep those breeders from trying to hide a kinked tail and by docking it so short you would not know it ever existed at birth. Here is a really simple Rule of Thumb: just make a mental note that the tail should not be less than 1/3 in length from the point of insertion to the hock-joint. The easiest barometer for measuring is to use the reproductive organs as your guide it should clearly cover them when the tail is hanging in repose, or you just have too short of a tail, and it must be disqualified!

We do not want to see a tail that is carried over the back and curled like that of a monkey or a hound. When in action the tail can be carried just slightly higher than the horizontal aspect of the topline. The fully intact tail will have a slight curve at the end and may be carried slightly curved towards the midline or off to one side when gaiting. While in repose the tail hangs in a slight “S” shape or straight. Finally, we come back to the misnomer that the Neapolitan Mastiff is not revered as a sound moving dog by our American AKC standards of judging. Contrary to what most folks know about the breed or the 305 FCI breeds known throughout the rest of the World Wide dog fancy, the Neapolitan Mastiff has graced the Best in Show ring now three times in the past 20 years and has earned this coveted award of BIS at the World Show level.

Here in America we have been fortunate to have a beautiful specimen that has captured two All Breed Best in Shows and the opportunity exists again, now that more judges are becoming more familiar with the ‘correct’ movement of the breed.

The movement and gaits of the Neapolitan Mastiff are unique to himself and, while he may not be the flashiest of movers in the ring, he is certainly not a ‘cripple’ as many would like to think. I hear time and time again… ‘I never knew they could move so well’…When you stop to think about it for a breed of dog that was fought in the Colosseum of Rome against man and beast, he had better be able to spring into action and protect himself, and move with a high degree of athleticism, or else he would have suffered a quick demise.

The correct movement of the Neapolitan is that of great strength and power, his strides are long and elastic with ample reach and drive. Rolling and lumbering are characterized by the loose skin that rolls from side to side. His topline should remain steady and when covering the ground he will remind you of a lion in motion when he is fully engaged.

Pacing is acceptable and not to be penalized. However, it is not the preferred gait and when at all possible this is a trotting breed that can easily get around the ring. I like to start my class by walking them around to loosen up their joints and to relax them. There have been several judges that feel the necessity to ask the exhibitor to pace, and trot the dog. This is not necessary we want to see them trotting at all times. If they begin to pace due to heat, nerves, or lack of training, please be forgiving and offer the exhibitor another trip around your ring. It will not hurt anyone to see the correct movement and when you do, that Lionlike motion comes to life!!

The Neapolitan Mastiff is an ancient breed dating back some 40 centuries in history, and one should approach the breed with a great deal of respect for its history, resilience, fortitude, and perseverance; the Neapolitan Mastiff has been to Wars, has been starved and has survived near extinction in his evolution to the present day! Get to know him you won’t be sorry!!