We have an 8 month old, Neapolitan Mastiff bitch of the working variety. Unfortunately, we seem to have encountered a serious problem when my fiancee and I take her for a run. Out of nowhere she will start by sprinting in circles around us, ears down, eyes in the back of her head, growling and then jumps up on us and then nips quite hard (sometimes drawing blood) and still growling. We have tried everything to stop her, from squirting her with a water pistol, smacking her, commanding her "down", turning our back and grabbing her by the scruff of the neck, none of which have remotely worked. I would like to stress we never encourage her to jump up or rough house with her. We can't seem to find the stimulus for this behaviour, can be off lead or on, anytime of day, no sign of any other dogs or people. It just seems to be excitment overload as it only ever happens on runs in the woods, never at home or in the garden. We would really appreciate any feedback or advice as my fiancee in particular finds it very frightening.

Thanks so much for getting back to us. In answer to your questions: 1) The pup was 12 weeks when we got her. 2) No, I walk her every morning along the roads near where we both live and she has never behaved this way. It is only ever when we take her for an evening walk in the fields or the woods. She could be on her lead or off, and it still happens. 3) By working variety I mean old type i.e. not heavily wrinkled, show variety, but more lean and athletic with more stamina. Both parents were temperament tested with trained agitators and are working type Neo's also. 4) Yes, in the home she is well behaved, obviously craves attention like a typical puppy, but pretty good at basic obedience. She will sit and lay down on command, will wait if we need her to and is generally friendly. She does have a tendency to "nip" when we prevent her from climbing on the sofa or something like that, but we always make an "aargh" sound and put her in her bed if she does this. She does have an annoying habit of getting quite hyperactive until she has been well exercised. She will charge into the living room and side swipe into the sofa, sometimes growling whilst she does it, but we just put this down to boredom and wanting to be taken out. She is generally a very highly strung animal and will whine a lot until she has been walked, but once she has been for a run, acts like a totally different dog around the house and you don't hear a peep from her. 5) She ONLY ever does this in the woods/fields, more so when she is off the lead as she starts running round in huge circles. We don't think this could be fear based as there is nothing around her at that time that she is frightened of. She is nervous of large vehicles such as lorries, and will pull round a corner on her morning walk to get away from them. She can also be nervous of loud noises, for example if my fiancee accidentally drops something in the kitchen. But obviously none of these factors come into it. She is not remotely nervous of people, in fact quite the opposite. She is extremely friendly when she sees anybody and only ever guards on the property. We have tried really hard to pinpoint what could trigger this behaviour, however it literally could be any time of day/night, on lead or off (but mainly off), any wood/field. The only thing that seems to be constant is that it is only myself and my fiancee around when she does it, as if there are other dogs/people about, she is more interested in them. We have gone back to the breeder and asked them about this behaviour. he seems to believe that this is common in the dogs he breeds and puts it down to playfullness and the breed being particularly boisterous and dominant. He also said that she will grow out of it. We really hope this is true, as it is ruining a big part of owning the dog and is putting my fiancee off!! But as yet, we have seen no signs of this stopping any time soon.

Just so you know, this is "the fiancée" writing now as we are both just as concerned about our dog and her behaviour. Many thanks for all the responses, we really appreciate it. Any help and advice is always welcome. [color=red]"Really sound to me as if SHE rules the roost. She is grumpy when you tell her not to get on the couch?? OMG. She needs more obedience and a firm kick in the arse if ya ask me. I wouldn't tolerate nipping and jumping up on me from any dog." I did have one female that nipped my hands when around other dogs to get attention. With some behavior modifications and more individual attention she stopped. This doesn't sound the case with your girl. Tell me, why get a "working type" mastino if you aren't intending to "work" her?"[/color] She does indeed think that she rules the roost. We have bought the book "The Dog Listener" by Jan Fennell, which has really helped us understand the dogs way of thinking. Of course we understand that the breeder is going to back the dog he bred and we have taken his advice with a pinch of salt- hence coming onto this forum to seek some new answers. I myself have never owned a dog before but have grown up around them (not Neo's granted!) and have loved dogs since day one. My fiancée has owned a GSD, a Boxer and an English Bull Terrier, the last two who have been particularly stubborn and boisterous. He has studied dogs for most of his life and knows a great deal about them. Obviously has never owned a Neo before but had done a lot of research about the breed before we got her. I don't want to get into a discussion about the pros and cons of working/show type dogs. We got a working type as we prefer the dog to be more athletic, lean and less wrinkled, with less of the health problems that some of the ultra typey ones have in the UK. We believe that this is what a true Neo should look like when you compare them to the original pictures of Neo's from the past. However, this is only OUR opinion, we totally respect why others may not agree with us and this is not why we joined the forum. We had planned for our dog to be trained in personal protection when she reached maturity as we live in a tough area of South London where there is lots of crime and wanted a good guard dog. [color=red]"Lets try this one again but first please understand that you are not being judged here. There are many knowledgeable members here and many Neo owners also. Fully understanding your situation will enable us to help you. Most of the large Mastiffs and Guardians tend to be boisterous puppies unless they are shown the rules early on. Many owners make the mistake of accepting goofy behavior from a puppy and then are surprised a few months later when the no longer cute puppy is a challenging adolescent. Behaviors not corrected early are somewhat more difficult to correct later - difficult but not impossible. If you do intend to keep the pup (and fiancée ) you may follows Frank's suggestion and seek out a trainer who is familiar with the Neo or Mastiff breeds. It is always best to start out with absolute rules of behavior and boundaries in the house and then to relax those as the dog matures and can make better judgment. One absolute I would not put up with is any of my dogs showing aggression towards me or other family members in the house. The correction would be swift, painful and memorable. I also do not allow running, playing or boisterous behavior inside the house. All dogs MUST be calm inside the house. The house is my domain. Dogs stay downstairs, off the furniture, out of formal rooms and basically can be in the living room area only. The rules are set and they know it. Breaking the rules results in punishment and banishment to some other place (outside, kennel, garage). Your dog needs some urgent help because it is at the stage when the temperament is being constructed and firmly implanted. You must be careful not to crush her spirit and make her fearful but must also give her some rules before you have to give her up. I don't think she will outgrow the behavior unless it is corrected in her head first. By posting here and asking - you are on the right track and I hope you are able to get the proper help. Your are to be commended for asking as most Neo owners would not have the nerve to ask for help for fear of the Neo community descending on them. Good luck."[/color] Thanks for the reply! When you say "One absolute I would not put up with is any of my dogs showing aggression towards me or other family members in the house. The correction would be swift, painful and memorable. I also do not allow running, playing or boisterous behavior inside the house. All dogs MUST be calm inside the house. The house is my domain. Dogs stay downstairs, off the furniture, out of formal rooms and basically can be in the living room area only. The rules are set and they know it. Breaking the rules results in punishment and banishment to some other place (outside, kennel, garage). " We have tried everything when she acts like this. Please don't think for one second that we allow this behaviour or do not reprimand her. When she acts like this, we have tried everything from turning our back and ignoring her, shouting commands, squirting her with a water pistol and my fiancee hitting her very hard but she is so game and tenacious that literally nothing will stop her until she has decided it to. We literally have run out of ideas! In the house, if she gets too lively, she is instantly shut in the kitchen and not allowed to return until she has calmed down. We have tried Jan Fennells training idea of ignoring her and only giving her attention on our terms, being in the house isn't really the problem as she has a good grasp of basic obedience. She always stays downstairs and is never allowed up. This she does always adhere to. If we open the patio doors and we want her to stay where she is, she will wait on command and not push past, so she does understand that we are the alpha pair in the home to a certain extent My fiancée, never lets her go through doors first. If she tries to get out the door first on a walk, we stop and the walk is put on hold until she goes back behind us. If she pulls on the lead, we stop her and stand still so she realises the walk will only continue when she walks to heel. But it is like trying to get blood out of a stone, no matter how many times we tell her, it's going in one ear and out the other. I really think that a trainer is the way to go, it's a horrible feeling admitting defeat, but it is definitely what we need by the sounds of things. [color=red]If you are in the UK I suggest you see if you can track down a well known British dog trainer Barry Eaton.[/color] [color=red]He has alot of experience working with dogs exhibiting what appears to be dominant and aggressive behavior. [/color] Many thanks for this recommendation, I have just sent him an email already! We are indeed UK based. [color=red]Challenging dominant behavior is very typical of a mastino. Not so much in females though. We are trying to help, not be harsh- but your situation demands harsh, swift behavior. Find a good trainer. Fast. Any fear that your fiancée displays will only make these situations worse. There are a few things you can work on in the meantime. Not letting her on furniture. At all. You walk first through doors. She doesn't tell you when she feels like being petted- you tell her. YOU are the boss- not her. You give a command, she does it- PERIOD. If not, force her. And only give a command once. Don't allow her off lead. Ever. Avoid walking in the woods until you consult a trainer if this is the only place it happens.[/color] You're totally right, the fact I get fearful does not help at all, she can obviously read these signals and play upon them. However, it's really hard for me to not be frightened as fear is not something that can be easily controlled. I try my best to ignore her, turn my back and even shout at her, but none of this works. Literally nothing. You are totally right, we need a trainer and fast as both myself and my fiancée have run out of ideas on how to combat this and have never come across it before! It's really difficult not to take her for walks in the woods/fields as a walk around our streets will nowhere near tire her out and she will be hyperactive all night, leading to a very stressful atmosphere in the house. In short, after reading all your comments, it is clear we need a trainer and quickly as we have literally run out of ideas on how to train her. We have tried every avenue and nothing seems to be working. We have spoken to other owners of Neo's from the same breeder (different litters) and they have said that the general temperament of their pups is totally different. They are calm, relaxed and not remotely highly strung, and none of this is through training (we have asked), it's just the way they are naturally. We just seem to have a particularly highly strung animal. We will not give up on her as we are determined to combat this and change things for the better, no matter how challenging it becomes. We are very grateful for any tips on training and thank you for all the help we have received so far. It is harsh hearing things sometimes, but indeed harsh is what we need!!

[color=red]Hai, First good luck with your girl. Seems that you are open minded and realy seem to listen that is a huge step on the right track I just have an question.When you are in the woods are you both running when she start that way?Is she coming close and bite you? Both my co pups at that age reacted with growling and nipping my butt or arm when i was running through.Exitment but close to start agression. I mean close to agression like when you are wrestling with your puppie and he start suddenly with a diffrent attitude showing dominance agression.[/color] Hi, thanks for the kind words. This is never from the result of running. When she was very young on one of her first walks, I ran alongside her to encourage play and she ran and jumped up and got a bit over excited, so we have NEVER done this since and there was a big gap between this and when the craziness first happened. We would literally just be walking along normally and then it is almost as if a switch flicks in her head and she goes crazy- she looks like a different dog as well, she has a crazy look in her eye!! We never wrestle with her or encourage this kind of rough housing as she does this very well all by herself :wink:

[blockquote]I really think that a trainer is the way to go, it's a horrible feeling admitting defeat, but it is definitely what we need by the sounds of things. [/blockquote] I agree. Reading your posts it seems like you have one of the surviving Mohicans. What were the breeder’s dogs like? Were they trained and obedient? Good luck.

[blockquote]I agree. Reading your posts it seems like you have one of the surviving Mohicans. What were the breeder’s dogs like? Were they trained and obedient? Good luck.[/blockquote] His dogs were mostly all trained in personal protection and were obedient, although he seemed to encourage rough housing more than we do. As my better half says, the dog is like a Jekyll and Hyde character, very affectionate and needy almost, in the home but you never know how she is going to be in the woods. Sometimes she is fine but this last weekend she was aggressive both days. [blockquote]I mean close to agression like when you are wrestling with your puppie and he start suddenly with a diffrent attitude showing dominance agression.[/blockquote] There is definitely something similar with our dog that Desiree mentions with her own here. Its not full on biting by any means but its like she gets over excited and wants to play aggressively. Always starts the same way, she is well behaved and then breaks into a sprint and circles and then thats when the trouble starts. She literally doesn't stop until she gets it out of her system. I have been physical with the dog to prevent this and it doesn't help - I am a 6' 207lbs former boxer so I'm not easily intimidated but this is pretty unpleasant and I hate seeing my fiancee upset by it. We love the dog very much and will do whatever it takes to remedy this because for the most part she is a very loving pet, we just need to eradicate this craziness. We wanted a family protector at the moment she seems more of a threat to us than outsiders!! :oops: Appreciate all the feedback though, any other ideas in the interim? As my other half mentioned, a walk around the streets doesn't cut it much with this dog, she needs a decent run and some hard walking over terrain to tire her.

I’m starting to think your dog doesn’t have such a problem after all, you say she’s friendly, so she just seems to have a bad case of excitement overload. The particular Neo’s I was familiar with hated everyone and everything, including each other and meant business even as pups. I’m no authority (just self taught and self opiniated) but I’m inclined to agree, take a towel, play tug or kick a ball when she starts. I’d still recommend a trainer though, she’s getting on now and ignoring your commands, she’ll be challenging you soon. All the best, Denno.

Hi everyone, once again, thanks for all the helpful suggestions. Sorry for not introducing ourselves properly. My name is Sarah and my fiancee is James. So we took her for a walk last night, kept her on the lead this time around the field and all was going so well until right at the end of the walk, she just turned again- so she was frogmarched back into the car with a pair of very cheesed off owners!! [color=red]besides whats been mentioned and necessary regarding a trainer experienced in molosser breeds... other recommendation is redirect that monkey business...which i think would be a good choice to attempt...that is get a toy/toys your dog likes, a soccer ball, tennis ball, frisbee or whatever...something you can kick or throw...and just before you let your dog off lead...chuck the toy, kick the ball & let the dog get focused in on it initially, before the bratty crap even starts...then let it loose off of the lead...have a couple of toys & keep dogs interest/prey drive in those...ignore the bad behavior and redirect with toys & praise the positive...cuz it can backfire sometimes when you acknowledge the bad behavior in any form if your training knowledge is possibly questionable in this circumstance...its still attention the dog has figured out it can get and feed off of that…[/color] Thanks Sodapop, the toy thing certainly does work to a certain extent. Sometimes she will have a tennis ball that she will carry around the whole walk with her but generally when she loses interest in this, this is when the trouble starts. We always throw big sticks for her and she loves to retrieve them. She does display a little of this behaviour when my fiancee is holding the stick, about to throw it. She just gets so excited about the prospect of the stick that she just can't contain herself. We have taken to ordering her to sit (eventually) before we throw the stick so she understands that there is no fun until she has obeyed us. This will work after a few commands but then the next time round, it as if she has instantly forgotten (or chooses to ignore) the rules. We will definitely try and take a toy out with us tonight. She does have plenty of them at home to choose from!! [color=red]the use of 2 toys if you have a ball hog...when the dog is hogging the first one...then you present the other & get the dogs attention...then when the dog goes after the other...you go & pick up the one dropped...and continue...easy redirection is a valid method to use...don't say you doubt it...cuz you don't know how to do it... desiree Quote: but with a co you can get your toy yourself even with what you said above...the dogs occupied and his focus is redirected on the toy…[/color] This too sounds like an excellent idea, I like the idea of once she has tired of one toy/or won't let go of it, to distract her attention with a different one. This I know works in the house, as when she has a Kong in her mouth and she is presented with a tennis ball for example, you can she on her face that she doesn't know which one to play with and her tail wags as she has the prospect of 2 toys to play with! Your right, the only way she would put down one toy, is to be presented with another, this always happens at home! [color=red]Soda pop - Has a good [point about redirecting the focus. As the Owners are posting more I think we can make some suggestions. Although an 8 mo. old Neo's bie needs to be respected and this is NOT the breed to learn "faith healing" with You don't get to make a correction?time mistake with thios breed. Reading that the Owner(post your names my friends) is an ex-athelete is encoraging. Because of what's been written, I rathger see a larger object be used as a distraction toy. I'm thinking a Jute "Sausage"...one about 2" long to allow plenty of room for inexperience hands to stay out of the way. Likle Sopa Pop posted two items ar better than one. Maybe the bite roll and a tennis ball on a rope. Or just a heavy 1" diameter rope 2" long with knots on both ends, find a cotton rope, nylon can cut the mouth while pulling. 8 mos. is NOT too young to start with a weight collar but, you won't have enough weight to wear her out. You don't want to go topo heavy because she's still growing. Weight collars. pulling or back packs should ONLY BE USED to stimulate the muscles at this age...NOT to be used as a serious work out. Save that for mature adult dogs.[/color] Haha, I definitely don't think she would respond well to "faith healing"…… She loves tennis balls on ropes, big knotted ropes, frisbees etc, but as I'm sure you are all well aware, not a lot lasts in her mouth. Tennis balls soon become little biys of grey rubber scattered about the house :lol: The knotted rope however, does seem to last! And then obviously a Kong (for large breeds) is about the only thing she can't destroy- not for want of trying :wink: [color=red]My Mastiff loves to rough house and will oft times completely ignore my wifes commands and bark at her as if he is telling her "Please?! I got some gonads you dig? I'm male Mastiff, back off!" He gets really rambunctious but stops short of actually challenging me, as we have had at least one "biblical" confrontation. What I try and do to alleviate this is take the dog on runs and play tug. A tired dog is a good dog. Yes they will get more fit and you will have to get more creative or work the dog harder. However, don't forget it is a Mastiff and not a pitbull you are dealing with here. Mastiff's will only run so much They are inherently lazy creatures. So it's not impossible to tire them out. If you are a former boxer you may probably still do some street work, maker her jog with you at a leisurely pace for a good 3 to 5K. I normally drag weight my dogs for fitness, but unfortunately this is the biggest dog I have owned and he is too big for my harness. So I have to order a new one when he stops growing in order to use this method. Don't listen to Platz, I once paid him to come and give me some dog training and he beat me in front of my dog instead of correcting the dog. Platz is a mean old violent drunken Rottweiler breeder, you have been warned![/color] A tired dog is indeed a good dog. Despite last nights little hiccup, she was as good as gold when we returned from the walk. She does indeed tire quicker than a lot of breeds. You can really see the difference in her enthusiam when the stick/ball is first thrown and by the 4th/5th time. By the time we are home, she is happy just to lay on her cushion in the front room and snooze until we go to sleep. Lucky James is a boxer, these dogs are certainly not for the faint hearted :D I myself am not a boxer :wink: but do love big dogs, just well behaved big dogs! We did think about getting a muzzle to stop the nipping when we were out for a walk, what does everyone think about that? Good idea? The jumping up doesn't scare me, although we DO definitely want to stop it, but at least whilst this is still going on, the muzzle will stop the nipping? Tonight we will deffinitely take a couple of toys out with us and see how she gets on.

[blockquote]I’m starting to think your dog doesn’t have such a problem after all, you say she’s friendly, so she just seems to have a bad case of excitement overload. The particular Neo’s I was familiar with hated everyone and everything, including each other and meant business even as pups. I’m no authority (just self taught and self opiniated) but I’m inclined to agree, take a towel, play tug or kick a ball when she starts. I’d still recommend a trainer though, she’s getting on now and ignoring your commands, she’ll be challenging you soon. All the best, Denno.[/blockquote] Hi Denno, This is EXACTLY what we have been thinking all along, it's like sensory overload when she is out in the woods/fields, this is why we think she doesn't act like this ANY other time. She is indeed a very friendly dog, very loving and soppy in the home, always craving affection and following us from room to room. She loves playing with other dogs and is never aggressive, although her "play" can be hilarious when we are talking about the type of dog it is. She was playing with a miniature dachshund not that long ago, and boy this dachshund was game, but she was knocking it about all over the place. We just have to be careful what sort of owners the other dogs have. Some dog owners don't care at all and encourage the dogs to play but others can be quite funny as she is such a large dog. Hence why we always keep her on a lead at the moment as any sign of another dog and she will be over like a shot. We are definitely going to look into getting a trainer, so watch this space!

I have two females (5 months old each other), one is a romanian sheperd (carpatin), and the other is a mixture of great dane and labrador, they had today a fight, extremely serious, and I want to know what should I do. Please answerme quikly.

I think they are gelause, and they started the fight because they wanted some bread, I puted bread for each other. How can I stop those fights without puting them separatly?

I feed them separtely. After some time they start to change the food place, but today I don't know why the sheper became agressive over the other and attecked her, and they started a fight very serious. I beat both of them in order to finish the fight because they started to bite to the blood. After I ended the fight they were very tired. That is the first serious fight, but I'm affraid of others when I'm not there.

Perhaps is better to separate them all the time.This hapens with my 8 years german shepard and my 7 months bandog.

Hi guys, Just wanted to say a big thank you on behalf of Sarah and myself. The redirection idea with tennis balls worked a treat. Our Neo pup is always made to sit before we throw them for her and this gives her a nice workout without the over exuberance issues we were experiencing previously. She is by nature very highly strung and tenacious in her ways but this is being harnessed in a much more positive manner. Again, thanks for all your help. James and Sarah

funny you should say that about the prong collar. Someone we know owns a very boisterous Boerbel and he has been using those electric shock collars on him. Works a treat apparently What is your opinion on these?