The Bullmastiff

Origins
The Bullmastiff has its origins in the regions of Great Britain, being considered a bulldog and mastiff crossed breed. These dogs were mainly used to seek out and scare off poachers. They were also bred by the 1800s English gamekeepers to guard their proprieties and possessions. Nowadays, the Bullmastiff is a great family dog.

Appearance
The Bullmastiff belongs to the giant/big dog breed category, weighting about 52-59 kg and with a height of 55-62 cm at the withers. These measurements differ for females, and because of bad breeding, even the size might be smaller than before. The head is sustained by a strong neck and the body structure is compact and sturdy; the feet are powerful. The body coat is colored mostly in fawn, brindle, even a dark rich red; there are also some white markings on the body, but this should be in a small amount.

Grooming
The Bullmastiff is a medium to low shedder. Grooming requires once a week brushing and cleaning of the coat, to keep it in the best condition possible. In the shedding season, a twice or three times a week brushing and coat caring is required.

Health Facts
This breed has a lifespan of 7-10 years. Several health issues are associated to this breed, ranging from elbow dysplasia, entropion, bloat, ectropion, respiratory issues. They are prone to sunburns and heatstrokes, and arthritis to the joints. They can suffer from eye problems, many times the common progressive retinal atrophy.

Temperament and Lifestyle
The Bullmastiff is a docile and curageous dog, fearless, loving, calm in nature. This breed displays great loyality to the owners, being protective and defensive when dealing with various threats, even to guarding the territory. A proper dog obedience training is required for the Bullmastiff to behave well around other pets and older children. Even so, the constant contact with the family and additional parental supervision is a must (especially since the dog might knock down the small children by accident).

The Borzoi

Origins
The Borzoi (also called Psovoi, Russian Wolfhound, Barzoï, Russkaya Psovaya Borzaya) is known to be the successor of the domestic dogs. The Russian word Borzaya depicts the fast dog reactions, meaning “quick dog”. This breed was popular in the early 1910-1920 and was mainly used for hunting wolves, with great results, due to sprinting and powerful body abilities.

Appearance
The Borzois belong to the giant dog breeds category. Also known as Russian sighthounds, this breed has a height of 65-70 cm and a weight of about 41-45 kg. The body is very gracious and streamlined; the fur is vavy and curly, silky and flat textured. The coat color is generally grey, with regions of white and dark brown, even black. The face mask can have a black and grey coloration, and sometimes all white or white with tan (especially for females). The body structure is powerful and agile, displaying long legs (covered also with wavy hair) and small paws. The long shaped head shows black or dark-brown eyes, a sharp muzzle, and the ears are in the back of the head. The body ends in a furry or slim tail, but this depends on the grooming process.

Grooming
The Borzoi breed requires extra attention regarding the grooming. Brushing is required twice a week in order to remove the dead hair and to keep the fur silky and wavy. In the shedding period, they should be brushed once a day. While grooming, trim the toes hair and clip the nails if needed.

Health Facts
The Borzoi dogs have a lifespan of about 6-10 years. They can suffer from various health issues, including musculoskeletal problems (hip dysplasia, elbow problems, OCD), gastric torsion (bloating – the stomach becomes overstretched by excessive gas content), heart diseases (cardiac arhythmia – the heart beat may be too fast or too slow; cardiomyopathy – malfunction of the heart muscle), eye problems (progressive retinal atrophy). Regarding the feeding, there’s a controversy whether to feed the puppies in excess to force the growing or to use highly concentrated diets to make them grow unnaturally.

Temperament and Lifestyle
The Borzois are agile and athletic dogs, silent and independent. They are sensitive to human contact and gentled house pets. They behave well around elder children and they can adapt to any living environment quite easily and fast. They are built for speed and endurance, thus loving to take long runs and plenty of exercising. If kept in the backyard, you should place a high fence in the dog area. They have hunting behaviours (easily removed with a proper dog training) sometimes chasing other dogs and small pets around, trying to subdue and immobilize the “prey”. They can live with cats and other small pets if early introduced. With the right kind of training (either dog obedience training or dog agility training), done in the right period of life, you can observe the great intelligence and learning capability of this breed.

The Berner

Origins
The Bernese Mountain Dog (also named Bouvier Bernois, Dürrbächler, Bovaro Bernese, Berner Sennenhund), is a dog breed that originates in the regions of Switzerland, more precise, the Berne canton. They were used as farm dogs, cattle herders. They are used also to pull small wagons and carts.

Appearance
The Berner belongs to the big/giant dog breeds, weighting 38-52 kg (males) and 33-42 kg (females), with a height of 62-71 cm. They display a solid and well built body, with moderately thick (long or straight) coat. The coat color ranges from jet black to black with markings in the face, feet, face, eye areas. The coat will mostly be tricolored: the legs, body and neck can be black in color; the thumbprints, the cheeks and the stockings would be brown; the tail tip, the muzzle, the toes, the chest, the blaze between the eyes would be white. The eyes are almond shaped and dark brown in color.

Grooming
The rough outlined Berner coat isn’t harsh at all. The Berner isn’t a heavy shedder. But during the shedding seasons, the coat requires twice a week maintainance: combing and brushing away the dead hair. The rest of the time, regular brushing once a week and clipping away the pads air.

Health Facts
The Berner has a lifespan of about 8-12 years. They are more susceptible to cancer than other dog breeds, ranging from mast cell tumor, lymphosarcoma, fibrosarcoma, malignant histiocystosis. They also can suffer from various musculoskeletal diseases like hip dysplasia, arthritis, cruciate ligament ruptures, osteochondritis.

Temperament and Lifestyle
The Bouvier Bernois loves the outdoor environment, needing exercise and plenty of activity. They can be trained very well, but this dog training process needs alot of consistence and patience. They respond well to treats and praising. The behave really well amongst other pets and children. They are calm in attitude and need love and affection.