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Frequently Asked Questions Please contact us with any questions you don't see listed here. We don't expect this to replace one on one conversation and developing a relationship with a new family (something we truly enjoy!). Call (775-217-0432) or email us anytime with any questions, suggestions, or comments. 1. How does your waiting list work? 3. Why do you require that we spay or neuter our puppy? 4. Why do you require that the puppy/dog come back to you if it doesn’t work out? 5. Do you ship the puppy to the nearest airport? 6. How do you raise your puppies? 7. Waiting list – How does it work? 8. Health Issues; what can I expect? 9. Do you ever have a rescue situation? 11. Why do you require that the dog live inside like another member of the family? 12. Behavior issues I should be aware of? 13. What should I expect when I get my puppy home? 15. What is the American Mastiff breed made up of? 16. Does the American Mastiff like water? 17. Are your American Mastiffs the same as the Panja American Mastiff?
We ask that everyone who is interested in our puppies read and understand our contract. We don’t ask for a deposit or that the contract be sent it at that time; just that you understand the main points such as the spay/neuter agreement, the puppy/dog comes back to us for any reason, lives inside the house like another member of the family, we don’t ship the puppy, etc. To see a copy of our current contract click here. If you can agree to the terms of the contract and want to pursue our waiting list we ask that you send an email stating “I/we agree to the terms of your contract” and tell us all about yourself and your family. We are most interested in your schedule to raise such a dog, your training philosophy, other pets in the house, children, etc. If you think we might want to know it we do. We do our very best to match the family with the dog as best we can. When we have a puppy available to you and you verbally accept the puppy we ask that the signed contract and ½ deposit is in our hands within 4 business days of that conversation. The deposit and most importantly, the signed contract, is what holds your puppy for you. We try to move very rapidly through the waiting list as folks have to make travel arrangements on short notice to come to pick up their puppy and we do our best to give them as much time as possible to do so. Back to the top We know what has worked for us and feel that we are knowledgeable enough to give you some pointers as to what works best for your new puppy in his new home. Crate training, positive reinforcement and dominance training are all part of what we feel makes a safe, comfortable, balanced and happy dog. This training is extremely important with children in the home. Starting them off with the knowledge that the child is above them in the pack (your family) makes everything else that follows easier. We like to start with the largest crate used for shipping adult dogs via the airlines. We feel that the “den” like feel this crate provides is very good. The windows on the top give the dog plenty of space to see should he want but also block a lot of the noise, activity going on in the house. Puppies sleep almost 18 hours per day and this sleep is EXTREMELY important to their development. We truly feel that raising a puppy, of any breed, is just like raising an infant: What you put in is what you get out. If you are focused on their development the first few months you will get a happy, balanced puppy that can adapt to any new situation because he/she trusts you will provide a safe environment. This starts with Crate Training. You are providing that wonderful, safe environment that they can call their own. This environment should not be in a busy place such as the kitchen, it should be in your bedroom where you can use the crate to help you potty train and house train (two different things: potty training is teaching the puppy where you want him to potty and house training is building his confidence in you that you can leave him home alone, out of the crate, to his own devices and he WON’T rip the couch to pieces.) Nipping – probably the worst problem that any puppy comes to his new home with and likely one of the reasons many puppies wind up in shelters. Nipping is a natural behavior. If you observe a puppy with his littermates, they are constantly nipping one another trying to convey messages. Each touch by a littermate is a challenge. We do our best to get the puppy over that stage by an intense amount of handling, cooing, stroking, etc., so they don’t think that the touch of a human is a challenge that deserves a nip as a response. You MUST continue this practice when you bring your puppy home. Nipping is completely UNACCEPTABLE behavior and you must treat it as such. Back to the top At this time, we are only selling pet quality puppies. It is widely accepting that spaying/neutering your pet has both health and temperament benefits. Back to the top We feel very responsible for bringing your puppy into the world and feel that responsibility is ours no matter what. If the puppy is not working out for you and your family we want him/her to come back to us. We will assess the dog or puppy’s issues then decide whether he can be re-homed. Back to the top We don’t ship these puppies. They must be escorted to their new home via an escort either by driving or flying. If you must fly, we will gladly meet you at the airport where you can escort your puppy home in a soft-sided carrier in the cabin of a plane. We feel that the stress of being taken from their litter and the uncertainties in air travel that an 8 week old puppy is not equipped to survive. He/she is neither vaccinated enough for such a stressful ordeal and his health could be compromised. They can be subject to extreme heat/cold even when the airlines deem it okay to transport pets in the cargo section. A puppy is simply not cut out for it. But we strongly encourage you to come to our home to pick up your puppy. This way you can meet the parents and spend some time with us so we can show you what we have done to that point in raising your puppy. Everyone that comes truly enjoys the visit and generally, they make a trip out of it. Back to the top We practice what we call “family raising” our puppies. The puppies are born in our home in our study, then raised in the same study until they come home to you. We do our best to cuddle, nuzzle and get them used to human handling. We clip their nails, bathe them, teach them that the human touch is not a challenge but a good thing that results in returned affection from the puppy. Back to the top After you get on our waiting list as described above we contact the list in the order that they got on the waiting list. Should we have the puppy i.e. gender/color you want but you pass on the puppy for reasons unforeseen such as moving, timing, etc. we move you to the bottom of the list and you will be subject to any price increases we may have. If we come to you on the waiting list but don’t have what you want i.e. color/gender, we keep you on the list where you stand and keep the price you were originally quoted for a puppy. Of course, you can choose from what is available at the time. We truly encourage folks to only get on the list when they are ready to accept a puppy within 6 months to a year. Our wait can be as long as two years or as short as a few months. The waiting list is very dynamic and depends on what the folks want who are higher than you on the list, who drops off for whatever reason and to what “comes out”. Back to the top You will note in our contract that we guarantee general health for 24 months, hips for 12 months and temperament for life. We have not seen any recurring health issues in any of our dogs. We have had one of our males get an allergy to the alfalfa that grows in the field that surrounds our home. Each year as it blooms, he is less and less susceptible to the allergy and has less symptoms. Two of our males have had small fat pockets which is common in large breeds. On one of the males, we had our vet remove the pockets when we visited and looked for signs of abnormal tissue, there was none. None of our other adults have expressed the same allergy or the growth of fat pockets. Back to the top Yes, we have had three rescue situations. Without getting into detail here, we found wonderful homes for them. If you would like more information and the stories of these three rescues please email us. Back to the top Well, yes and no. We don’t consider our home a kennel and if you want to visit with our dogs you have to come to our home. Our dogs live in our home with us even when we are raising puppies. We have no dog runs/kennels outside. They are either inside with us, outside with us. We do our best to be the best ambassadors for the breed and invite everyone to our home to meet the Super Six live – Bull, Mattie (Matador), Sarah Lee, Thibodeaux, Camille and Boudreaux (the maskless mastiff). Whether you get a puppy from us or not, we invite you. It is very nice to have visions of wanting a large dog but until you actually visit with them for an afternoon can you really get a sense what living with a giant breed of dog really means. Back to the top This breed of dog is very much in tuned to what you are doing and wants to be by your side. If you are outside they are generally lazing around near you and if you are inside they are under your feet. They aren’t trained to do this, it is their nature. To deny this breed constant family interaction would be a detriment to their development. We don’t simply recommend this because we want our dogs to live the posh life we insist on this because it is required for a happy, healthy, and balanced family member. Of course, they can go outside, they can even stay outside during the day when you aren’t home (as adults) or even be given a doggie door however when you are home you will have a large head peering into your window after they are done doing their business outside wanting to come inside and how to you tell that face no? Back to the top The mastiff is no different than any other dog in as far as the initial puppy issues. Some puppy’s are harder to convince that your way is the best. The main issues to be aware of with any puppy are nipping vs. teething, dominance behavior. From the time the puppies are born, they are fighting for the most food and pack status. What you might call “puppy play” while they are in the litter is their learning how to fight and keep their pack status or challenge a leader. When you observe the puppies in the litter you will notice that every time one puppy touches another it is a very clear signal – challenge time. They bite, wrestle, pin, bite necks, etc. to get the upper hand. The breeder, us, work to alleviate this notion in the puppies mind – that every touch is a challenge – because we know the puppy will be going home to a human pack, not a dog pack, and that human pack with all of its members must be seen by him as leaders – above him in the pack. We start this training by hand feeding the puppies as they start eating puppy food, we clip their nails, bathe them and turn them on their back in a submissive position. While this seems nice to the puppy we have ulterior motives – we are doing this to convince him that the touch of the human hand is not a challenge but one to be respected and understood. The new pack must continue this training to convince the puppy they are his pack leaders when they bring him home. This can be done with exercise, feeding, body language, dominance positioning, etc. Once you establish your pack leadership through several different ways the rest of the training becomes quite natural. The puppy automatically looks to you for guidance. Back to the top He/she will be stressed but hopefully during the ride home or the flight home you had a chance to hold the puppy and bond showing him that you can keep him safe. He will likely “hold it” for the entire ride home and finally go when he does get to your home. He likely will only drink a little water but might not eat the very first day. You want to get him to a vet the very next day you arrive home to get a baseline puppy exam and get your vaccination schedule in order. Within a few days your puppy should be eating a good bit, drinking plenty of water and eliminating regularly. They urinate much more than they defecate. You want to watch the feces to be sure they aren’t too runny or discolored. The feces is a good measure at any age to note illness. Treat the puppy like you would a toddler. In other words, if you cannot have any eye on him he should be in his crate. Puppies NEED about 18 hours of sleep a day and this should be in a crate in a quiet area of the house – best place is your bedroom. This way you can put him there when it is time for nap (you will know, they get cranky like a toddler that is fighting sleep), and put him in there when you need a break from him and you know he will be safe. Each time you hear him stir, immediately take him outside praising him the whole time and really going nuts when he does potty. If he doesn’t potty he goes right back into the kennel otherwise he is training YOU to take him out. This will take a few weeks before he is making it through the entire night without having to go outside. Pick up all food and water at least an hour before going to bed and take him our right before bedtime. Any puppy will whine the first night being away from their family and thrust into the new situation. Back to the top Our dogs range from 100+ pounds to 180+ pounds. We DON'T breed for size. These guys are big enough, even if you get a “small” mastiff. We breed for health and temperament only. Back to the top The American Mastiff, developed by Fredericka Wagner of Flying W Farms, is made up of 1/8 Anatolian Mastiff 7/8 English Mastiff. Back to the top These guys do love water, some more than others. They aren’t the best swimmers. They will generally wade in up to their chest and run/splash around. Most of our dogs love to chase the sprinkler. Back to the top 17. Are your American Mastiffs the same as the Panja American Mastiff? No, our American Mastiffs come directly from the breeding stock of Fredericka Wagner. If you are looking for the Panja American Mastiff, type that in your web browser to find that type of mastiff. Back to the top
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