Cross Breeds

In a breeding program of two mixed breeds, which combination gets you larger puppies?

For example if i were to breed a Neapolitan mastiff with a pit bull, should the mother be the pit bull or the neo for the larger pups? We already know that a pit bull will never out weigh a neapolitan mastiff but does the size of that mix matter between dam or sire? I see there are mixed reviews about this question. The mix between Neapolitan mastiff and Pit bull has been done since the 1840's and the breed is call the Bandogge Mastiff. It was a breed that was excellent for keeping the grounds secure at night. I really wanted a reply from experienced doggers but its always great to read comments from the ignorant. I own and train the breed as well as the Presa Canario. I have been doing this for the past 15 years so there's no backyard breeding done here. thanks for your thoughts though.

Public Comments

1. This isn't a breeding program, it's a crap shoot. There is NO way of predicting what this mix will give you or whether the pups will be healthy. Likely, most if not all will wind up in shelters or being euthanized. My best advice is to get your animals neutered or spayed. If you're looking to add a dog to your pack, rescue one from a shelter instead of adding to the problem. Edited to add: Experienced doggers understand that sire of breed A plus dam of breed B do produce mixed breed dogs, not some new breed with a funny name. I don't care if we're talking Puggles, Golden Doodles or Bandogge Mastiffs -- it's the work of backyard breeding at best. And in the case of a dog designed to be this big and mean, it appears to be a death sentence for just about any puppy you produce.
2. The mother should be a spayed Neapolitan mastiff, and the father should be a neutered APBT. Or, the mother should be an APBT, and the father should be an APBT, both with conformation CHs from the UKC. Or.... But I'm sure you get my point.
3. Breeding mixed breed dogs is NOT what I would call a breeding program, it's called stupidity! Also, the number of pups depends on how many eggs are shed and fertilized, not the breed of the dog.
4. I would have the sire being the pit and the dame being the Neo. Why? less likely to have to do surgery if the female if bigger. and the larger female can carry more puppies. but that really don't have anything to do with how may puppies she will have. I have had a Great Dane that had 2 puppies and her next litter same sire they had 15 puppies all healthy .
5. why the hell would you want to purposely breed mutts?! just have your dogs neutered. you have no clue what you are doing.
6. Size only matters in regard to delivery. A pit bull may have difficulty delivering large puppies. This breeding is a very bad idea. Mastifs by themselves are wonderful guard dogs, but adding a dog that has been bred to fight is not a good mix. I think you need to ask yourself what you are afraid of that requires you to need such a monster to protect you. I do not mean to offend, just to get you to look deeper at your reasoning
7. sounds to me like you are trying to create a larger pitbull. Alot of backyard breeders try to make there pitbulls more bully like and breed them to similar looking breeds. What you are doing is dispicable and is the reason so many pitbulls are being euthanized and put in shelters. you have no business breeding any breed of dog. Please dont do this.
8. YIKES - you can't ask questions like this on here. People on here are on missions to stop Back Yard Breeders (BYB) and to stop purposely mix breeding dogs. You are in violation of both missions. You won't get pretty answers. Just a heads up... ADD: I agree... if you've been doing this for 15 years I'm surprised your asking to begin with. Kind of sounds like Back Yard Breeding to me.
9. I believe that it shouldn't matter. In the end the only difference is which is which. You could purchase neos and pits that fall into the largest quartile of their breed to get the biggest results. i recommend that the mother be the neo because a pit might have a hard time giving birth to pups if the daddy was the neo.
10. Yes it matters, if the mother is considerably smaller than the father she will have problems, if she has large puppies. The mating could also be difficult. She will not be able to produce naturally and if she is on her own she will die in the attempt. Then if you get tp the vets in time the bills will be horrendous. The Mastiff will be more capable of giving birth.
11. Doglover!!!! You have got to be kidding - no doglover would even think of trying to create monster mutts the way you are. Forget it, you will likely end up with a dead mother and a dead litter to boot. Sick! Add: 15 years of bad back yard breeding of very dangerously powerful dogs in the wrong hands (and are you ever the wrong hands) doesn't make you an expert on anything - just makes you a bad, ignorant, back yard breeder with lots of bad experience. If you had any idea what you were doing, you wouldn't need to ask questions about mis-breeding on here. Wolf Femme - thanks for the additional info - not much doubt that the guy asking this question is a real loser trying to make bigger, meaner dogs to sell to other guys with little thingees who need a big dog to compensate for their feelings of inadequacy. Unfortunate part is that the poor dogs they misuse end up euthanized all too often. What a mess!
12. Since the Neapolitan Mastiff did not become an actual Breed (in Italy) until the 1940s (although the "type" had been in existance for much longer) And the first ones didn't arrive in the US until the 1970s. And since the pit bulls are an american breed. Although their "type" was also in existance in other countries. I really doubt that they have been mixing these two specific "Breeds" since 1840's. Also, The Bandogge Mastiff is not a breed, it is a mix (or designer fakename) and there is a debate as to which breeds to mix. Some say American Bulldog & English Mastiff. Some say Pit Bull & Neapolitan. ect. Also, If you have been breeding this particular mutt cross for 15 years, you should know the answer.
13. you've been doing this for 15 years and you didn't know the answer to this already? wow. you are, in fact, a back yard breeder. no education on your part. after researching for *5 minutes*, i found;: "American Bandogges are not purebred dogs, in the way we know the word "purebred". Their ancestry is of American Pit Bull Terrier and Neapolitan Mastiff. There are some kennels who do produce Bandogs successfully in many generations, without adding blood from other breeds, and have gained a homogeneous type. In the late 1960's a veterinarian by the name of Swinford began a breeding program which was ultimately to produce the greatest of all protection dogs. Though breeders of Bandogges today disagree on just what breeds went into Swinford's original breeding scheme, the general compromise is that it was 50 % American Pit Bull Terrier and 50 % very large molosser. " "The American Canine Hybrid Club recognizes the American Bulldog crossed with a Mastiff as an American Bandogge. The Designer Dogs Kennel Club recognizes the American Bulldog crossed with the Mastiff as the American Masti-Bull. " hm. they don't seem to even have one name. how odd. -_-
14. What you say doesn't make any sense to me. If you have been crossing these breeds for the past 15 years then why is it you don't know the answer already. The answer lies in BASIC (edit) genetics - I'm sure that with your immense experience that my answer will assist you in coming to the correct conclusion. Edit: Isn't the Bandog the cross breed created by drug dealers to prevent the authorities from having access to their properties?
15. OK- I am against breeding mixes, but obviously you want the larger to be the female, otherwise the pups will be too big to whelp. If you've been doing it for 15 years, you ought to know that.