OK...but why a make a Bullmastiff???

I think I covered this many moons ago...but you're probably aware of the 60% Mastiff, 40% extinct Bulldog makeup of the Bullmastiff. Mastiff for size and strength, Bulldog for courage and tenacity. The big, silent stalker that the Gamekeeper required to protect the Master's game.

But what game? Where? When? What's all that about, anyway?

In a way, that's a funny question. Not so much funny...haha...more ironic in a personal sense.

I'm a Bullmastiff guy. My wife and I are Bullmastiff people.
My brother and sister-in-law are Greyhound folks. He writes about them here:

www.blocksporthounds.com

As it turns out...Bullies exist because of Greyhounds. Not entirely of course, but in large measure because poachers (anyone hunting on Noble land was considered a poacher) used Greyhounds to course game. Bullmastiffs were breed to course poachers! So in a very real way, Greyhounds begot Bullmastiffs. My brother's dogs gave us ours. Thanks, Bro.

Basically it worked like this: In Medieval times there existed in England a set laws known as the Forest Laws. Basically, it stated that the Land Owner (always a nobleman, peasants owned nothing but the most basic possessions) owned not only the land, but everything on it. Every tree, every rock and all of the animals living on the land. That meant the hungry peasant couldn't shoot, trap or hunt in any way small game to feed his family without the landowners consent.

Enter the Greyhound. Fast, tenacious hunters. Great at coursing and catching small game. There is a reason Racing Greyhounds chase a "rabbit" at the track. It's what they did, and still do. The Nobles tried to enforce the Forest Laws, the poachers tried to evade them. This literally went on for hundreds of years. It wasn't until the middle 1800's that the Laws in England finally caught up to the massive changes in British culture. It was at this time that the Forest Laws were finally replaced with a set of laws known as The Game Act. The Game Act basically stated that anyone caught hunting on protected land was merely trespassing, as opposed to stealing property. The Game Act also established hunting seasons, licensing and enforcement of hunting laws. THAT is where Greyhounds beget Bullmastiffs. The enforcers of the new laws under the game act, the Gamekeeper found that poachers (anyone hunting out of season or without a licence) tended to hunt at night or in the late evenings and early mornings. He needed help to find, and catch poachers in these low visibility conditions. He needed a dog that could stalk and CAPTURE poachers. Unfortunately, there was no suitable dog. The Gamekeepers decided to build one. A dog large enough to subdue an armed poacher. Tenacious enough to want to. Fast enough in short bursts to catch someone running for their life. The Gamekeepers developed such a dog...the Bullmastiff.

So my brother's dog, the greyhound, used by peasants and poachers to illegally catch game necessitated the advent of a new dog to protect the game from unlawful hunting. Neat, huh? Well it is if you like Bullys and Sight Hounds.

Well, that's my story...and I'm sticking to it...

Thanks again for reading...