ABOUT US
. . . and our Mastiffs

I thought you might want to know a little about me and my mastiffs.

Well, for as long as I can remember we have always had at least one dog (along with other pets); my mother was really good about us having pets. Anyway, about 15 years ago my sister introduced me to an Old English Mastiff. It was love at first sight!

Of course, I wanted to give my dogs the best start I could to give them an edge over other dogs. I started reading and learning everything I could. I took puppy classes and conformation classes, tested my dog (Zelda) to make sure she was healthy and had no genetic problems.

My goal has always been to better this breed in any way I can; I want to produce dogs sound in temperament and structure, and not only mastiffs, but ALL breeds.

Over the years I've worked very closely with my vet on Breeding and Health Issues. I have found, both through testing and personal experience, that many problems can be prevented or corrected. I was concerned with cow-hockenesses and hip-dysplasia; any dog can get hip-dysplasia - it is heart breaking.

We had a puppy that was hockey about 12 years ago. Our trainer had us put him on a supplement called "Sure Grow 100", and within one week you could see the improvement - it was amazing! The little guy grew up to be about 235 lbs. He got an "excellent" on his hips, and he became an American Champion.

I've used "Sure Grow 100" ever since and out of the 20 dogs I've been involved with that have been raised on Sure Grow, 18 had "excellent" hips and the other two had "good".

As far as Mastiffs go, that's quite a good record. Over the last 15 years or so that I've been doing mastiffs, I have learned a lot, even tube-feeding babies to c-section with the mom, and yet every day it seems like I learn something new.

Most of all, I've learned that the old saying, "A Dog is Man's Best Friend" is true! So I will keep studying and sharing the things I learn and use with other Dog Lovers.

Cynthia Holmes

SweetHolmes Mastiffs