Say Hello to Marrok

Please help us say hello to a new addition to our household. This is Marrok!

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Marrok is a 2 year old male. His mother is a Japanese Mastiff (as known as a Tosa Inu or Tosa here in the States). His father is a Bulldog (a common crossing with Tosa's to produce a dog with less wrinkling and a shorter, broader stature).

We have been talking about purchasing a Mastiff breed, originally we had decided on an English Mastiff pup sometime next year. Recently, however, we had a break-in at our home while we were out for a few hours one evening. Thankfully our dog Bella the Labrador was not hurt during the home invasion or the snakes or our cat, Mya. However, other than the loss of personal property it left the family, me in particular, feeling suddenly unsafe in our new home/neighbourhood. Mike and I started searching immediately for a mature dog of a more protective breed to add to our home.

Fate stepped in I guess because Marrok needed a new home. His family, who had him since he was 4 months old are moving and cannot house him appropriately any longer. They are lovely people and truly sad to give him up but wanted a better situation for him. They were particularily worried about him ending up in a fighting situation as this is sadly far too common in this area.

What a face! Who could make this dog suffer in a fight ring for sick amusement?

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The big tongue drooly tongue. He's trained to not lick at people but if you invite him to give you a kiss by putting your forehead to his - game on! You end up with a dripping wet face wash LOL

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Marrok's been raised around young children and cats but also being a Mastiff provided his previous family with the security of his presence. He has only been here one day but is already showing his ability to alert to movement near our home. He will give two low woofs and then look to us for a reaction. If we give him the command that all is fine in our world he immediately relaxes back having done his job to his satisfaction. :)

He is very female bonded so "escorts" me around the house. Not intrusively but he wants to know where I am at all times and will sit patiently while I complete something in a room then follow me to my next destination. As I type this he is quietly resting at my feet. What a wonderful sense of safety this lovely dog is already giving me and my family.

Home protector or not though he adores the kids and is showing a natural gentleness around them. He is more dignified with Mike, myself and the big kids - but a loving goof with young Michael who is only 8. He's obviously missing his little boy from his other family but is bonding already to young Michael. Marrok will not go on furniture except to cuddle with "his boy".

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Lastly he is wonderful with Bella. She's actually a far more high energy breed than he is and playing out in the yard this morning she brought him to a panting, drooling standstill while she was still full of play. We will have to watch that as Mastiffs tend to overheat easily. He's not of the giant Mastiff type but still you can see he can't keep up with her for the hours she's capable of playing and running hard.

Bella & Marrok playing...

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With Bella's favorite yellow ball....

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Playing hard is thirsty work!

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He's beautiful :)

Bella's like - are you really mine? You get to stay??

He's beautiful Jo!

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Originally Posted by llovelace

He's beautiful :)

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Thanks Lisa!

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Originally Posted by rabernet

Bella's like - are you really mine? You get to stay??

He's beautiful Jo!

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Bella who likes to play really rough for a Labrador is thrilled beyond belief to have a wrestling partner. We are having to seperate them in the house as they are both playing a bit too hard and knocking into everything LOL. Every couple of hours they are heading out to burn off some of that excess energy though. Hopefully after a few days together the newness will wear off a bit but really they are quite young adults, both being just a few months past their 2nd birthdays, so have a lot of play still left in them.

We do love his look. His red coat is lovely and his forehead feels like the softest velvet. :)

Congrats on the new addition, he is an handsome boy and seems to be spoiled already.

He's AWESOME!

What a beautiful boy!

What a handsome boy Jo :)

He seems right at home in those pictures.

What a handsome boy!!

I'll bet both dogs would enjoy one of those $10 plastic swimming pools from WalMart. Perfect way to cool off after some hot summer play! :D

How awesome! He seems to fit right in already. I love happy endings :D

Thanks everyone! Judy, that's an awesome idea and one we'll definitely follow-up on. :)

Marrok just discovered the dogs next door and we just discovered our fence isn't high enough for him (nobody got hurt but wow can that dog jump without even needing a flying start). :O It'll have to be on lead or on cable tie out for now for him.

Also Marrok isn't fixed so I'm waiting for the vet's office to call back to schedule his appointment for ASAP. He's a lovely dog and doesn't need the hormones of an intact male to distract him. I think that's why he just hopped the fence as the pitbull next door is an intact female. Poor Marrok isn't going to know romance in his life but that's best really.

He is quite a handsome boy!
Congrats on the beautiful new addition to the family. His color reminds me of my boy Harry.

Looks like you will all be real happy together,

Thanks so much Raul. I may be calling on you with questions about working with this type of breed as I know you have a lot of experience with these more serious minded dog breeds. I'm so used to big goofy Labradors that Marrok's work first play later attitude is a new one to me. It's lovely though how he can go one moment from staring out the window obviously monitoring things and giving the occasional and deep warning bark to being a total joyful I love you let me wash your face with my huge tongue darling. He calms down so fast though if you tell him enough of that. With Bella I'd be hauling her off me six times and saying NO to get the point across that I don't want to be loved to death. One word to Marrok and he immediately knows we're done with kissy face time and it's back to business.

When Mike got home from work this morning and Marrok heard a car in the driveway he alerted me, went from the window to stand at the door in a watchful sort of position. However, when I went to him, touch his head and told him it was okay it was just Mike he immediately went into his OMG DADDY'S HOME wiggle. Poor dear though has a case of happy tail so I have to clear the entire front door area to avoid him further hurting his tail tip when he's greeting family members. Apparently this tail damage issue is quite common to most Mastiff types.

I HEART Marrok! :D

Congrats on such a wonderful new addition to the home... I had Neos for a great part of my life, and really miss having a monster(s) sitting at my feet... (My Bostons think they are huge, :rolleyes: but it's not quite the same thing... lol!)

I'm very sorry to hear about the break in, I might consider putting a guard dog sign somewhere in view, between that and hearing a beast behind the door... it might help detour another incident?

I really think you'll love a mastiff mind. As you already know, they are very serious about what you need them to do. My dog's whole mind frame was, "What are we doing? Do you need me to take care of that for you?" I will say... one great piece of info that I got, and will never forget from a mastiff breeder I met at one of the shows I used to attend with my male told me to never- NEVER yell or show frustration towards a person or animal in front of the dog... unless you REALLY mean it. Example, if your cat hops on the counter, and you run towards it yelling to scare it off... then there is a good chance that your guardian will take the job of cat removal upon him/her self. Not only that.... but that cat might be forever on the "Mom needs me to take care of you" list.
Of course, that is all pending an individual dog, personality, history, etc.... Just something that I'll retain till I'm not retainable any longer! :rolleye2: Hahaha!!! Again, huge congrats!!!

Oh thanks for the Mastiff advice and the good wishes, Laura.

I've joined a Mastiff forum as well as Mollosser breed forum to learn as much as I can about life with Marrok. So far he's moved seamlessly into our family in a very short time period. He's reserved but given the opportunity to hand out huge wet tongue licks he's very game for it. Unlike Bella the Lab though he waits politely to be asked to give kisses instead of throwing himself at you (Bella is just really, REALLY sure you want her attention at all times LOL :rolleyes:).

It was an awful thing to get broken into and stuff we saved up for stolen like that. With Marrok in the house though I sleep very well at night even if Mike's on nightshift. His presence is enough I think to put anyone off attempting to enter our home with bad intentions in mind. I'm just amazed the Mastiff temperment. As much as I adore and always will adore Labrador Retreivers I must say the Mastiff temperment is a refreshing change.

I did read a lot about watching how rough the family plays with each other around him and even one hilarious account of a parent trying to spank a naughty child and their Mastiff didn't care for that. The dog in that case didn't get pushy or anything, he simply stood calm and resolute between the parent and child with an attitude of "I'll take the spanks for my kid".

So cute Jo! Bring them over so Shea can play with them! :)

He is gorgeous Jo! I love that rust color on him, and mastiffs are one of my favorite breeds. I'm so glad you we're able to get him and that he has meshed so well. Congrats on the new pup!

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Originally Posted by jglass38

So cute Jo! Bring them over so Shea can play with them! :)

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Speaking of Shea have you posted any new pictures of her lately?

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Originally Posted by littleindiangirl

He is gorgeous Jo! I love that rust color on him, and mastiffs are one of my favorite breeds. I'm so glad you we're able to get him and that he has meshed so well. Congrats on the new pup!

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Thanks Connie. My crummy camera isn't great on capturing true colors unfortunately so it doesn't really show his lovely deep red coloration off all that well. He and Bella made quite a pair, if I do say so myself, on our walks today. He's a solid red guy and she's such a light colored yellow Lab that she appears to be almost white. One lady even stopped us to say what lovely dogs they are. Marrok gave her a regal sort of glance, Bella of course wanted to immediately leave with the nice lady and see if the nice lady maybe had treats for her. :rolleyes: Poor Bella, lovely dog but totally clueless really about strangers.

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

Speaking of Shea have you posted any new pictures of her lately?

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Not in a while! I'll have to do that later :)

Oh I'd love to see them Jamie. She was such a cute pup. I bet she's maturing into just a gorgeous dog. :)

How adorable!!! I'm glad you love him! I know what you mean about wanting a dog that can protect you and your family. After having a doberman myself I think we will always have a "bully breed" because I feel so much safer! I can even go for walks at night! Granted I live in a very small safe town, I still feel a lot better having Athena around. I always tell people that someone would have to be crazy to break into our house, she sounds terrifying!

I don't have any doubts that he will change after you neuter him. He's got the instincts! Athena does the exact same thing, follows me to ensure my safety....even in the bathroom, lol. She's only 8 months old, but I have no doubt that she would protect me. In fact she scared me the other day when someone came into our yard to try to sell us a vacuum. It was nice though, I told them my dog was usually friendly, but she didn't like them coming into the yard and they needed to leave because I didn't trust her. They were happy to leave! :rofl: She's just a 47 pound puppy! :D She's never bit anyone, but she's never had a reason to bite anyone. I worry for the sad soul that tries to bother me on a walk or break into the house!

Marrok does the escort to the bathroom routine. It's funny and cute and oddly reassuring. Funny thing, and I don't know if he's able to pick up their scent, but he really sniffed the bathroom a lot when he first got here. Since that bathroom window was the point of entry for the bad guys I don't know if it was just a coincidence or he was picking up smells that don't "fit" with his new human family.

beautiful dog, he looks like a mini Tosa LOL!! It really puts a smile on my face to see an adult bully type breed make it into a loving home, god bless you guys!!!

He's so handsome! It's great to hear that even though he couldn't stay with his other family, he is so quickly becoming one of your family. What a great new addition! ^_^

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Originally Posted by Jamie-n-Heith

beautiful dog, he looks like a mini Tosa LOL!! It really puts a smile on my face to see an adult bully type breed make it into a loving home, god bless you guys!!!

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Funny thing with Tosa's. They range from about 83 lbs up to 200 lbs. Quite the range there. We don't have a weight yet on Marrok but I don't think he's 83 lbs.

It's wonderful having Marrok since I've been terribly nervous since the break-in last week so he's as much a blessing to our peace of mind as we are a blessing to have been available to give him a forever home. :)

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Originally Posted by tweets_4611

He's so handsome! It's great to hear that even though he couldn't stay with his other family, he is so quickly becoming one of your family. What a great new addition! ^_^

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We are intending to stay in close contact with his previous family so they don't have to feel so bad for having to rehome him. He was a very loved dog and it shows in how sweet natured he is with his new humans. I'm actually sending an email off to his previous home this morning with pictures and an update on how he's settling in here. They also have a standing invitation to come visit him anytime though I did ask that they allow him sometime to settle in and bond strongly with us first.

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

We are intending to stay in close contact with his previous family so they don't have to feel so bad for having to rehome him. He was a very loved dog and it shows in how sweet natured he is with his new humans. I'm actually sending an email off to his previous home this morning with pictures and an update on how he's settling in here. They also have a standing invitation to come visit him anytime though I did ask that they allow him sometime to settle in and bond strongly with us first.

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That's so cool! It's great that you guys are keeping his past family connected. He does seem like he was very well taken care of, and I'm sure they appriciate the openness. I'm sure he is loving having Bella to play with ^_^

He seems to be fitting in very well with your family, Jo. It's impressive how they will instinctually do the little things to protect. He's a very handsome boy:)

Thanks Walt. :)

It is pretty amazing learning to live with this particular breed. I've always owned what would be termed "soft" breeds so it's a new and fascinating experience watching this dog's mind/natural instincts at work.

The big "bad" guard dog had young Michael giggling uncontrollably this morning. Mikey was just wearing shorts and no shirt and apparently Marrok felt young Michael was in serious need of a bath. That big drippy tongue had Michael rolling around laughing hysterically while Marrok quite industriously administered the morning wash. Wish I'd thought to grab the camera.

What a good looking guy! I've never heard of that mixture, but its one I would now consider getting!! He's really lucky; It's obvious he's in good hands :D