English Mastiff Training Tips & Socialisation Advice

Are you looking to welcome a Mastiff puppy into the home but are now left wondering how you’re going to train them? Now you’re searching the internet high and low for Mastiff training tips, don’t worry because we’ve got you covered. 

Your giant in waiting might be a cute, clumsy lump at the moment but how long will that last until you’re left wrestling with it as it takes you for a walk or jumps up at friends and neighbours. 

Yes, the Mastiff has a wonderful temperament as it matures but let’s not forget that the English Mastiff is essentially a big baby for the first few years of its life. Sorry, correction. A big 200lb baby… 

This means that training and socialisation are 100%, absolutely critical for this breed. We want a good nature, well behaved pooch so that we can enjoy each other’s company. This means no biting, jumping, lunging, chewing, excessive barking, and of course no toileting inside the house. 

Our Mastiff training tips focus on all the above areas whilst also giving advice on the “how-to”.  

It’s no secret that training an English Mastiff can be tricky, as with many Mastiff breeds they can be stubborn. It requires a bit of patience, consistency and an understanding of how to effectively engage in positive reinforcement. 

Owners should also see training and socialisation costs as an investment in the wellbeing of the animals future. It’s an unpleasant truth, but a dog that constantly misbehaves and cannot be controlled can unfortunately lead to resentment and rehoming. We want to equip future owners with the right information so that they can make informed decisions when it comes to dog ownership. 

That said, once trained and socialised, the English Mastiff is a bundle of joy to be around. They become calm, stoic and watchful. Partial to a cuddle and a stroke, they can make a wonderful family dog, especially known for their patience around children. 

Why is Training a Mastiff so Important?

It is important to train a Mastiff because of their natural instincts to protect alongside their large size and strength. If a Mastiff is not trained or socialised from early on, it has the ability to grow into an adolescent or adult that cannot be easily controlled, making them potentially dangerous. 

Thankfully, the English Mastiff can be trained and typically grows up to be fairly docile. They eventually create very strong bonds with family, however they will never lose their instinct to protect. When training this Mastiff, it’s important to focus on behavioural based training, rather than guardian.

Are Mastiffs Hard Or Easy To Train?

Although the English Mastiff’s size may intimidate some, it’s exceptionally loyal personality makes it more easy to train than some might expect. 

Mastiffs have been a trusted human companion for many hundreds of years now. The bond between human and animal has become very strong, and as a breed we have come to respect their inclination to protect and guard. 

With that said, there are some temperament and personality traits that we should of course be aware of when it comes to training our drooly and slobbery friend.

There are:

• The Mastiff is sensitive – This means that negative reinforcement does not work well with this breed and may induce anxiety and resentment. Both these factors would seriously harm your relationship. 
• Respect is important – Related to the above, Mastiffs that experience aggression may return the favour as they mature. This obviously poses a significant risk to family and friends.
• It wants to guard and protect – Though many refer to the English Mastiff as “a watchdog” more so than a guard dog, it still has a natural inclination to protect. Without consistent training and socialisation, this tendency has the potential to get out of hand. Owners should focus more on obedience. 
• The Mastiff is stubborn – Their size and confidence does lead to bouts of stubbornness in puppy-hood and adolescence. Much of this may also be due to laziness, or the sheer effort it takes to shift their large frame. Therefore owners should aim to keep training sessions short (around 15 minutes). The Mastiff is not one to repeat tasks like a sheepdog. 
• The Mastiff has natural leadership tendencies – Due to this, the dog needs to know that you’re in charge so that it can relax. Owners need to have the presence and calmness to effectively lead the pack. If you’re not stepping up, the Mastiff may take that role.

When Should I Start Training My Mastiff?

ew owners should start training their Mastiffs from a very early age, basically as soon as it’s ready to come home. If you chose to get your Mastiff from a respectable breeder then you may find that some progress has already been made. 

That said, during the first 8-10 weeks, it’s important to let the puppy stay with their mother and siblings. The puppy develops much of its socialisation skills during this time, allowing it to pick up on behavioural norms when interacting with other dogs and humans. 

Most aggression problems such as biting, barking and nervousness can materialise from being removed from its litter and parents too early. This is because it causes a shock that is hard to get over. The early weeks of puppyhood development are the essential foundations for your training and socialisation moving forward. 

Once the 8-10 weeks are up and it’s time to welcome the Mastiff puppy into your home, it’s important to remember that you need to be patient and give your new pooch the time it needs to adapt to the change in environment. This means they need to feel safe, trusted and respected. You may want to let it explore all the rooms of the house, get familiar with its crate and to meet everyone. This can take days. 

Yes, it can be frustrating at first watching your favourite chair leg get chewed on or having to continuously mop up pee, but given time and consistency your Mastiff will start to develop the right manners. 

Once you sense your puppy is in a good place, you should start the basics of house breaking. This means potty training and early obedience training. These basics should start to develop trust. It will soon be time to start taking them out for regular walks. This is critical for learning boundaries and building up good socialisation skills. 

Now it goes without saying that areas such as toilet and obedience training are an early priority. But owners should also focus on getting a handle on other behavioural tendencies too. Although it can be cute at first, mouthing, chewing and jumping can eventually lead to troublesome habits if not kept in check. 

If you got your Mastiff from a rescue centre instead of from a breeder,  you may find that it’s a good idea to get in-depth background checks to ensure it doesn’t have a history of biting or aggression. 

The Key Elements of Training Your Mastiff

The theory about dog training is easy to understand when reading about it. But as soon as you’re confronted with a hefty, slobbering lump … transferring that knowledge to the real world can be a struggle for some.

Basic Obedience Training Commands

By now you’ll be well aware of the Mastiff’s temperament for being a calm, gentle giant. And although they can prove a little stubborn in the early days of training, they typically mature into a loyal, loving and obedient companion. 

Many owners make due with a list of basic obedience training commands, such as: 

• Sit
• Stay
• Come
• Lie Down
• Heel 

Each of which is fairly self explanatory. As your Mastiff learns these commands, you’ll be better able to train them on specific behaviours that you do and don’t want to see. Please remember to be patient and consistent throughout this process and to engage in positive reinforcement to get the desired behaviour such as petting, praise or treats. 

So you now know why training an English Mastiff is so important, but what are the key areas to focus on? 

Toilet Training Your English Mastiff

Potty training is likely the first area of training that you’ll likely focus on once your Mastiff is home. As mentioned, a good breeder may have already made progress in this area and so long as your puppy is relaxed when its environment changes, it may well take to toilet training extremely quickly. 

However if that’s not the case, then where do you start? 

A good tactic is to take your puppy outside every 30 mins to an hour. Wait outside with them for a few minutes and if they use the bathroom then be sure to offer them a reward and to lavish them with praise. Keep repeating this process until your Mastiff starts to alert you that it needs to go outside when it’s toilet time. 

Additionally, owners should create a walking schedule and stick to it as closely as possible. Your Mastiff should start to adapt to this routine by learning the cues associated. As with the tactic above, once your Mastiff starts to pee and poop outside, you should start to reward it with treats alongside praise. 

The Mastiff is smart enough to sense cues such as you tying your laces. It may even develop a keen sense of time (which always impresses me). 

Some owners that aren’t around as much will tend to use puppy pads as a way of training their Mastiff. This works by placing a pad in the same area and encouraging your puppy to use them every time they want to relieve themselves. Eventually the puppy associates the pad with the toilet area. 

Although these are a good stop gap.  However we ideally want to get the puppy outside as quickly as possible. 

Leash Training Your English Mastiff

If you’re reading this guide on English Mastiff training tips, then I’m sure you’ve done your research on how big and heavy the English Mastiff can get? Although Zorba was an exception, it’s worth noting that the average weight of an English Mastiff can hit around the 200 lb mark. 

I likely don’t need to explain to you why leash training a 200 lb English Mastiff is important, but just try to imagine the strength it would take to wrestle back that muscled giant if they decided to start darting around the park. 

For leash training, it’s a good idea to use positive reinforcement by rewarding them with treats and affection when they come to heel. Leash training may also be one of the only occasions where negative reinforcement may work with this breed. Some owners claim success by scolding and withholding affection and attention, each time the Mastiff pulls intensely. 

Finally, it’s crucial to get your Mastiff puppy used to a leash from as early an age as possible.

Training Your English Mastiff Not To Bite

English Mastiff puppies have a tendency to mouth at an early age. When in their litter, they engage in play biting which is a perfectly normal behaviour and shouldn’t be overly discouraged as it’s an important part of their development. The puppies play-bite each other frequently which helps them learn the pain caused by a bite. 

However, once your puppy is in its new home, this biting behaviour is something to be focused on fairly quickly. If owners don’t eliminate this early on then the dog may have an increased tendency to bite as it ages (especially if not well socialised). The English Mastiff bite is up there with the strongest of dog bites, this is something we obviously want to avoid. 

If your puppy is still mouthing and has a moderate tendency to bite then you can take the following steps to try and resolve the issue:

How To Stop Your Mastiff From Chewing

It’s perfectly reasonable to expect chewing around the house as your puppy gets to grips with its new environment. They sometimes do this by way of exploring their surroundings or sometimes out of boredom and a lack of stimulation. 

Some good tips for training your Mastiff puppy not to chew are to: 

How To Stop Your Mastiff From Jumping or Lunging

There’s no doubt about it, a fully grown English Mastiff that is jumping or lunging is a terrifying prospect for anyone. And although the sentiment behind jumping may indeed be friendly, that doesn’t make it any less scary or dangerous, especially where younger children or toddlers are concerned. 

Alongside this, it’s also not a great behaviour for your English Mastiff to adopt due to its tendency for bone and joint issues. Continuous jumping or heavy impact exercise can lead to lumps and bumps for which the Mastiff is very prone to. Therefore, training this out of them is essential. 

First things first, owners need to try to understand why the dog might be jumping in the first place. There are many reasons for this in the canine world. For instance, it may be a playful greeting. It may be a demand for attention or in some more unfortunate circumstances, it may be a show of dominance. Whatever the case may be, it’s important that owners do not reward this behaviour with praise, strokes or treats. 

When it comes to eliminating the jumping behaviour, owners need to make the Mastiff aware that it is not acceptable. Here are some tips to help control this unwanted behaviour:

English Mastiff Socialisation

Socialisation is a critical part of raising any puppy, especially one with guardian qualities such as the English Mastiff. 

There’s no doubt about it, the English Mastiff makes a wonderful family dog if trained and socialised well. However, if socialisation is missing then it may be overly sensitive to outsiders which may lead to unfortunate outcomes. 

New owners should look to introduce other humans and animals to their puppy from a very early age. This helps build healthy foundations whilst setting important boundaries for the dog as it starts to mature. 

For optimal socialisation we encourage owners to engage in a mixture of socialising their Mastiff at home whilst also investing in puppy classes. 

Attempting to socialise your puppy by yourself is great for building a trusting, long-lasting bond between owner and dog. You may choose to introduce a handful of people to your puppy each day alongside any other household animals or friends dogs. Over the space of a month, you may be left very impressed by how your dog’s social skills have developed. 

It’s worth noting that their every day walk is also a great social learning opportunity, although we encourage owners to pay special attention to all interactions as it may be the aggression of another owner’s dog that causes an issue. 

Finally, although they can be expensive in some areas, we highly encourage puppy classes. This gives your baby Mastiff the opportunity to meet and greet many other puppies in a well controlled and experienced environment. 

Typically, puppy classes are hosted by experienced dog handlers who are also able to help lend a hand with basic obedience training and positive reinforcement. They can act as a great resource for nurturing a well mannered dog. An investment that will pay off well into the future.

Extra Mastiff Training Tips

Make Mastiff Training Positive & Fun

Training should be enjoyable in order to motivate your Mastiff. Owners should: 

• Show enthusiasm and charisma when praising their Mastiff. Loving praise such as “good boy, fantastic” goes a long way. Not because your Mastiff speaks the language, but because they can pick up on your tone and vibe. 
• Use their favourite treats … duh.
• Notice the activities that make your dog the happiest and embellish in them.

Give Them Attention

Your Mastiff loves company. Their urge to please means they want to be by your side constantly. Give them the attention they deserve when they’ve been good. It’s good for their soul.

Keep Training Sessions Short

Although they’re a bulky unit, the Mastiff isn’t bred for extensive training sessions. The breed does have a lazy side and won’t love repetitive training commands that exceed more than 15 minutes.

What’s the Right Training Order?

It’s key to show your leadership skills early on. As soon as your puppy is comfortable in its new environment it’s important to show them that you’re in charge. 

Once this has been established, owners should look to start house breaking such as toilet training. From there, we can then move onto general obedience training, leash training and so on. 

Crate Training Your English Mastiff

Most dogs respond very well to crate training, the English Mastiff is no different. A crate can help establish a safe space for your dog to retreat to when it needs some alone time or is feeling anxious. 

Owners should immediately invest in the largest crate size (over 48”). Your Mastiff will use this as a home base. They are also handy to use if timeouts are necessary.

Be Consistent with Training Sessions

You’ll now be aware that the Mastiff is stubborn. It needs continuous and consistent training in order to thrive. Being consistent shows good pack leadership skills which can help your Mastiff feel more relaxed.

House Training a Mastiff

Basic house training areas can include the following: 

• Put them on a feeding schedule 
• Create a consistent schedule for toilet training 
• Create a consistent schedule for walkies 
• Ensure they know not to climb over furniture (although that’s at the owner’s discretion, who doesn’t love a cuddle?)

How Do you Discipline an English Mastiff?

Owners should be very careful when it comes to disciplining an English Mastiff. This is because the breed is very sensitive and does not react well to negative reinforcement. A simple stern word or “the look” should suffice in most cases. 

Although some owners have success with more neutral forms of negative reinforcement such as withholding attention, it’s important to recognise that this can lead to some issues. 

Overly harsh training interactions will lead to anxiety and may increase tension between owner and dog which may in some unfortunate circumstances lead to aggression.

Final Thoughts on English Mastiff Training Tips

The English Mastiff is a gentle and calm breed once fully trained and socialised, making them a great choice for a family dog. However, due to their size and power, a poorly trained Mastiff has the potential to be destructive around the house and in some cases may even become aggressive. 

The breed is relatively easy to train once you have established respect and go around their early stubbornness. Early training should focus on potty training, general obedience and socialisation to help limit biting, mouthing, chewing, jumping and lunging. 

The English Mastiff responds exceptionally well to trust and positive reinforcement as their need to please lends itself well to this. However, this sensitive giant does not respond at all well to harsh negative reinforcement which may lead to a lack of trust, resentment and aggression.