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My bulldog book sez on tug to not let him win. I can handle that...somewhat.

My kids can't.

We are working very hard to socialize him...he basically lives right with us and goes and does everything we do.

My last dog was a Red Dobie who was very very guard oriented. He would sit by our See Rock City birdhouse on the deck and wait for wasps to exit so he could kill them and relished it even though they would sting him. We bred him for the breeder twice....once he was in coitus and a cat walked by and he jumped off the ladydog and chased the cat to kill it he caught it...he obviously had his priorities crossed.

We waited till the baby was big enough to be around a large breed without getting knocked over all the time to get a new dog and after much time I settled on an original Scott American Bulldog. I like Johnsons but they drool a bit since they are more English...the Scott is more Mastiff. The dog....Bedford...is sleeping near me now next to the three year old on the sofa together.... Bedford is 6.5 months and 65 pounds

Here is a pic of his daddy...he looks just like him.....exactly like him.....same blaze, mittens everything....most fun I have had with a dog in decades...and he is much nicer to people than the Dobe was...the Dobe was pure protection class. However...having been around ABDs a bit studying the breed...I have little doubt he would be all over a perceived threat.....he just doesn't seem to be on Red Alert all the time like the Dobie was...he's more like my old Rottie from the 80s.

Thi

213 pounds of mastiff will win any tug of war contest with almost any human.

Dobermans are very beautiful, imo, a lovely dog and good to live with. Of course, I have come to dearly love the soft eyes and square head of my mastiff...Our breeder had the dogs she needed, she required all dogs she sold to be neutered by six months. I was sort of surprised, until we found out how many people wanted to breed their bitches to our mastiff, chiefly because of his size. She also required that the puppies be raised as house pets, chiefly for the socialization with people.

All mastiffs are guard oriented, but don’t look like it. Until you see one abandoned to sleep jump up, run to the door, and with his back hair straight up, growl in a very menacing way, all within a split second. Like your dog, they don’t SEEM to be on Red Alert all the time, but trust me, they can get there faster than you can blink.

Your Bedford is gorgeous. I used to have photos of mine but cleared off my personal page. He is ~36 inches at the shoulder, a slim 213 pounds that feels very soft until you see his muscles. Kind of catlike, likes to lean, head-bump, snuggle, sleep on his back, look around before going out the door, stuff like that.