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After having researched show standards for the Neapolitan Mastiff, I found and continue to agree with Carol Paulsen of “LA TUTELA NEAPOLITAN MASTIFFS” (retired Neapolitan Mastiff guru of 25 years who wrote ,“Neapolitan Mastiff-special limited edition, a comprehensive owner’s guide”) …. Her descriptions read as follows:
GENERAL APPEARANCE
Large, heavy massive and bulky dog, whose length of body exceeds the height at the withers.
IMPORTANT PROPORTIONS
The length of the body is 10% more than the height at the withers. The ratio skull-muzzle is of 2 to 1.
BEHAVIOR AND TEMPERAMENT
Steady and loyal, not aggressive or biting without reason, guardian of the property and its inhabitants, always vigilant, intelligent, noble and majestic.
HEAD
Short and massive, with a skull wide at level of zygomatic arches; its length is about 3/10 of the height at the withers. Ample skin with wrinkles and folds of which the most typical and the best marked goes from the outer palpebral angle down to the lip angle. The upper longitudinal axes of the skull and the muzzle are parallel.
CRANIAL REGION
The skull is wide, flat, particularly between the ears, and, seen from the front, slightly convex in its fore part. The bizygomatic width is more than half the length of the head. The zygomatic arches are very prominent, but with flat muscles. The protuberances of the frontal bones are well developed; the frontal furrow is marked; the occipital crest is hardly visible. Stop - Well defined.
FACIAL REGION
Nose - Set in the prologation of the muzzle, must not protrude beyond the outer vertical line of the lips; must be voluminous with large, well opened nostrils. Its color is according to the color of the coat: black for the black subjects, dark grey-brown in dogs of other colors, and chestnut for brown coats.
Muzzle - It is very wide and deep; its length corresponds to that of the fore-face and must be equal to the third of the length of the head. The lateral sides are parallel (between them), so that, seen from the front, the shape of the muzzle is practically square.
Lips - Fleshy, thick and full; upper lips, seen from the front, form an inverted V at their meeting point. The lower lateral profile of the muzzle is shaped by the upper lips; their lowest part is the corner of the lips, with visible mucous membranes, situated on the vertical from the external angle of the eye.
Jaws - Powerful with strong jaw bones and dental arches joining perfectly. Lower jaw must be well developed in its width.
Teeth - White, well developed, regularly aligned and complete in number. Scissor bite, i.e. upper incisors closely overlapping the lower ones in close contact, set straight to the jaw, or pincer bite, i.e. upper incisors meet edge to edge with the lower incisors.
Eyes - Set on an equal frontal level, well apart one from the other; rather round, slightly deep set. Compared with the coat colour, the colour of the iris is darker. The eye may nevertheless be lighter in coats of diluted shades.
Ears - Small in relation to the size of the dog, of triangular shape, set above the zygomatic arch, they are flat and close to the cheeks. When they are cropped, they have the form of an almost equilateral angle.
NECK
Profile - The upper profile is slightly convex.
Length - Rather short, measures about 2.8:10 of the height of the withers.
Shape - Conical trunk shaped, well muscled. At mid-length the perimeter is equal to about 8/10 of the height at the withers.
Skin - Lower edge of the neck is well endowed with loose skin which forms a double dewlap well separated, but not exaggerated; starts at level of the lower jaw and does not go beyond middle of the neck.
BODY
The length of the body exceeds by 10% the height at the withers.
Top line - Top line of the back is straight; withers are wide, long and not very prominent. Broad and of a length about 1/3 of the height at the withers. The lumbar region must be harmoniously united with the back, and muscles well developed in width. The ribcage ample, with long and well sprung ribs. The circumference of the thorax is about 1/4 more than the height at the withers.
Rump - Wide, strong and well muscled. Its obliqueness compared with the measured horizontal on that of the hip bone (coxal) is about 30°. Its length is equal to 3/10 of the height at the withers. The hip bones are prominent to the extent of reaching the top lumbar line.
Chest - Broad and wide with well developed chest muscles. Its width is in direct relation with that of the ribcage and reaches the 40-45% of the height at the withers. The tip of the sternum is situated at the level of the scarpular-humeral joint.
Tail - Broad and thick at its root; strong, tapering slightly towards the tip. In length it reaches the articulation of the hock, but usually is docked at about 2/3 of its length. At rest is carried hanging and curved in saber fashion, in action lifted horizontally or slightly higher than the top line.
QUARTERS
FOREQUARTERS - On the whole, the forequarters, from the ground to the point of the elbow, seen in profile and from the front, are vertical with a strong bone structure in proportion with the size of the dog.
Shoulders - Their length measures about 3/10 of the height at the withers with an obliqueness of 50°-60° on the horizontal. The muscles are well developed, long and well defined. The angle of the scapulo-humeral articulation is 105°-115°. Measures about 30% of the height at the withers, Obliqueness is of 55°-60° furnished with significant musculature.
Elbows - Covered with abundant loose skin, They are not too close to the body.
Forearms - Its length is almost the same as that of the arm. Placed in perfect vertical position, of a strong bone structure with lean and well developed muscles.
Pastern - Broad, lean and without nodosity, continues the vertical line of the forearm. Flat, continues the vertical line of the forearm. Its inclination on the horizontal towards the front is of about to 75°. Its length is equal to about 1/6 of the length of the limb from the ground up to the elbow.
Forefeet - Of round shape, toes well arched and well-knit. The pads are lean, hard and well pigmented. The nails are strong, curved and a dark color.
HINDQUARTERS
On the whole they must be powerful and sturdy, in proportion with the size of the dog and capable of the required propulsion in movement.
Upper thigh - In length measuring 1/3 of the height at the withers and its obliqueness on the horizontal is about 60°. It is broad with thick, prominent but clearly distinct muscles. The thigh bone and the hip bone (femur and coxal) form an angle of 90°.
Lower thigh - Length slightly inferior to that of the thigh and of an obliqueness of 50°-55°, with strong bone structure and well visible musculature.
Stifle - The femoral-tibial (hip bone-shin bone) angle is about 110°-115°.
Hock joint - Very long in relation to the length of the leg, its length is about 2,5/10 of the height at the withers. The tibial-tarsal articulation forms an angle of 140°-145°.
Hock - Strong and lean, its shape almost cylindrical, perfectly straight and parallel, its length is about 1/4 of the height at the withers; eventual dewclaws should be removed.
Hindfeet - Smaller than the forefeet, round with well-knit toes. Pads dry, hard and pigmented. Nails strong, curved and of dark color.
GAIT AND MOVEMENT
This constitutes a typical characteristic of the breed. At the walk, the gait of feline type of lion steps, is slow and resembles that of a bear. The trot is distinguished by a strong thrust of the hindquarters and a good extension of the forequarters. The dog rarely gallops; usual gaits: walk and trot. Pacing is tolerated.
SKIN
Thick, abundant and loose all over the body, particularly on the head where it forms numerous folds and wrinkles, and at the lower part of the neck where it forms a double dewlap.
COAT
Type of coat - Short, rough and hard, dense, of the same length all over, uniformly smooth, fine and measures 1,5 cm maximum. Must not show any trace of fringing.
Color of coat - Preferred colors are: grey, leaden grey and black, but also brown, fawn and deep fawn(red deer), with, sometimes, little white patches on the chest and on the tip of the toes. All these coats may he brindled; hazel, dove-grey and Isabella shades are tolerated.
SIZE AND WEIGHT
Height at withers - males 65-75 cm. Females 60-68 cm. Some tolerance of 2 cm. more or less is allowed. Weight - Males 60-70 kg. Females 50-60 kg.
FAULTS
Any departure from the foregoing points constitutes a fault which must be penalized in proportion to its degree.
SERIOUS FAULTS
Pronounced undershot mouth; gay tail (trumpet tail), sizes bigger or smaller than the limits allowed.
DISQUALIFYING FAULTS
Overshot mouth; accentuated convergence or divergence of the facial-cranial axes; topline of muzzle concave or convex or very aquiline (Roman nose); total depigmentation of nose; wall eye; total depigmentation of both rims of eyelids; cross eyed; absence of wrinkles, folds and dewlap; absence of tail whether congenital or artificial; extensive white patches; white markings on the head.Characteristics …The following description is taken from the 1971 FCI Standard on the Neapolitan Mastiff describing the general appearance, conformation, balance and disposition. “The Neapolitan Mastiff is a guard dog and defense dog par excellence, of great size, powerful and strongly built, of tough yet majestic appearance, sturdy and courageous, of intelligent expression, endowed with correct mental balance and docile character, non-aggressive, indefatigable defender of persons and property. The general conformation is that of a heavybrachymorph, whose trunk is longer than the height at the withers, harmonious as regards size (heterometry) and profile (alloidism). Skin is not adhering to the underlying tissue but abundant, with slack connective tissue over all parts of the body and especially on the head where it forms wrinkles and folds and at the neckwhere it forms the dewlap.” A better description of this majestic beast can never be found.Massive is a word which best describes the Neapolitan Mastiff. A large and powerful dog with a brachycephalic and massive skull, wrinkled head, huge bone and stocky body, the typical Neapolitan male weighs in at 140-170 pounds and stands 27-30 inches at the withers. Females are somewhat smaller in sizetypically 110-140 lbs. The Neapolitan is certainly not the tallest of dogs but next to his English Mastiff cousin, the Neapolitan more often than not appears to be more broad and massive though lighter. Adult height is usually reached at about one year of age, though some individuals may grow an inch or so more after that.Adult weight is generally not reached until the dog is 3 to 3 ½ years of age and sometimes older. Like all giant breeds, the Neapolitan is a slow maturer and his puppyhood is long. They are not considered mature specimens until the age of three. Unfortunately, this wonderful animal, like all other giant breeds, does nothave a long life. The Neapolitan’s life span is 8 - 10 years. Having a short, stiff, hard and dense coat of uniform length and smoothness all over the body, the Neapolitan Mastiff is virtually a wash and wear dog. Noextensive grooming is required except during the two shedding periods, spring and fall. I find that a shedding blade coupled with a mitt of sisal or horsehair will help remove all dead hair. The accepted coat colors are black, blue (all shades of grey), tawny and mahogany, all with or without brindling (a slight striping on all or part of the coat). In the Neapolitan, brindling is not a color but a marking. White markings are acceptable on tips of toes and on the chest. All puppies are born with blue eyes which change to correspond to the coat color at 3 to 4 months of age. In black dogs the eyes are usually brown; hazel is common in the bluespecimens. The natural ear of the Neapolitan is small in relation to the size of the dog. It is triangular in shape, set above the zygomatic arch (cheekbones) and they lay flat and close to the cheeks. Traditionally cropped, they form an equilateral triangle. Cropping of the ear is not required for the show ring; they may be shown with natural ears or cropped ears. The cropped ear gives the dog a more alert expression. The tail is always docked to 2/3 of its original length reaching or slightly exceeding the top of the hock. The tail should be broad and thick at the root tapering slightly at the tip, set slightly lower than the dog’s topline.…. Further information can be obtained through the purchase of Carol Paulsen of “La Tutela Neapolitan Mastiffs” book – Neapolitan Mastiff, a special limited edition & comprehensive owner’s guide.
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