I am stupidly thinking of adding another to my doggy family. I have been approached regarding a 18 moth old Bullmastiff male who needs a new home. He is very well bred and a bloodline I would be looking to introduce into my own breeding. All simple so far.
The problem is he is very dominant, at the moment he lives with a 2 year old Bullmastiff and they get along very well. He took a dislike to his owners brothers dog also her mother in laws dog. He is very rigid and wont relax around other dogs when he goes to training classes so his owner tells me.
Ok so its seems like not too much of a problem. BUT I have a 20 week old Bullmastiff male puppy and a 19 week old Whippet puppy at home already. Would it work? I know of people that have 2 or 3 entire Bullmastiff males at one time and they all seem to get along fine.
I have not gone to view him yet as I know I would come home with him so cant comment on how bad his dominant ways are.
Just after some advice please. Especially from people who themselves have more than 1 entire male.
Thank you all in advance for helping to keep my feet on the ground :)

He's 18 months so adolescent - chances are he could very easily settle down given time (do the original owners know about the different growth/developmental phases of dogs?).  And he will settle in better with younger animals than older I think - purely because he won't have to challenge them so fights would less likely break out.  Are you very experienced with the breed?  Also, you have 2 young puppies to contend with, training bonding etc.  This older boy may very well take up a lot of your time, to the detriment of your other 2?  TBH I would think you should focus on the 2 babies you have already.

I personally woudnt entertain it. Your priority must be to your younger dogs and I think this would be unfair to them, hoping that it may work but then taking the risk that it may not. This could go like a dream or go horribly wrong. This is obviousy just my opinion but you have to look after your own first and foremost.

I think each dog would need to be assessed on its own merits.
I have a dominant dog who is fine around our pups and other dogs in our home.

What i would suggest is for you to meet the dog and take him for a walk and see what you think, if its looking positive what about having the dog meet your pups on neutral territory and see how they behave, not both pups at the same time but at separate times. Dogs tend to be good around pups and raised with them, but you have to bear in mind that this dog is going through the 'kevin' stage right now by being 18months old, i found this a very testing time with my boy, but with a lot of work got through it.

Do you just have the pups in the house or are there other dogs you have to think about? What about visiting dogs into your home?

Thank you for such quick responses.
I have had Bullmastiffs for around 4/5 years now so fairly new to the breed. My 1st was a problem dog not knowing what a lead was let alone how to behave on one. She hated all things on 4 legs. Now she can be walked off lead, plays with other dogs and now (due to very complicated circumstances 2 years ago) lives with my parents and their cat and rabbit with no issues at all.
My 2 boys at home are fantastic, both love meeting other dogs and are coming on nicely with their training but obviously their safety is my main concern. I would never put knowingly in danger of being harmed.
I know this new boy is in the Kevin stages and did think it would be something he would grow out of.
I'm just being cautious as if I do have him I dont want to have to move him on again for his sake.

Hi I am no expert on this breed but I do have experience of dominant males and I think you may be setting yourself up for major problems.At 18 months this male is beginning to mature and I would guess his dominance wil get more so as he matures. From the breeding point of view I'n not sure you should introduce this dog into your line. You have no idea what effect he could have on his progeny and what would you do further down the line if your puppy owners began phoning you asking you to take back an aggressive dog?.

As tempting as it sounds I would not take this new dog on it sure sounds like there are some major potential problems.   Good on the current owner though for being so open and honest with you.  

If the dog is tense at training classes though ... maybe this is more than just a dominance issue.   Fear is often mistaken for dominance and that is one unfortunate trait that often comes out when a dog is nearing maturity.    If you want to eventually use this dog in your breeding programme I'd keep my eyes and ears open as he develops. 

Can't believe your thinking about taking on another dog when your other two are so young. if you think you've got the time,patience and energy then good for you but i think this is going to be alot of hard work and if the new dog is aggressive with your other two at some point the poor thing will have to be rehomed again. wouldn't it be better for the dog to go to a home and get all the one to one training he needs.
I've got three dogs but their ages are 9yrs, 4yrs and 11 months and thats hard enough work but at least the first two were well behaved and trained before i got my newest pup and i could give her all the attention she needs.
Not trying to have a go at you but your some brave person to have three very young dogs but only you know if you can cope with all the hard work a head of you.
think really though my main concern is if this dog doesn't settle and needs rehoming again, it's no start for a young pup and will only add to any problems he has.
good luck with your decision.

As a owner of this breed with a entire male i personally would not have another in the house unless i had the room to seprate them if needed, My own male is now 3 years old and never went through the kevin stage (luckly for me) and is very subbmisive but i would still not take the risk of bringing in another male of the same breed because i dont want to hit problems down the line when the pup was getting to the kevin stage. If i had the room to seperate them if needed i may do. If he is already showing issues with domiance i would not bring this dog into my home especially if i already had another male, he would probally be better off in a home as a only dog or possibly with a stable bitch.
Also taking on a older dog with issues would take time away from the pups you already have, and at that age need a lot of time for traning, and if you was to take him on it may take a few weeks for his true nature to show so may be fine to start with but a few weeks down the line you could be facing big problems.

i cannot say not to do it more emphatically!

first off, you said

> He is very well bred and a bloodline I would be looking to introduce into my own breeding.

then

> The problem is he is very dominant

> He is very rigid and wont relax around other dogs when he goes to training classes so his owner tells me.
>

this dog is not suitable for breeding from. i say that as the owner of a bullmastiff with temprement issues, no way no how would i ever say its a good idea to even flirt with the idea of using a bully with the slightest bit of an off temprement. potentially its his age but even then i would need to have been very very deeply convinced of a reformed character before even toying with the notion of breeding.

and then

> BUT I have a 20 week old Bullmastiff male puppy and a 19 week old Whippet puppy at home already

how could you possibly have the time to deal with 2 puppies together, especially of these breeds- interestingly my boys best pal is my sisters whippet whos the same age and on the occassions they are together and were together as pups its chaos- let alone take on another dog and one with temprement issues.

i cannot beg you enough not to consider taking this dog and if that fails i implore you not to breed from him.

> I'm just being cautious as if I do have him I dont want to have to move him on again for his sake.

Your primary responsibility is towards the two 5 month old dogs you already have - both still at very early stages in their hormonal development and are going to provide you with more than a few challenges over the next year - certainly they deserve your full attention without the added distraction of another young dog (with or without complications). 

You're being cautious because your instinct is kicking in, stopping you making a huge mistake.  It's a bad idea - sorry.

Thank you all for your replies.
As I have said I am asking for people to keep my feet on the ground.
After speaking more with his current owners I believe the problem is with them not him. The lady has never owned dogs before (a Bullmastiff would not be my choice of a 1st dog) and now has 2 Bullmastiffs.
I am trying to work with her on being able to control and keep her boy as re-homing is something she really does not want to do. She is going to a behaviourist tomorrow, more to train herself as much as the dog. She says he is a sweet natured boy and it sounds to me like she has mothered him a little too much not realising the effects it can have.
It seems he was kept in a bubble whilst young only really seeing her other Bullmastiff, then has taken him into the big wide world where everything must be so scary for him, and expected him to be a nice sociable well behaved boy.
I am hoping it all works out well for them, she just seems un-educated on training and socialization.

Astarte, our 2 puppies have all the time off us they could wish for. Both are extremly well behaved for their ages. We have no problems with them whatsoever. My partner concentrates on the Whippet and I the Bullmastiff. They eat, sleep, play and get cuddles off us together, they wont be apart. I have more than enough space and time to seperate them should there ever be a problem. The Bullmastiff will stay entire but the Whippet probably wont as he purely is a pet only.

Well I think you're being very sensible indeed.  My entire male at 5 months was an absolute angel, never gave me a seconds worry or put a paw out of place .... until he hit 2 years of age.  Took up an awful lot of my attention - still does some weeks!

> Astarte, our 2 puppies have all the time off us they could wish for. Both are extremly well behaved for their ages. We have no problems with them whatsoever. My partner concentrates on the Whippet and I the Bullmastiff. They eat, sleep, play and get cuddles off us together, they wont be apart. I have more than enough space and time to seperate them should there ever be a problem. The Bullmastiff will stay entire but the Whippet probably wont as he purely is a pet only.

which sounds a fine set up but i wouldn't introduce another dog into the mix, especially not an 18month bully with some issues

Agree!

re-homing is something she really does not want to do. She is going to a behaviourist tomorrow, more to train herself as much as the dog. 

In this case I think you are invaluable if you know the breed well to help the owner rather than take on a dog that is reaching the most difficult time of his life, so many people give up their adolescent dogs, (we know that rescues are full of them) it would be much better for you to help her get over this stage with good training methods and give her the staying power to overcome the problems, which hopefully as with all adolescents will change with adulthood, than have her give up at the first whiff of hard work.

Often large, powerful breeds are in the wrong hands but at least she is looking for help and seeking it in the right places, put your energies into guiding her.

I honestly think it is maddness to have 2 pups and an adolescent in the same house, the fact that you know other people do have more than one male Bullmastiff is not the issue, but the ages have to be right, pups need be introduced into a home with adult dogs to stop heirarchy problems, putting 3 immature dogs together is a reciepe for disaster something I would never risk, don't go ga ga over the dog, think about the behavioural and potential pack issues this would cause, far more important than anything else.

Help the owner instead. :-)