The burglar must have had quite a shock as he tried to steal a lawn mower from a garden with a 22 stone Mastiff in!!!

http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/news/article-1025039/Burglar-makes-mistake-choosing-22-stone-mastiffs-home-rob.html

At least the dog is in no danger of a thief trying to dog nap it, imagine trying to lift that one over the garden fence. :-D

I bet he thought the thief was after his bone. Good dog!

Seriously though, that dog is very overweight, I know Mastiff's are big dogs, but he doesn't look fit to me.

I see someones commented on him being obese!  He does look fat. 

Just makes me want a Mastiff even more!
Good on the Dog and wish I was a fly on the wall :-D

He was deffo a little on the fat side tho lol

> Seriously though, that dog is very overweight, I know Mastiff's are big dogs, but he doesn't look fit to me.

I know,poor thing, he's definately on the fat side :(

he is a bit heavy looking but not that much, i suspect a bit of exaggeration

> he is a bit heavy looking but not that much, i suspect a bit of exaggeration

He looks a bit too fat to me, but I'm used to seeing Buster who is only a 'little' baby, and kept as lean as I can get him :)

I haven't got some fetish about starving my dog!!! Buster has ED, so apart from all the other health benefits it's best for him to stay lean :)

lol buster is light looking but given his age and his condition its normal. Odin had HD so we kept him light as well

My bro's mastiff Brutus was a massive powerful dog and he looked no where near that fat, dog is deffo overweight and its not good for mastiffs cause of their size.

good on the dog for "HAVING A GO" i bet the thief will think twice now before jumping peoples fences.
I agree the dog could use a diet it cant be happy now the hot weathers here.

At our old house we had an alley/walkway at the back of the house so you could access your garden from the rear.

All the houses had rear gates apart from ours as we were the end corner house.

Anyways, one night Harvey (dobe) all of a sudden dived into the patio door at 200 mph, just as I saw a prowler  climb over our fence.

The door was promptly opened and he went steaming down the garden. The prowler cleared the fence in break neck speed, and I was able get round the front and chase him away.

Almost felt a bit sorry for him!

The Potential burglar did not return!

Aww good dog  but poor dog its severly obese im suprised RSPCA havent been in touch over the size of him, he doesnt look very old but i bet his joints are suffering badly. 22 stone were they overeggerating? He would be in the guiness book of records of he was.

Louise

It was on GMTV today, the Westie also looked very overweight but both really happy dogs.

thats definetely an exageration! the heaviest dog ive seen is an english mastiff at 100kg and that was a rarity, who was massive, and thats about 15 stone, no way that dog is 22 stone. i work in a large veterinary practice and we see a lot of large dogs.

> thats definetely an exageration! the heaviest dog ive seen is an english mastiff at 100kg and that was a rarity, who was massive, and thats about 15 stone, no way that dog is 22 stone. i work in a large veterinary practice and we see a lot of large dogs.

The 1989 world record for the heaviest dog goes to Zorba, an English Mastiff, weighing in at 343lb. The 1999 record goes to Hercules (English Mastiff) at 282lb, the 2001 record goes Moose (English Mastiff)at 291lb.
If the dog in the article is really is 291lb, then he is a contender for the record.
15 stone isn't a rarity for a Mastiff. My pup is alomst 10 stone at 10 months old, he's very lean, very gangly and looks on the small side for a Mastiff of his age, he's not reached his full height yet and when he does he'll start to fill out & bulk up with muscle (being that they can take 2-3 years to physically mature). These dogs are solid and the one in the article is fat which adds on more weight.

22 stone now way!!
How can a dog be that big!!!
if i were faced with a dog that size
i would run away too !!!

Donna :-)

>i would run away too !!!

looking at that dog I doubt you would have to run very fast !!!

The things is that most burglars would run away from almost any dog.  Years ago we had someone try to break into our house and our dog (a smallish springer) scared him off by barking.  I heard the barking and went down stairs to see the guy climbing over the back wall very quickly, he had managed to get a window open before the dog started.

The dog was very excited as she thought a new friend had come to play.

> The dog was very excited as she thought a new friend had come to play.

ahhhhhh, bless her :)

So true shadbolts, whether it be a little jack russell that looks as though it would nip & hang onto your ankles or a huge mastiff that looks huge & scary - i bet most burglars would go to a dog free house anyday rather than a house occupied by any dog. Yes, the damage they could do to an intruder is one thing, but burglars want to come in to your house, get what they want and go. A dog in the house that would bark & get owners attention is far from ideal for a burglar (although one could say its an occupational hazard) :-)

well they sure would be made to jump my fence with four large breed dog waiting to lick them to death lol

So true shadbolts, whether it be a little jack russell that looks as though it would nip & hang onto your ankles or a huge mastiff that looks huge & scary - i bet most burglars would go to a dog free house anyday rather than a house occupied by any dog. Yes, the damage they could do to an intruder is one thing, but burglars want to come in to your house, get what they want and go. A dog in the house that would bark & get owners attention is far from ideal for a burglar (although one could say its an occupational hazard)  The more i experience men, the more i appreciate dogs.

Actually the statement is soooo untrue.  If a burglar is on drugs or something they won't care about the size, being bitten, or whatever.  I should know.  I now have an extremely traumatised dog who seems to be getting worse even 5 years after our break-in and her going missing.  She used to be OK with women but I'm noticing recently that even them she will have a go at.  A friend came to mine the other day and if the dog hadn't of been on a lead she would of had a go.

I just wish that these lowlifes would realise what the end event can be. I now have a dog that would literally go for the kill with people who once had a fantastic temperament!!  She's extremely intelligent and would of done so well at obedience etc. but she can't be trusted off a lead.  Luckily as a family dog she is the most wonderful dog ever and a lot of fun, but it's come to a point now where in reality she can't leave the house.

Sorry to hear that perrodeauga but unfortunately your case is probably one of the worst and more uncommon cases.
I feel its unfair for you to say my comment was "sooo untrue".To put it another way:If you were a burglar would you choose a house with an open window or one with the window shut??? The burglar wants the easy option.
I dont think drugs are an issue. it is only when someone has mental health problems that they dont know where the boundaries are. People on drugs still know right from wrong they are just under the influence which clouds things.

Agreed, unfortunately there are always exceptions to the general rule as perrodeauga has had the misfortune to find out.  Generally I suspect that dogs are a much better deterent than an alarm.  The point I was trying to make in the post was that it is implied in the report that the dog scared the intruder because of it's size, when in fact any dog that barks is likely to have a similar affect, even if all the dog wants to do is play.

Of course as I said there are always exceptions.

> I should know.  I now have an extremely traumatised dog who seems to be getting worse even 5 years after our break-in and her going missing.

That is awfull, poor thing :(

I remember reading an article about a little Westie that was home alone, burglars broke in, chased the dog that had fled in fear, caught it, beat it and chucked it in a river to drown :( There are some sick, sick people in this world.....

I do think on the whole that barks from any sized dog will be a deterrant but there are plenty of horror stories of dogs being abused/traumatised via burglars.
I've even read of a Mastiff being stolen and returned 5 days later because the thieves couldn't handle him!

The thing is, the Mastiff in the article probably didn't give a warning bark as they're not watch dogs, he would have just frightened the living daylights out of the scum bag who thought he had stumbled on easy pickings. I hope the chubby Mastiff in the article bit that burglar right in his man-hood, a small piece of payback for all the dogs that have come off worse againt intuders.