What are you looking for?

At Andeavor After Neo, good looking dogs are our prime focus. We have been studying and raising Neapolitan Mastiffs for 20 years. During that time we have seen thousands of Neos. Unfortunately many do not look like Neos should. Why?

There are many reasons, but all of them can be avoided by you. Since Neos are still an uncommon breed, most people have only seen a few. Do not make the mistake of buying a Neo because they are hard to find. Do your homework, study pictures of Neapolitan Mastiffs. Then, make sure that you do not purchase a dog that does not look right. If dog purchasers know what to look for, then dog breeders will not be able to sell poor quality dogs.

Sounds simple, but Neos have huge variabilities, moreso than most breeds. The standard has been changed from the historical detailed (and quite complex) standards of old to a simple page standard of AKC. But, that happened only as recently as 2004. Certainly new news for a breed that is thousands of years old. Making it more difficult is the fact that Neo pups change radically as they grow. Neos are asymetric growers. Their back legs may grow one week and the front legs the next. The skull can change proportions and angles in the first several weeks. Some traits cannot be determined until the pup is six months old. Even then, many Neos have an awkward growing state when they are like teenage humans that can occur from 10 to 18 months!

We have talked to many buyers and are always ready to give an opinion of a dog. After all, we have to know want to look for when we buy a dog. Notice that we said "dog", not "breeder". Breeders are always getting new dogs and may significantly improve or worsen there offerings. Here is a list of five qualities to look for (or avoid) when buying a Neapolitan Mastiff.

Skin

A good Neo should have abundant skin draped over their bodies folding into rolls. We list this quality first because "lack of skin" is the most obvious and the commonest fault we see in the breed. And, it is a terrible fault! Dogs with tight skin or too little skin, just look awful. They do not look like Neos! Look for a fold on the top of the front legs. Look for ripples on their shoulders and back and on their lower tail. When they sit, there should be a pile of skin with several folds on their hind legs and back, as if they had a robe on that fell off. There must be wrinkles on their snout between the nose and the eyestop. Of course there should be tons of skin hanging from their neck and throat. Look at the lower legs when the dog is standing, there shoud be extra skin folding in wrinkles above their feet. The more loose skin the better! We have seen a few rare examples of Neos with too much skin (in our opinion). But even then, we might purchase that dog to breed, because of the importance of abundant skin and the lack ok it in far too many Neos. By the way, Neos do not grow into their skin, nor do they get extra skin as they age. A good Neo puppy should have ample skin from birth.

Lips

The next most common defect and one that can destroy a Neo's appearance is their lips. The lips should form an inverted "V" where they connect at the front under the nose. NOT an inverted "U"! The "V" should be as narrow as possible, not wide at the ends of the "V". From the front, the "V" should be so close as to look almost like a straight line. When this happens, the lips, by neccesity, are quite long. The longer, the better! There should be no curves in the side of the "V", they should be straight. Short lips cannot meet these standards and shoul be avoided. Unfortunately, this is a trait that is hard to find. You will probably have to settle for less than the beautiful long tight inverted "V". Many high quality dogs and champion lines do not have lips that meet these standards. What you want to do is get as close as possible to them and avoid dogs that are short lipped.

Head

In the original old Italian standards, you needed to master geometry to figure out what the Neo's head should look like. After about three years of study, I finally realized what it meant and how to explain why one dog looked odd and another looked like a Neo. First, measure the distance from the tip of their nose to the eye stop and from the eye stop to the back of the skull. The snout to skull ratio should be 1 to 2. If the snout is 2 inches, the skull should be 4 inches. Of the distance from the nose tip to the skull end, the snout to the eye stop shoul be 1/3 and the eye stop to skull end should be 2/3. Easy, right! Important - YES! If the snout is .

Bone

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Mass

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