French Mastiff/Dogue de Bordeaux?

Loni

Does anybody know anything about this breed?

My boyfriend will be moving in with me soon and he has a French Mastiff that currently isn't living with him. However, he was hoping that once he moved into my place she could also move in. I gave him a kind of "Idk depends on how the dogs react to each other" answer but he's really gotten his hopes up with having her there. I don't think he understands just how annoying my Shiba can be to other dogs though. He's only seen Kiyomi interact with a Siberian Husky that she's lived with on and off since she was a puppy and a male pitbull mix. She's never been around a mastiff type dog, and I really don't know how she would react. Not to mention that they're both females...

The more I think about this the more I think it's a bad idea, but I'd like to get some more insight into the breed if possible...?

PoetikDragon

What exactly do you propose your boyfriend do with his dog if they don't get along? Surely you don't think he should rehome the dog just so he can move in with you. He is responsible to that dog for life, and IMO that is a much more important commitment than who he is currently dating. Really, the decision to move in together should have been made *after* ensuring that it will work out. Now you've already decided...

If you think its a bad idea for his dog to live with you, then its a bad idea for him to live with you.

Loni

His dog is currently living with his ex-in-laws and has been for the last 6ish months (I'm not sure exactly how long she's been with them, I'd have to ask). I'd thought they'd taken her from him for good and he didn't bring her up until after the plans for him to move in had already been made. His statement to me was on the lines of "Now that I'm moving into a house with a yard, maybe I can get Fern back".

PoetikDragon

Ah, I understand now.

Loni

Yeah, so now I'm just trying to find out as much about the breed as possible...

Heidi

I think a big powerful dog would actually be a good companion for an annoying shiba, as long as the big dog has fairly good social skills. I think I would be more worried about a dainty little dog, who would probably be more scared and more likely to snap out of fear and feeling helpless. A big dog could just knock a shiba on its butt and get over it.

I don't have any experience with that particular breed, though.Just take them for a walk together and see what happens.

PoetikDragon

I know a number of people who pair Akitas and Shibas together, so @hondru's theory about a big dog seems sound to me.

Losech

Conker tends to get along with really large dogs better than somewhat large dogs. Dunno what's up with that.

The only time he's ever gotten "out of hand" with a large dog was when a neighbor's Mastiff named Ruger sat on his face. Well, Conker didn't like that and bit Ruger's balls. Poor Ruger is really careful with his back end around Conker now, but can put him in line with his front end if he has to.

Loni

That's what I'm hoping, but I have zero experience with any kind of mastiff. I'll talk to him about having Kiyomi meet Fern on neutral ground somewhere near his ex-in-law's home before he goes through the trouble of moving her up here.

Loni

In case anyone was curious about what came of this, his ex-mother-in-law found a home for Fern. I think she said the woman has 3 acres of farm land and was looking for a companion for her male french mastiff. She has lots of experience with french mastiffs, so seems to be the perfect place for Fern. My boyfriend is of course a little upset that he couldn't move her up here and he'll miss her, but her new home and owner are a much better fit for her.

shibamistress

Glad to hear you found a solution! Sounds like a good one.

cezieg

Aww what happened? Did Fern not get along with Kiyomi? Sounds like Fern found a great new home at least, sometimes the best thing to do is the hardest thing to do. I just had to rehome my Shiba buddy and he's a ton happier

@Losech LOL I'm cracking up and cringing at the same time, poor Ruger!

Loni

We never had a chance to introduce them.
One day his exMIL called and told him she found a woman who would take Fern. She happened to meet the woman by chance while picking up some dog food and they started talking about their dogs, I'm not sure exactly how the conversation went but the other woman mentioned she was looking for a female French Mastiff to be a companion for her male. His ExMIL told him about how the woman had plenty of land and had experience with the breed and how it was too much of a coincidence that they had meet just buying dog food. To me it sounded like the perfect home for Fern (and it is) so him and I talked about it, and he called his ExMIL back and told her to go ahead and bring Fern to her new home there.