Probably the most important item about the Neapolitan Mastiff is the Breed Standard.

All Maggiormente Neo's are bred as close to the Standard as possible. To download the PDF file of the Standard, click here.

Neapolitan Mastiff -FCI Standard 197

Group: Group 6 (Utility)
History:
General Appearance:

A heavy, massive, thick-set dog of great size, whose length of body exceeds its height at the withers.
Important Proportions:

The length of the body is 10% more than its height at the withers. Length of head is equal to 30% of the height at the withers. The ratio of length of skull to muzzle is as 2 is to 1.
Characteristics:

[See General Appearance, Temperament and Gait/Movement].
Temperament: Steady and loyal in character, not aggressive nor liable to bite without reason, a defender of property and its inhabitants, he is always vigilant, intelligent, noble and majestic.
Head And Skull:

The head is short and massive, with a broad skull at the level of the zygomatic arches; its length is approximately 30% of its height at the withers. Abundant skin with wrinkles and folds, of which the most typical and most marked extends from the outer corner of the eyes down to the corner of the lips. The planes of the skull and of the muzzle are parallel.
Skull:

The skull is broad, flat, particularly between the ears, and, seen from the front, slightly convex in the fore part. The width between the cheekbones is more than half the length of the head. The cheekbones are very prominent but covered with flat muscles. The brows are well developed; the frontal furrow is pronounced; the occipital crest is barely visible.
Stop - Pronounced.
Foreface - Nose

- As an extension of the topline of the muzzle, it must not protrude beyond the outer, vertical line of the lips., It must be large with large, well-opened nostrils. Its colour is according to the colour of the coat; black for black dogs, dark grey-brown in dogs of other colours and chestnut for brown coats.
Muzzle

- Is very wide and deep; its length corresponds to that of the foreface and must be one third of the length of the whole head. The sides are parallel to each other, so that, seen from the front, the shape of the muzzle appears to be practically square.
Lips

- Fleshy, thick and full, the upper lips, seen from the front, form an inverted "V" at their junction. The lower profile of the muzzle is formed by the upper lips; their lowest part is the corner of the lips with its visible mucous membranes and situated on the vertical line dropped from the outer corner of the eye.
Jaws

- Powerful, with strong jaw bones and dental arches which join perfectly. The lower jaw must be well developed in width.
Eyes:

Forward facing, they are set well apart from each other; almost round; slightly deep set. The colour of the iris is darker than the colour of the coat. The colour may, however, be lighter in coats of diluted shades.
Ears:

Small in relation to the size of the dog, triangular in shape, they are flat, held close to the cheeks and set above the zygomatic arch. When they are cropped, they have the shape of an equilateral triangle. [Note: Dogs with cropped ears may not be exhibited in Australia.]
Mouth:

Teeth are white, well developed, well aligned and complete in number. Scissor bite, (i.e. the upper incisors closely overlap the lower incisors in close contact and set upright in the jaws,) or pincer bite (i.e. the upper incisors meet edge to edge with the lower incisors.).
Neck:

Is slightly arched. Rather short in length, it measures about 28%of the height at the withers. Blunt cone shaped, it is well muscled. At mid-length, the circumference is about equal to 8 tenths of the height at the withers. The lower edge of the neck is replete with loose skin which forms a double dewlap, well separated but not exaggerated; it starts at the level of the lower jaw and does not extend beyond the middle of the neck.
Forequarters:

On the whole, the forelegs from the ground to the point of elbow, seen from the side and from the front, are vertical with strong bones in proportion to the size of the dog.
Shoulders

- The length of the shoulders are about three tenths of the height at the withers. They are angled at about 50 - 60 degrees from the horizontal. The muscles are well developed, long and well defined. The angulation of the point of shoulder is from 105 - 115 degrees.
Upper arm

- The length is about 30% of the height at the withers, its angulation from the horizontal is from 55 - 60 degrees and it is furnished with significant musculature.
Elbows

- are covered with abundant, loose skin; they are held not too close to the chest.
Forearm

- length is almost equal to that of the upper arm. Placed in perfectly vertical position, strongly boned with lean and well developed muscles.
Pastern joint

- Broad, lean, and smooth, continues the vertical line of the forearm.
Pastern

- Flat, it continues the vertical line of the forearm. Its angulation from the horizontal towards the front is between 70 to 75 degrees. Its length is equal to about one sixth of the length of the leg from the ground to the elbow.
Body:

The length of the body exceeds the height at the withers by 10%.
The topline is straight; the withers are wide, long and not very prominent.
The back is broad and in length about one third of the height at the withers.
The loin must be smoothly connected to the back , muscular and wide.
The rib cage is roomy with long and well sprung ribs. The circumference of the thorax is about one quarter greater than the height at the withers.
The croup is broad, strong and well muscled. It is angled at about 30 degrees from the horizontal measured from the hip bone (coxal). Its length equals about three tenths of the height at the withers. The hip bones project level with the highest point of the loin.
The chest is broad and wide with well developed chest muscles. Its width is in direct relation to that of the rib cage and reaches down to 40 - 45 % of the height at the withers. The prosternum is on a level with the point of shoulder.
Hindquarters:

Hind legs must be, on the whole, powerful and sturdy, in proportion with the size of the dog and capable of the required propulsion in movement.
Upper thigh length measures one third of the height at the withers and its angulation from the horizontal is about 60 degrees. It is broad with heavy, prominent muscles but which are clearly distinct from each other. The femur and the hip bone (coxal) form an angle of 90 degrees.
Lower thigh -

Slightly less in length than the upper thigh and with an angulation [from the horizontal] of 50 - 55 degrees, strongly boned and with clearly visible muscles.
Stifle -

The femoral-tibial angle [upper and lower thigh bones] is about 110 - 115 degrees.
Hock Joint

- Very long in relation to the length of the lower thigh, it is about 25% of the height at the withers. The angulation of the tibia and the metatarsals [bones of the lower thigh and the hock] form an angle between 140 - 145 degrees.
Hock [Rear pastern]

- Strong and dry [lean], almost cylindrical in shape. perfectly straight and parallel, its length is about 25% of the height at the withers. Dewclaws should be removed.
Feet:

Front feet - Round, large with well arched, close knit toes.
Hind feet

- Smaller than the front feet, round with close knit toes.
The pads are firm, hard and well pigmented. The nails are strong, curved and dark.
Tail:

Broad and thick at its root; strong, tapering slightly towards the tip. its natural length reaches to the hock joint, but usually is docked to about two thirds of its length. At rest is carried hanging down and curved in sabre fashion, in action is lifted horizontally or slightly higher than the top line.
Gait/Movement:

Forms a characteristic typical of the breed. At the walk, the movement is feline like a lion. At the trot or pacing, it is slow and resembles that of a bear. The trot is characterised by a strong thrust of the hindquarters and good reach of the forequarters. The dog rarely gallops; usual gaits are the walk and the trot. Pacing is allowed.
Coat:

The skin is 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.
Type of coat -

Short, stiff, hard and dense, of the same length all over; uniformly smooth, fine and measures 1.5 cm [just over & 1/2; ins] maximum. Must not show any trace of fringing.
Colour:

Preferred colours are grey, leaden grey and black, but also brown [mahogany], fawn [tawny] and deep fawn [deer red], sometimes with white patches on the chest and on the tips of the toes. All these colours may be brindled. Hazel [light brown], dove-grey and Isabella [light fawn] are tolerated.
Sizes:

Height at withers - males 65 - 75 cm. [25 & 1/2; - 29 & 1/2; ins] females 60 - 68 cm. [23 & 1/2; - 26 & 1/2; ins]
Some tolerance of 2cm. [1 ins] more or less is allowed.
Weight - Males 60 - 70 kg [132 - 154 lbs]
Females 50 - 60 kg. [110 - 132 lbs]
Faults:

Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportions to its degree.
Serious Faults

- Pronouncedly undershot mouth
Gay tail (trumpet tail) [curved over the back]
Sizes larger or smaller than the limits allowed.
Disqualifying Faults

- Overshot mouth
Accentuated convergence or divergence of the facial-cranial axes
[Dish- or down-faced]
Bridge of nose concave or convex or very aquiline (Roman nose).
Total lack of pigmentation on the nose.
Total lack of pigmentation on the upper and lower eye lids.
Wall eye; cross eyed. Absence of wrinkles, folds and dewlap.
Absence of tail, whether congenital or artificial.
Extensive white patches; white markings on the head.
Notes: Male animals should have two apparently normally developed testicles fully descended into the scrotum.

NOTES TO ACCOMPANY FCI STANDARD 197 dated 27/11/89
ADOPTED IN AUSTRALIA 1/1/98

It should firstly be noted that the Standard describes a mature dog. Bitches may be expected to have a mature body at age 3 and dogs by age 4. Dogs younger than these ages will in most cases develop more bone, more body and “wrinkle” will become more obvious with time. Mature body weight comes slowly to this breed. Most youngsters you see should be solid but not fat.

HISTORICAL SUMMARY.
It is important to remember the ancestry of this breed. As a dog used by the Roman legions as a dog of war it was important that the dog could walk all day to go to the battle site and still be able to perform its duties. In later centuries as a guardian of estates in Italy it was necessary for the dog to be able to chase, knock and pin down intruders. These days particularly in Australia the Neapolitan Mastiff is a companion animal, but retains its ancestral memories and should still have the physical capacity to perform those past functions.

TEMPERAMENT
A typical dog will instinctively guard his master, family and home. However when out and about at shows or in public if the handler is happy and confident the Neapolitan will also be. Should a judge come across an obviously nervous new handler in the show ring it is most important to establish friendly contact with the handler before approaching or touching the dog. If in doubt have the handler run the dog before you physically examine. If things look settled proceed. Young males can react to eye contact and will sometimes try to initiate it, so do be aware and be more aware if you wear glasses.
Most Neapolitans are very sociable and well behaved in the show ring and this sometimes leads one to forget the characteristics of the breed.

SKELETAL STRUCTURE.
This is of course the basic frame of the dog. The standard describes each section well and needs little explanation. When looking at the structure one should look to see that such structure would enable the dog to function. This is a breed that must be able to spring into action from a sleeping position, must therefore have thrust from the rear legs hence the long hocks. Must be able to run faster than a man for at least 200 metres and of course only the correct skeleton will allow this.

GAIT/MOVEMENT
Perhaps something has been lost in the translation of this section or needs further explanation.
At a walk the movement is feline like a lion. That describes adequately – but the section “At a trot or pacing, it is slow and resembles that of a bear” can be misleading. Many people consider a bear to be slow, lumbering and clumsy – an incorrect description but fairly universal. This can result in a judge awarding a dog that can’t move, that trips and stumbles because of structural faults. A slow trot on a correct frame will be catlike and elegant (despite the loose skin rippling and flowing). Do remember when these dogs were used by the Romans as dogs of war no such thing as motor vehicles or dog trailers were in existence – the dogs had to walk or more likely pace.

COAT.
Usually in Spring, sometimes in Autumn coat changes can and do occur. This can result in the dog looking somewhat moth eaten and is especially noticeable in young dogs doing their first coat change.

OTHER
Sadly in America the AKC standard is somewhat different to the Italian (FCI 197) standard and is creating some problems in the breed much to the disgust of the Italian Mastinari and true fanciers of the breed.
WHaM is a term used in America and basically states wrinkle, head and mass is all that is important – don’t worry if the dog looks like a giant Shar Pei, has an undershot mouth, is crippled and can’t walk, or has a topline like a camel – if it has WHaM they say award it.
PLEASE DON’T IN AUSTRALIA.

Written for the Australian Neapolitan Mastiff Association Inc

By Nancy Keck