Neapolitan Mastiff Cardiovascular Illnesses

With success also comes failure, but it's in these darker moments that can define you as a breeder. De La Bahia has experienced disappointment, and has not been immune to the sever breed problems as discussed by Dr. Nello Crimaldi in 2007 A.T.I.M.A.N.A. technical  seminar on the subject of Cardiovascular Illnesses of the Neapolitan Mastiff. At this seminar Dr. Crimaldi suggested that approximately 86% of the last Italian champions were specimens with cardiovascular disease, even if these numbers are less then the truth, nearly all breeders today face or have experienced this deadly disease in their selection. Many breeders will simply sweep this under the rug, and some will even blame their owners for not raising the Mastini properly, others will "test" to try and resolve the issue, even if testing only shows that a dog has heart disease that particular day, and not next week let alone one, two, or three years from the day of testing, yet with negative results will continue to inbreed the same notorious lines, pretending "testing" is the magic pill against genetic certainty.

De La Bahia's theory is not testing but rather making the hard choice to breed to functional, healthier living subjects, with greater genetic diversity to decrease the chances of unwanted traits passed on to the offspring. This is a difficult choice, not just because what we all like in the breed, but also financially due to the greater demand for those bloodlines with exaggerated features in our breed. Despite the hard choice we feel it's the only correct choice, all of us from breeder to buyer must work to improve the health of our loved Mastino!

Bison de La Bahia is a lesson learned, while we have done line breeding on similar lines before in this particular selection it resulted in Degenerative Myelopathy (DM) death at 5 1/2 years of age for Bison owned by his proud owner Chamilka. Bison was always an oustanding and beautiful subject however he was harder to raice and maintain, then what we feel a truly functional and more "rustic" Mastini should be. With failure comes success, we do not accept the Mastini dyeing at 5 1/2 years, our biggest critics is our selfs first and for most and we will continue to fight for better health in the Mastino Napoletano. R.I.P. Bison!

image Bison de la bahia

image bison de la bahia head shot

Tribute to Function

A small gallery tribute to functionality and mastini of old. Our mission De La Bahia is to produce the evolved mastini of today combined with functionality.

  • no excess: we avoid excess in wrinkle which many times results in poor eye sight.
  • mission: produce health-mass → type.
mastini of old Functional→ Hard→ Robust→ 'o cane 'e presa → mastino

Naples o'cane d presa Aronne di Ponzano Don Carlo Simeoli Raffaele with Masaniello Califf

Living Sample

Leone de la Baha a living example of health-mass → type. Note the open piercing healthy eyes, no excess in dewlap or lip. Leone stamina for such a large male can be envied by even smaller molosser breeds. His temperament is all mastini, hard yet even an excellent guard of property and owner.

  • Leone at a young two years of age.


Leone living example of function

Living Sample

Esperanza de la Baha a living example of health-sufficient mass→ type→with great fertility. Note the open healthy eyes, no excess in lip. Esperanza stamina  matches many dogs even in the sporting group. Her reproduction and fertility is truly ideal as well as her capability of producing vibrant puppies. Her temperament is mastini, even and a perfect sample of function.

  • Esperanza in the prime of life


Esperanza living example of function