Question:
we have decided to comprimise and stay local we have thought it through and decided a larger house is the better option with a reasonable back yard. I am looking for a english mastiff hopefully puppy or young dog how much yard do you think. Of course if anything comes up thats not a comprimise we will grab it lol!

Answer:
OEMs are not terribly active dogs....it really depends on how much time you plan on actually exercising him.
A dog doesn't "need" a large yard at all. Too many people stick a dog outside expecting it to somehow exercise itself, and that usually doesn't happen. You need to be active in exercising your dog, so a small yard is fine to go out & do business in.

Answer:
this is what i was thinking we had a large yard in england but also exercised our mastiff twice a day for walks and let off in the field for a run. I just wanted opionions thanks.

Answer:
Yes I have the largest couch warmer around. Buddy likes his walks and he loves to go to High Park and run on the trails but he is not what you would consider a very active dog. But because of there lack of energy they do need you to make sure they get exercise because they will lay in the backyard and snooze.

Answer:
I think the only advantage to having a larger yard is that you can actually excercise the dog in the yard. My yard is small so not alot of play goes on, Duke does his business, sniffs about, digs a little, lays in the sun etc. I personally would like a larger yard so I could do some of the excercise stuff with him there. No off lead in the immediate neighbourhood.

Answer:
I would recommand a decent size where they could let out a run if need be. I would believe all dogs have spurts of exercise they need to let loose that they can't during walks.


And it also depends on what the neighbourhood is about. In mine, I got cats swarming the neighbours rooftop and Chocolate here goes CRAZY. So needless to say, he gets PLENTY of exercise from the yard (run here, sniff that, etc)

etc.

Answer:
I had a german shepherd and a malamute in an apartment for almost twelve years,we did lots and lots of walking and there were some great woods around us for off leash excercise.I now live a a farm with twenty three acres of woods and fields and I think my three girls get about the same amount of of excercise as when I didn't have a yard.The only real difference is they are only on leash when we go into town.I think any dog can be happy in most enviroments if they have someone who is willing to put the effort in to keeping up with the excercise requirements for that breed,for at least ten to fifteen years no matter how disgusting it is outside!!!Just be realistic about you and your lifestyle.

Answer: