The English Mastiff is a breed of large dog. The breed is sometimes referred to simply as the Mastiff by national kennel clubs, including the American Kennel Club, the United Kingdom's Kennel Club and the Fédération Cynologique Internationale. They descended from the ancient Alaunt and Pugnaces Britanniae, with a significant input from the Alpine Mastiff in the 19th century. Distinguished by its enormous size, massive head, short coat in a limited range of colors, and always displaying a black mask, the Mastiff is noted for its gentle and loving nature. The lineage of modern dogs can be traced back to the early 19th century, but the modern type was stabilised in the 1880s and refined since. Following a period of sharp decline, the Mastiff has increased its worldwide popularity.
The American Kennel Club currently recognizes the following coat colors: Apricot, Fawn, and Brindle. Brindle coats can be either Fawn-Brindle, Apricot-Brindle or a mixture of the two, but will be registered as simply Brindle. All coat colors can vary in tone, fawns coat colors can range from an almost white silver-fawn to a light peach-tan. An apricot mastiff has a coat color that ranges widely from a strawberry-orange tint to a yellow that looks faded, with any range in between the two considered an apricot coat. All coat colors can vary over time as the mastiff ages and depending on sun exposure.
Additional colors previously existed historically in English mastiffs, but those colors have disappeared over time. It's hoped by some breeders (including us) that they can return to the breed, but it's possible they may have disappeared from the breed permanently. These colors are:
Piebald is similar to Brindle as it is a secondary color, and can be Apricot, Fawn, Brindle etc with Piebald. A few Piebalds have returned to the breed in the last decade for other breeders, and the Piebald gene has been verified as genetically within the breed still. Piebalds are currently required to be registered with the AKC as their primary coat color (e.g. Apricot, Brindle or Fawn) because the coat is not in the current breed standard.