"What the Lion is to the Cat the Mastiff is to the Dog,
the noblest of the family; he stands alone,
and all others sink before him.
His courage does not exceed his temper and generosity,
and in attachment he equals
the kindest of his race." "Cynographia Britannica 1800"
Welcome to our home page! We hope you enjoy your visit.
I'm Lisa Nicolello, native Floridian, animal lover, and avid gardener. My
husband Patrick (New York born and bred) and I enjoy our mastiffs as
companions, guardians and true working dogs. We live in the country, in
Jupiter, Florida. Our dogs are all beloved housepets, none are kennel dogs.
We have our own bloodline that we started from Willowledge, Gulph Mills and
English stock. We have a lot of fun with our dogs, as you will see on our
other pages! We are dedicated to producing quality Mastiffs that enjoy
soundness, health, longevity and have good temperaments. We have been
testing/titling our dogs for over two decades. All of our breeding dogs are
MCOA GOLD Health Award winners and have
Canine Health Information Center (CHIC) Certificates,
a fact no other breeder can claim.
Please note, the mention of the MCOA Health Awards anywhere on this site, is not meant
in any way to endorse, promote, imply or encourage membership in the MCOA. I
am NOT a member of MCOA, nor do I want to be. I do not base my opinion of
others on their membership in clubs but on what they actually do.
I took part in the original Health Awards Committee discussions back in
1999. The awards were based on the Mastiff Reporter Star Awards designed by Sharon
Krauss, Linda Monroe, Debora Jones and myself many years ago at a time when the MCOA did nothing
to promote or reward health screening. Both the
Star Awards and the
MCOA Health Awards
were designed for ALL Mastiffs.
I sent in the data on my dogs to support the efforts of the Health Award
committee. I was thrilled that the MCOA, the AKC parent club for the Mastiff, was
recognizing the importance of health screening for ALL Mastiffs.
Unfortunately, as of May 9th, 2003, the MCOA decided to restrict Health Awards to dogs owned
by MCOA Members only.
Eventually, all of the MCOA Health Awards my dogs have earned will expire due
to the fact that the club will not allow renewals or new awards, even when
the original requirements are met. I will continue to fully test and certify my dogs.
My dogs will be in the extensive OFA/CHIC database, so it will be easy to
verify testing.
Improving the overall health of the breed should be a priority of all breeders.
Too bad that the National breed club does not feel the same.
GCmastiffs@
