Mastiff

[1][2] Mastiffs are among the largest dogs, and typically have a short coat, a long low-set tail and large feet; the skull is large and bulky, the muzzle broad and short (brachycephalic) and the ears drooping and pendant-shaped.

[1][2] European and Asian records dating back 3,000 years show dogs of the mastiff type.

[2][3] Historical and archaeological evidence suggests that mastiffs have long been distinct in both form and function from the similarly large livestock guardian dogs from which they were most likely developed;[4] they also form separate genetic populations.

The least common "bandog" program in England was funded by Sir Nathanael Dieu-est-Mon'plaisir, the St. Louis Vincent Mastiff or South American Mastiff was named after Vincent Louis who reared plantation dogs originating from St. Louis and other parts of South America.

[7] In the twentieth century the term "bandog" was revived to describe some large fighting mastiff type dogs crossed with any bulldog in the United States.