Most families have pets. Many families have pet dogs. What many people do not have is a massive dog that weighs more than a 65 inch TV. Senior Madison Lawson’s dog, Boomer, weighs a whopping 110 pounds.

Boomer is a mastiff/lab mix. According to Lawson, while mastiffs are huge, they are also loyal, caring, and smart. They are also not as hyper as other breeds. 

“Boomer is active, but I don’t think he is hyper,” she said, “My family and I are fans of the breed because (Boomer) is sweet, smart, and loves to play. He is kind of cuddly and will lean up against people and likes to cuddle when sitting on the couch.”

The Lawson family has owned Boomer for about four years. They adopted him so that their other dog, Cappy (terrier mix), would have a companion after their older dog, Dot, died.

“We knew that our dog Dot (English pointer/German Shorthair mix) was getting older and Cappy would need a companion while we weren’t home. Our friends found a breeder who (was) selling puppies for $75 and told us about them. We went with them to look at the puppies and fell in love with him,” Lawson said.

Although Boomer and Cappy have a 90 pound difference, they seem to be good companions when their owners are not home.

“Our dogs stay outside while we are not home and when it’s nice outside. When it is raining, cold, or really hot, we let them in and they sleep inside for a majority of nights. When they are outside, they have a dog door that goes into a pen inside our garage that has a dog house as well,” she said.

The Lawsons admire the mastiff breed for many reasons mentioned above, but there are also some downfalls of having a dog whose size is considerable.

“Bigger dogs have a higher chance of having hip problems. Because of their size, they can be a bit intimidating to some people. Mastiffs can bark a lot, but Boomer does pretty good with not barking in the house,” Lawson said.

Boomer also eats more than the average dog.

“Mastiffs should get around 10 cups of food twice a day. We use a mason jar to feed our dogs and usually fill it all the way up for Boomer and feed him twice a day. Around summertime when the weather gets warmer, he doesn’t eat as much, so we fill the jar up to about 3⁄4 of the way,” Lawson said.

Lawson loves her dogs even though Boomer isn’t the most common type of dog.

“I think that most people probably know about mastiffs but maybe not as much as a great dane, poodle, or dalmatian,” she said.