JOE THOMPSON: What I try to create is a dog that really is breathtaking. They’re tall and massive.
My boys are some of the most wanted studs on the planet.
JOE THOMPSON: My name is Joe Thompson and I’m the owner of three English Mastiffs.
JOE THOMPSON: They’re named after the Beatles and Ringo is him and that is Harrison and that’s Paul.
And John will be from a breeding in France, out of Harrison, if all goes well.
JOE THOMPSON: My largest boy is Harrison, he is 27 months old and 250 real solid working-dog, everyday-fit
pounds. Ringo is 218 pounds; he is the sire of both Paul and Harrison and Paul is right around 170 pounds.
JOE THOMPSON: When the dogs are puppies even, they start out life being very big.
Harrison was 30.23 pounds at eight weeks old. They’re like, little bricks.
JOE THOMPSON: The Fur-Beatles are very high in demand. They’ve got the attention of breeders
worldwide; I have high hopes for them. My stud fee for Harrison is $3000, for Ringo it's $2500 and Paul
is around $3000.
JOE THOMPSON: My dad fell ill with cancer and my wife told me, “Joe you need a dog, you need a pal.” And hence
how I ended up with Ringo. Didn't start out to breed or stud or anything like that, he was just to help me get
through issues with my dad.
JOE THOMPSON: I hand cook the meals everyday according to the type of exercise that we did.
JOE THOMPSON: I try to feed them twice a day; once in the morning, once in the evening.
JOE THOMPSON: My two sons really love their boys. It gives them a lot of – for lack of better term -
bragging rights with friends. A lot of their friends like to come and see them. It's a great icebreaker for them and
they’re very active in helping me work these dogs because they have, let's face it, kids have a lot more
energy than us older parents. So, I use them to my advantage as much as I can.
JOE THOMPSON: Adding real food to their diet really helps and it also gives them something to look forward
to and it makes them feel like, they’re a real part of the family. Just like within people, they are individuals you
know. Ringo is the boxer, Harrison is a wrestler and he’s a basketball player and they need different
nutritional requirements, different types of exercise and they’re built differently.
JOE THOMPSON: What’s special about mine is that they get worked every day, they pull weights, they upstream
swim, they’ve treed bears. On occasion we will run into bears, bobcats. On my phone one time several years ago,
I happened to catch on video Ringo treeing a bear and I actually called him off of the bear and he came back
to me and sat next to me. It’s pretty amazing to see an animal with no fear and putting it’s life on the line for you
at any time.
JOE THOMPSON: Their temperament is beyond gentlemen and I think that’s breed wide. For the most
part, they maintain a very dignified, stoic appearance and demeanour.
JOE THOMPSON: I go in the woods with my sons as often as I do with my dogs. It's a part of our life, they look
forward to it. My boys get off the school bus and they’re saying, “Hey, let's take the dogs swimming!”
And in the summer the fun part is, is they get to swim with them and that is really, really fun to watch because
my boys can hold onto their necks and they’ll swim in the water like, riding a dolphin, so to speak.
Only they’re riding a mastiff in the water and it’s kind of cool.
JOE THOMPSON: As my dad always said to me, “You’re safer in the woods than walking down a busy street”
and nothing could have been more true. In this day and age to find a place where you can't hear a car, and you
can't hear a train, and you can't hear anything, It's so different you know, there is a sound to silence.
JOE THOMPSON: You never bond as well as you do with your dogs or your kids as much as you do when you’re
out there and it's just a big part of our lives, it's a highlight of our weekends.
JOE THOMPSON: Yes, I love them more than you could ever really say in words. Real, genuine love that’s not
conditional in any way.
They will love you no matter what, no matter what kind of mood you’re in so, really, it's a huge part of my life.