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The Mastiff Club of America stated:

"The term 'Mastiff' describes a group of dogs rather than a single breed. It is supposed to have originated in Asia. Cassel finds drawings on Egyptian monuments of typical mastiffs dating back to 3000 B.C. Carser describes the Old Englishmastiff in his account of the invasion of Britain in 55 B.C. They fought beside their masters against the Romans."

Some historians declare that Mastiffs before the Christian Era weighed between 250 and 300 pounds, and the Assyrian kings on fete days sent the most powerful into pits to fight lions.

The "Complete Dog Book," in another unsigned article, which dealt with the Chow Chow, stated:

"There was discovered, not so very long ago, a bas-relief, dating back to the Han Dynasty, about 150 B.C. That definitely places the Chow as a hunting dog in that period. While this establishes the breed as more than 2,000 years old, it is believed by many authorities that the Chow goes back much further."

An article dealing with the Italian Greyhound said:

"There is strong evidence that the Italian Greyhound was an effete favorite in the ancient days of Pompeii." Jack Baird of Hartford, Conn., an international authority on dogs and their breeding, points out that articles in the "Complete Dog Book," are by experts on certain breeds and that the A.K.C. does not offer such articles as its own conclusions. Baird states that all breeds of today trace back through one cross or another to such basic species as the Afghan, Saluki, Greyhound and Tibetan Mastiff, and perhaps one or two more.

In feudal times in England the Saluki was so highly regarded that none but royalty and nobility was permitted to own one, and to kill such a dog was a crime punishable by death.