About us

Let's Talk about mastadors

Thank you for visiting our website! We are so excited to be able to share with you our dream of having a truly unique breed that will bring years of lasting love and security to your family. We are Rod and Mary Fries, from Colorado Springs, Colorado. We have 13 children, and 5 grandchildren, with 6 children still at home. After getting married, then moving around with the Air Force, we called Colorado Springs and surrounding area our home for the last 30 years. This is our story. We have owned dogs, bred and worked with them, for 20+ years. Our first breed was our brown Labrador Retriever, Guiness, who we used in field trials and hunting expeditions. His litters were stellar both in conformation as well as temperment. After years of service, our beloved Lab passed away from an auto accident in which he did not recover. Upon moving to a farm on the outskirts of Colorado Springs, we switched breeds and went with Australian Shephards; a fine working dog with a love for family and herding. We raised up litters of little tri color puff balls that made for both wonderful family companions, as well as farm dogs that did a fantastic job in working with their owners. Our primary dog, Molly, lived and loved life till her passing in 2017, at the ripe old age of almost 17 It was here that our journey to Mastadors began. About a year after Mollys passing, and a move into town, the head honcho began a job that took him out of town often, sometimes 2 weeks out of the month. As time went on, and a few "bumps" in the night during his absence, we realized that not only did we miss having a wonderful family dog, but we also "needed" a good dog that would watch over our family. We set about researching every breed there was, from guard dogs to small "yappers" that serve as a good first alert system. But we needed something special. We have both adult children and grandchildren, children still at home, and people that come and go as the at-home-children have guests to the house. First and foremost, we needed a dog that had an intimidation factor; in looks, bark, size, and if it came to it, protection; one that gave the vibe "it's just not worth it". At the same time, one that did not have a natural tendency to protect "too much"; we had to have confidence that a dad coming to pick up his child would not have a dog ready to bite him because he had never been to the house. We also needed a dog that could be calm and obedient as needed, since home gatherings would be frequent. Lastly, as an outdoor family (with a great love for camping and hiking), we needed a dog that could come with us, or our children, and be confident they would be right there, as needed. In our six month long search, we kept coming up with breeds that were good with some things, but not with others.
We needed it all.

Then we stumbled across the Mastador Breed. Seeing a blend of everything we were looking for was absolutely beyond exciting. We knew labs very well. Easy going, loyal, obedient, trustworthy. And while we had never had an English Mastiff, reading through Mastiff boards, asking lots of questions to both breeders and owners, we could be certain that the traits we loved- larger breed, intimidating, loyal, loving, protective but not overly so, as well as chill and child safe- would bring about the exact breed we were looking for. The ultimate Guardian Dog. It is our desire to provide for you a family dog that, when the sun sets, when you lay your head to the pillow, you have a wonderful companion that will be much more than just a loving family pet. You will have a family guardian, and the peace of mind that comes with it.
Thus our name, Sunset Mastadors.