Rockford woman will show her prized Neapolitan Mastiff at Westminster

Almost half of her life, Rockford resident Rhiannon Stine dreamed of seeing a Neapolitan Mastiff in person.

Now, not only does she own the rare breed of dog, but she'll be also showing her in this year's Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.

Stine's journey to the nation's premiere dog show held in New York began in late 2019 when she and a friend, Tegan Ottowitz, traveled to Michigan to see two Neapolitan Mastiffs for all of 10 minutes in a dog show. It was Stine's first time seeing the rare breed in person.

"It's been my dream breed since I was 16," Stine, 29, said.

Little did she know that the Michigan trip was the first step to fulfilling her dream. In addition to seeing the two massive droopy-face dogs at the show, Stine met dog breeder Charina DeFur — a dog breeder, someone she followed on Facebook but never met.

A few months later in 2020, shortly after the onset of COVID-19, Stine received a Facebook message from DeFur asking if she wanted to co-own with her a Neapolitan Mastiff named Sylvia, then a 16-month-old canine who responds to "Via."

DeFur explained that Via had been purchased by a man living in Mexico, but because of the pandemic, the border was closed and could not be delivered.

"That's how I got Via," Stine said. "Charina was like, 'You drove five hours just to see two dogs enter in a show for 10 minutes. You seem pretty passionate about it.'

Neapolitan Mastiffs, once in danger of being extinct, are common in Italy, their country of origin, but rare in the United States.

The dogs cost anywhere from $2,500 to $6,000 because of how rare they are and being difficult to breed.

Via, like most fully-grown female Neapolitan Mastiffs, weighs about 150 pounds. Males can weigh as much as 185 pounds and stand 26 inches to 30 inches in height.

Via, raised and trained by Stine, competed in seven shows in 2021-2022 garnering enough points to place fourth in the country for her breed prompting the Westminster invite.

So, what makes a prize show dog?

According to Stine, dogs need to be used to strangers coming up, touching them all over while not reacting. When it comes to Neapolitan Mastiffs, they're judged on their shape and how well they move.

"When Neos move, they kind of move like a big cat. It even says in their standard that they lumber with a long reach, and they resemble that of a big cat."

The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show is May 9 and May 10 and highlights are typically aired on television during Thanksgiving.

If you don't want to wait until then, you might see Via and Stine out and about town.

"No dog parks," Stine said. "Sometimes I'll walk her in neighborhoods, but rarely due to loose dogs."

Chris Green: 815-987-1241; cgreen@rrstar.com; @chrisfgreen

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Rockford woman's dog to show at Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show