Tibetan Mastiff

The Tibetan Mastiff has an average need for exercise, but tends to grow destructive if cooped up indoors all day. For this reason, Tibetan Mastiff ownership is discouraged for small apartments. Tibetan Mastiffs enjoy going to the countryside, but are not interested in playing fetch or games with a ball. The Tibetan Mastiff should not be over exercised when young as it needs all its energy to grow strong bones and put on weight. Tibetan Mastiffs are not well suited to hot weather.

The Tibetan Mastiff is a powerful, heavy, but athletic dog, the Tibetan Mastiff is built to combine strength and agility. Its body is slightly longer than tall. Its walk is slow and deliberate, while its trot is powerful and light-footed. The whole appearance is impressive, with a solemn but kindly expression. The coat, which is noticeably heavier in males than in females, is thick and fairly long, especially around the neck and shoulders. The tail is densely coated and the hind legs well feathered on the upper parts. The hair is coarse, straight and hard, standing off from the body. It carries a heavy undercoat in cold weather, but little undercoat in warm weather. This combination of coat types allows the Tibetan Mastiff to endure the extremes of Tibetan weather.

As befitting their long past as a solitary sentry and protector, Tibetan Mastiffs are independent, strong willed, and territorial. They are aloof toward strangers but devoted to their family. Proper socialization is essential so that they will accept strangers and not become overly suspicious. They are gentle and patient with their children, but may guard their home against visiting children who may appear to be threatening the family children. They are generally good with other dogs and are rarely dog aggressive. (In Tibet, they were often kept with Lhasa Apsos.) Most Tibetan Mastiffs are good with other animals.

The Tibetan Mastiff, or Do-khyi, is a large working dog from the Himalayas. Tracing the breed’s history back to antiquity, it acted as the guardian and companion of the Tibetan villagers and nomads, as well as being the traditional guardian of the Tibetan monasteries. Some accounts by travelers to the region, dating as far back as the late 1200s, describe a large dog that may have been a representative of one of the landraces used to establish the Tibetan Mastiff as a standardized breed. These accounts mention the natural strength and physical and mental impressiveness, which is evident in the Tibetan Mastiff today. Even its deep bark has been described as a unique and highly treasured feature of the breed. Many cynologists consider the Tibetan Mastiff the forefather of all large mountain and mastiff breeds. The Tibetan Mastiff was first recognized by the AKC in 2007. Some of the Tibetan Mastiff’s talents are livestock guardian and home guardian.