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January 2000 Featured Breed
Tibetan Mastiff/DO-KYHI The Mastiff of Tibet is believed by many cynology historians to be the origin of most mastiffs, mountain dogs and large herding breeds. It used to be a fierce guard dog that was kept in zoological gardens when imported to Europe in earlier centuries. Tibetan guard dogs are mentioned in Chinese documents dating from 1121 B.C. A more detailed description of the Tibetan dog was written by the Greek historian Megasthenes in 327 A.D. This is one of the most genuine breeds, which has been kept to type for literally thousands of years. The black guard dog with a terrifying bark that was kept by the nomadic Tibetan tribes has been mentioned by many explorers over the centuries. In modern times they were hardly known until the breed was imported to the United States, Germany and Switzerland in the 1970s. Today its temperament is not a problem though this is a dog that will protect its family and home and is wary of strangers. Although the Tibetan is called a "mastiff", it should not be as heavy and deep in body as many of the other traditional mastiff breeds. The Tibetan Mastiff should give an impression of having the strength and stamina to live in high altitude mountain ranges. The height at the withers should be over 26 inches/66 cm in males and 24 inches/61 cm in females. its body should be rather deep, almost rectangular, well muscled and with strong bone. The head should be massive with a pronounced stop, strong, but with not too long a muzzle. The ears are rather high set and carried close to the cheeks., the tail carried in a loose curl over the back. The coat should be medium long with very thick undercoat; males in particular should have longer coat around the neck to form a mane. Accepted colors are black, brown and bluish gray, with or without tan markings. Red or golden are also allowed. |
