Is the Tibetan Mastiff the new Neo'?
Unfortunately our urbanization and explosion of wealth and personal choices of "symbols" have lead to the the demise of many venerable dog breeds. It seems that we no longer need a dog that can perform a function in harsh environments but rather something to show others how "cool" we are and how unique the dog. The more unique and expensive the more props one would get. So someone paying a king's ransom for a dog that is expected to live for 12 years is exorbitant.
There are some of us who continues to work our dogs and employ them for their created function as best as possible. Those doing that - must be congratulated and encouraged as the restrictions of "civilized" society squeeze us into oblivion and take our dogs with us. So, spending millions of dollars on a dog is someone's right and freedom to do so if they have the money and the will. I look at things like that and smile at the lengths to which some will go to be "different." At least he did not buy the dog to eat it and some gourmet function for the new moneyed class.
-
At one point the T.M. was considered to be a sound dog that one could purchase and expect to get a mountain dog that could handle a harder terrain and guard what you trained it to. Now, it is a shell of what once was, with an added 20 pounds of fur. The eyes are so deeply set and heavily hooded that the animal would have a hard time seeing anything that isn't right in front of it. The coat is unusable for any mountain living, as the animal would freeze to death after turning into a large block of ice!
http://nypost.com/2014/03/19/tibetan-mastiff-with-lions-blood-sells-for-1-9m/
My question is, Why?
What's the point of having Yet another unusuable "working" dog?
-
Unfortunately our urbanization and explosion of wealth and personal choices of "symbols" have lead to the the demise of many venerable dog breeds. It seems that we no longer need a dog that can perform a function in harsh environments but rather something to show others how "cool" we are and how unique the dog. The more unique and expensive the more props one would get. So someone paying a king's ransom for a dog that is expected to live for 12 years is exorbitant.
There are some of us who continues to work our dogs and employ them for their created function as best as possible. Those doing that - must be congratulated and encouraged as the restrictions of "civilized" society squeeze us into oblivion and take our dogs with us. So, spending millions of dollars on a dog is someone's right and freedom to do so if they have the money and the will. I look at things like that and smile at the lengths to which some will go to be "different." At least he did not buy the dog to eat it and some gourmet function for the new moneyed class.
-
The tibetan mastiff was never a real LGD created in the 1800s by crossing asian shepherd dogs with stbernards and mastiff dogs.
Read more here: http://molosserdogs.com/m/articles/view/1154-tibetan-mastiff
-
They use these dogs for meat production !
-
You mean they eat them? Very expensive meal, 30 thousand per kilo. They may eat street dogs but this use only to feed their own ego and complexes...
-
The meat mastiff is the "black dragon mastiff"
-
Old's photo's of TM's
-
You mean they eat them? Very expensive meal, 30 thousand per kilo. They may eat street dogs but this use only to feed their own ego and complexes...
I mean that this dog used for breeding for meat production!
-
As is the faith of all breeds, the commercialization and popularization of a breed for the primarily purpose of satisfying the public's demand with emphasis on aesthetics over function results in the inevitable demise of the breed. Form must always follow function if breed integrity is to be maintained. The issue with the TM is of concern, in that this breed is in reality at present a reconstituted breed, with few pure TM specimens having survived. Multiple different breeds were likely incorporated in the TM genetic pool in recent years. Certainly the Chow, Newfoundland, Bernese Mountain Dog, and perhaps Caucasian Ovcharka to name a few. With some egomaniacal nouveau riche person purchasing a TM for $2 mil, many breeders will then strive to create a dog that the next fool will throw money after, with little concern for the functional capabilities of the dog, so long as it has the "right" look and color, with the lions mane. Few very wealthy Chinese will purchase the TM for its guarding instincts, but rather for its aesthetics and the prestige and attention bestowed the owner by others. They wish to impress and announce to the world, here I am, I am filthy rich, look at me. To that end a rare breed held in high cultural esteem is able to accomplish the task, regardless of its functional capabilities.
I have always preferred large athletic dogs, with emphasis on athleticism and temperament. However, size without proper structure, locomotion/kinesiology, and breed specific temperament is of little value to me or the dog.
I have owned two Bernese Mountain Dogs, both of whom were excellent male specimen, superior to what is often seen today. What happened to this breed, as i currently see many poor specimen. Humans can be a bit crazy and inventive when it comes to dogs and aesthetics. I remember one show judge informing me that the white on the Berners chest must be in the shape of a Swiss Cross. I looked at this judge and thought to myself WTF is this imbecile talking about. How and why should anyone make it their ambition to ensure that markings on a breed resemble a swiss cross ( I always preferred the Celtic cross myself). How can this benefit a dog functionally, and what other genetic cross-links will be realized unintentionally when selectively breeding for white swiss cross chest markings?