Chinese Tibetan Mastiff, belonging to the mastiffs, is a large and fierce dog. Tibetan Mastiff is one of the world's most ancient breeds, which is a special animal in Asia. More than 2000 years ago, Tibetan Mastiffs were active in the Himalayas and the alpine regions of the Tibetan Plateau with an elevation of 3000-5000 meters. Due to its loyal nature, Tibetan Mastiff is not only the best protection dog for nomads but also the best guard dog for kings and tribal chiefs. According to Tibetans, in pastoral areas, one adult Tibetan mastiff can guard 400 sheep, defeat three evil wolves and make leopards show the white feature, so it's called Heavenly Dog in Tibet. After westerners see the wonder of the Tibetan Mastiff, they call it “Oriental Supernal Dog”. In Nepali, it's called Bhote Kukur (bhote means someone from Tibet and kukur means dog). In Mongolian, it's called bankhar (bankhar means lion).
The Tibetan Mastiff plays a very important role in the improvement of many famous dogs, such as St. Bernard, Great Dane, Komondor, Newfoundland, as well as various mastiffs, which have the blood of Tibetan Mastiff. However, due to the special living environment of the plateau and the herdsmen's weak consciousness of bloodlines protection over the years, partial original Tibetan mastiffs have merged with the local shepherd dogs, resulting in fewer and fewer pedigree Tibetan mastiffs.
A pedigree adult Tibetan Mastiff weighs about 60 kg and is about 1.2 m long and 66 cm high. It has a thick coat of fur, strong muscles, strong limbs and torso and full of strength, a long tail lifted high or bent to one side, and four-point eyes (yellow or white dots on the eyebrows). Interestingly, under cold weather conditions, the fur is thick and soft as wool, resistant to cold, and can sleep peacefully in ice and snow; however, in warm weather conditions, the fur is very rare.
Purebred Tibetan Mastiffs are most commonly seen in the vast pastoral areas. According to the lineage, the Tibetan Mastiff is roughly divided into two types: lion head and tiger head. The lion head's skull is small and the nape hair is long while the tiger head's skull is large and the nape hair is short. The coat colors include fire mastiff (brown-red), snow mastiff (pure white), Black & Tan (black back and red hoof), yellow mastiff (golden), and black mastiff (black is not pure black, but slightly white hair on the chest and limbs).
