Tibetan Mastiffs, anymore on the forum? General Chat

The last time i met 2 TM's at DD a few years back i went to the booth a few times as they were asleep everytime
All the people there all the dogs there and they slept and slept ..

OH MY GOD !

Funnily enough, Ben had the same label fetish, although he didn't do any real damage, he would though, pull the eyes of any toys, just the eyes, nothing else, he also loved to walk about with a plastic plant pot.
The worst he did was to pull my camera down from a high shelf in the middle of the night, the strap was dangling down and he must have thought " hmmm, wonder what this does ? "
You certainly need a very good sense of humour to own a TM, and a devil may care attitude to your possessions

Ha !...that's what they wanted you to believe, they weren't asleep, they were mounting a covert operation, the purpose of which was known only to them

They sound a lot like my gang in temperament.

I know Andy, he's a lovely bloke and his dogs are fab. He's certainly an honest chap to speak to for anyone interested in the breed.

That's because there were really 3 TMs there, but the two you saw were covering for the one digging the escape tunnel.

I was tempted to bend down and nudge the massive red male ,but i thought better of waking a sleeping Tm...LOL

Stupid question - what are the 'proper' colours? I've seen a gorgeous red and plenty of black and tans. I've also seen a stunning grey, that my OH loved... Are all the colours common?

Puppy hunting is hard. Rewarding, but hard! I'll take the black and tan from work if I can, but I'd like to know what to look for and who are good breeders just in case.

Dokhyi will probably know more than I do, but i think the black and tan is the more common colour, but red and grey are also recognised colours.

Have you had a look at the KC website ? there's a great tool on there to find out a breeds average inbreeding percentage, you can even enter in specific names and get the exact percentage.

They come in black and grey, either solid or with tan markings. Also in gold of various shades. There's a breeder in the USA that's had the odd chocolate and lilac puppies, but they are not at all common or accepted in the showring.

Black & tan is the commonest colour, followed by grey & tan and gold. Solid black and grey seem to be more unusual. White markings on the chest are quite acceptable too. My lad has a shallow v on his chest a bit like a moon bear does.

By the way, the ladies only come in season once a year and all the puppies are normally born around December and January.

They're cousins so do you think the OCD label fetish is a family trait?

I know I shouldn't laugh, but it's quite obvious to me, in my TM addled mind, that the camera dangled it's sstrap enticingly, then attacked poor Ben by jumping on his head when he was just staring innocently and curiously up at it. TMs are one breed that you should never leave in a room with a big red button and tell them not to press it.

I think you could well be right on the camera front. He pulled it down in the middle of the night and when I got up to see what the thump was he was stood there with a " wasn't me guv " look of innocence on his face.

I remember staying at friends once, we were going out for the day and asked my friends husband to let Ben out for a wee, the hubby was supposed to be going out himself but had to abandon his plans as he couldn't get Ben back in the house , when i got back he did a " ooooo, you wanted me to come back in, well you only had to ask " nothing harder to shift than a TM.