What is the origin of the tibetan mastiff?
This is a very ancient breed. Some scholars suggest that the breed is the source for all the breeds of large dog around the world, and has been in existence for more than a few millenia. “Tibetan Mastiff” is a breed name given by western dog fanciers over 100 years ago to a number of closely related breed strains from all over the Himalayan Mountains. Tibetan names for these varieties of dog did not translate into appropriately descriptive names (e.g., “tied dog”, “best dog”, etc.), so they were all collected into what western breed clubs now call the Tibetan Mastiff. Dogs seen in the United States can be traced to mostly Indian, Nepalese, and Tibetan breeding stock.
