KC Breed Standard - Tibetan Mastiff

An audio and pictorial description showing the (interim) KC Breed Standard for the Tibetan Mastiff in the UK, as amended November 2004.
THE TIBETAN MASTIFF-K.C. INTERIM BREED STANDARD
(as amended 1 Nov. 2004)
This strong, well built dog is found in the foothills of the Himalayas and the borders of Tibet. He is primarily a guard dog, used to protect the flocks from preying wildlife and the home from intruders.
A powerful dog, without the massive frame of the Mastiff, he is well coated with a bushy tail. Usually, black, or black and tan, he can also be found in gold, and shades of grey. In his native environment he is very distrustful of strangers, and can be quite ferocious. However, dogs bred in Europe and America do not generally display these tendencies.
GENERAL APPEARANCE: Large, powerfully built, slightly longer than high. Well boned and muscled, never light but always agile. Impressive head provides a noble, dignified look, enhanced by a mane, which is more pronounced in males, balanced by a well feathered tail carried over the back.
CHARACTERISTICS: A loyal companion, and guardian. Slow to mature.
TEMPERAMENT: Independently minded, aloof and protective. Calm and patient. May be wary of strangers.
HEAD AND SKULL: Broad, heavy and strong. Skull large, with strongly defined occiput and marked stop. Length from nose to stop equal or slightly less than length from stop to occiput. Muzzle fairly broad, well filled, blunt, and square viewed from all sides. Broad, black nose, well opened nostrils. Lips well developed with moderate flews. In maturity, some wrinkling on head extending from above eyes to corner of mouth.
EYES: Very expressive, medium size, dark brown. Set well apart, oval and slightly slanting. Dark, close fitting eye rims.
EARS: Medium size, triangular, pendant, not set too low, hanging close to head. When alert, carried forward. Ear leathers covered with soft, short hair.
MOUTH: Jaws strong with perfect, regular and complete scissor bite, i.e. upper teeth closely overlapping lower teeth and set square to the jaws. Level bite acceptable. Full dentition desirable.
NECK: Strong, well muscled, slightly arched. Not too much dewlap.
FOREQUARTERS: Muscular, well laid shoulders. Strongly boned, straight legs with strong, slightly sloping pasterns.
BODY: From point of shoulder to point of buttock slightly longer than height at withers, as 10 to 9. Strong and straight back. Broad, muscular loins, with very slightly sloping croup. Chest rather deep, of moderate breadth. Ribcage oval, ribs well sprung but not barrelled, carried well back. Brisket reaching to, or just below, elbows.
HINDQUARTERS: Powerful, muscular, with moderate angulation and strong, low-set hocks. Hindlegs, seen from behind, parallel. Single or double dewclaws may be present.
FEET: Fairly large, strong, with thick pads, rounded and compact. Having good feathering between toes.
TAIL: Medium to long. Set on high. Loosely curled over back to one side. Well feathered.
GAIT/MOVEMENT: Powerful and free, with purpose and agility. Measured and deliberate when walking. At speed will tend to single-track.
COAT: Males carry noticeably more than females. Quality of greater importance than quantity. Densely coated, fairly long, thick, with heavy, woolly undercoat in cold weather which becomes rather sparse in warmer months. Hair fine, hard and straight, never silky, curly or wavy. Hair on face short. Neck and shoulders heavily coated, giving mane-like appearance. Tail heavily feathered, hindlegs well feathered on upper rear parts.
COLOUR: Rich black, with or without tan; slate grey, with or without tan; rich golden. The rich tan markings appear above eyes, on muzzle, on chest, the lower part of legs and underside of tail. Spectacle markings around eyes acceptable. White star on breast permissible. Minimal white markings on feet tolerated. Cream, white, chocolate/liver, parti-colour, brindle or flecked are undesirable.
SIZE: A minimum height of 66 cms. (26ins) in dogs and 61 cms. (24ins) in bitches is desirable, but on no account should type be sacrificed to size alone.
FAULTS: Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree and its effect upon the health and welfare of the dog.




NOTE: Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• kennel
• club
• tibetan
• mastiff
• breed
• standard
• uk
• TM

[LeDobermann88]

very good and educative video ... thanks :)

[K9TMD]

Thanks Dobe

[AD49938]

wow...this kind of voice is knocking me down...it seems an absolutely bored talker!!!!

Would you like to put a little more interest in it? Seems you are reading the telephone user´s list

[sandychanchan04]

I think China is trying to confirm a standard of the TM nowadays and that's really different from the Europe and UK,the Chinese are arguing of the TMs which look like a lion is pure or not.The TM in 0:33 is the best but the gold one looked a little strange from the others.

[rockychinchilla]

Hiya mate yeah i see through people like this all them time !! and KC breeder's in my eyes are rude evil and not very nice people at all !! thats why am hope i never get my breed KC reg just because i cant be doing with people like this i have better things to do ,like put hot pins in my eyes !!....LOL

[Cuvac]

Rocky, nice to see that you also see through losers like this person.

CaneCorso game-pit super-corso is still in your list though! :)

2bad people spoil ancient races and breed them into nothing more then showitems.. bye bye TM!

[K9TMD]

Yeah, actually my wife's cousin used to be a dog handler with the police, and bred quite a few GSD's to provide to the force. And YES, I gotta admit, they were true straight backed dogs, not like the sloping showdogs one sees nowadays. My own GSD when I was a kid had also a level back and was big, thats how i remeber all alsations in those days. So I do agree about what you say some breeders are doing, and I dont like it either.

[IMOZZA]

I was watching send in the dogs programme the other day and just caught the narrator saying about the g shepherd, "born and red by the greater manchester police" proving working type has to be created by themselves not from the KC breeders just something else to ponder and show its not just us gamekeepers that feel this way.

I leave it at that anyway mate nice talking to you good luck with it.

[K9TMD]

........ and you would surely end up with such wide variations in each breed they would be unrecognisable. So in your own breeds, and I mean WORKING dogs not showdogs, do you gamekeepers not have some sort of written description to describe what you think your lab, spaniel dobe etc should be????

[K9TMD]

It is obvious that we both have to agree to disagree Imozza. Whilst I respect your opinion, I still fail to understand how you can possibly describe ANY breed of dog without having some sort of written guildeline? Call it a breed standard, a description or whatever you like, new people coming into ANY breed have to have some kind of guidance into what the dog looks like. My argument is that, without anything written down, anybody can guess at what THEY think the breed should be................