# The Mighty Himalayan Mastiff!



## Arun (Feb 27, 2009)

The Gaddi Mastiff!

a well known defender and a highly intelligent and lionhearted guardian!












true working dog! he is described by ancient authors as below

Aristotle's opinion
In BOOK VIII Chapter XXIII, “….. mythologically it is said that Indian dogs have been born from a cross breeding between the dog and the tiger…..”



"They say that the Indian dog is a cross between the tiger and the bitch, not the first cross, but a cross in the third generation; for they say that the first cross is a savage creature. They take the bitch to a lonely spot and tie her up: if the tiger be in an amorous mood he will pair with her; if not he will eat her up, and this casualty is of frequent occurrence."
( The history of animals by Aristotle:350 BC)



"Animals grow biggest in india ,from india comes the dog that are larger than all others."( Naturalis Historia by Pliny the elder 77CE)



"The Indian dogs are very large and even attack lions. "( Ctesias,400BC)



"His country possesses a noble breed of dogs, used for hunting,and said to refrain from barking when the sight their games which is chiefly the Lion .Sopithes( the indian king) wishing to show alaxender the strength and mettle of theses dogs caused a very large lion to be placed within an enclosure where four dogs in all were let loose upon him.The dog at once fastened upon the wild wild beast ,when one of the huntsman who was accustomed to work of this kind tried to pull away by the leg one of the dogs which with the others had seized the lion ,and when the limb would not come away,cut it off with his knife.the dog could not even by this this means forced to let let go his hold ,an so the man proceeded to cut him in another place,and finding him still clunching the lion as tenaciously as before ,he contined cutting away with his knife one part of him after another .The brave dog ,however ,even in dying kept his fangs fixed in the lion's flesh."
(The Invasion Of India By Alexander The Great As Described By Arrian, Q. Curtius, Diodorus, Plutarch And Justin)



"Indian dogs were highly prized among the Persian aristocracy; Xerxes I (489-65 B.C.E.) reportedly took a large number of them with his army when he marched against Greece. One of the Persian satraps of Babylon assigned the revenues derived from four large villages in that province to the care of his Indian hounds. A dog belonging to Darius III (336-30 B.C.E.) supposedly refused to leave his corpse after he had been struck down by Bessus."
( Encyclopaedia Iranica By Mahmoud and Teresa P. Omidsalar.







“ Curtius after describing the many good qualities of the people and their high mental standard and physical beauty, tells us of a type of hunting dog whose prowess was exhibited in the arena before Alexander: ‘four of which being let loose upon a lion, an officer took one which was fastened upon the beast, and cut off one of his legs, then another, and continued to hack and mangle him till he had killed him, yet was the dog so obstinate and savage that he would not let go, but left his teeth sticking in the lion.’
A number of these dogs were presented to Alexander ,many of which eventually found their way back to Macedonia to survive even to this day as the breed now known as the ‘Molossian mastiff’. That they were identical to ferocious- looking hunting dogs depicted in the bas-relief of the palace at Nimrud ( circa 640 B.C. and the palace of Assurbanipal at Ninevah(668-628 B.C.); these bass-reliefs can be seen in the British Museum there can be no doubt.
They were also probably the terrible war dogs of Manghols (Mughals) at the time of their
conquests, and probably the ancestors of the modern Banjara and Poligar dogs, fierce and intractable brutes standing about thirty-two inches high at the shoulder, used in india for hunting tigers and panthers.” (As written exactly in the book “Alexander the great” by Lawis Vance Cummings).

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retaining true specimens has been a very challenging journey for enthusiasts like us! they can be described as endangered historical race who has always been the king's favourite choice as guard dogs and body guards and war dogs! they are the ancestors of most other mastiffs! they are the mysterious indian mastiffs that were described in the legends! despite their large size, they are known to live a long life!! they mature very slowly! they are true gems of canine race!


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## animalcraker (Nov 9, 2006)

It looks like the Tibetan Mastiff. What's the difference between the two?


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## Arun (Feb 27, 2009)

nothing actually.. i can say that these are indian variant of tibetan mastiffs.. but i along with some serious enthusiasts don't agree with the name 'tibetan mastiff'. foundation dogs which created what we call as 'tibetan mastiff' were taken from india,nepal and tibet (from all over himalayas) and these mastiff types are spread across himalayas. the same dog will be addressed to by two different names in two different region. like if i bring this dog to europe, people call it as 'tibetan mastiff'. but in one part of northern india, they call it as gaddi,in nepal, they call it as bhote kukur. and in tibet, they call it do khyi or anything, in china, they call it zangao.

these dogs share the same characteristics. but these dogs differ from what people call tibetan mastiff in the west as far as built and size is concerned.. these are a bit taller and bigger.. i could say that they are regional variants or another strain of tibetan mastiff or one of the types of mastiffs of himalayan mountains.


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## Equinox (Nov 11, 2008)

In Tibet it's the Do Khyi
In China it's the Zang Ao (two words, because zangao looks like zanGAO)

Tibetan mastiffs are fantastic dogs, so beautiful. I watched a documentary about them guarding the monasteries in Tibet and a celebrity who now breeds them and buys the well bred ones for the equivalent of $300,000.


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## Arun (Feb 27, 2009)

ya.. these dogs are marvellous! they are known to be sold for even 10 million $.. but worth of a dog cannot be measured by money, but still, if it is so costly, then genuine dog lovers can't afford to buy one..


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## Spicy1_VV (Jun 1, 2007)

Lovely dogs. Are they pictures of your own? 

You will find that many westerners often are only aware of the show version and kennel club stories of breeds.


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## Arun (Feb 27, 2009)

Spicy1_VV said:


> Lovely dogs. Are they pictures of your own?
> 
> You will find that many westerners often are only aware of the show version and kennel club stories of breeds.


some were clicked by us personally.. others were sent by my friend who clicked them! two of the dogs in the pic are related to my dog. the dog in the first n second pic is the grand father of my dog and dog in the third pic is a half brother of my dog!! both are over 33 inches in height, but very agile and strong!


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## anonymusneo (Apr 28, 2009)

arun bhai kya hai hai? its me sunny..


arnt tibetan mastiff's origanaly from tibetan wolfs?


i think i heard u or sunny pajji saying that .


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## BigBlackDogGal (Mar 16, 2009)

This is probably a stupid question, but is this the dog that has the lion mane cut? I was watching a dog show a few weeks ago and there was some giant mastiff breed that was gorgeous with a show clip that made it look like a lion.


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## Keechak (Aug 10, 2008)

BigBlackDogGal said:


> This is probably a stupid question, but is this the dog that has the lion mane cut? I was watching a dog show a few weeks ago and there was some giant mastiff breed that was gorgeous with a show clip that made it look like a lion.


there are no giant breed dogs that get cliped like a lion


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## BigBlackDogGal (Mar 16, 2009)

This looks like a lion to me! 

http://aycu29.webshots.com/image/31868/2002546467273577061_rs.jpg

http://aycu16.webshots.com/image/30135/2002583442278299685_rs.jpg

http://english.cri.cn/mmsource/image/2006-1-24/Tibenli.jpg

When did the AKC recognize this breed?


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## anonymusneo (Apr 28, 2009)

ok see this video







and thiss too






still dont think they are tiger cross bred?  besides its the 3rd generation 1st one was a savage creature it was done like a long time ago ... thats called himalayan mastiff ..


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## Arun (Feb 27, 2009)

anonymusneo said:


> arun bhai kya hai hai? its me sunny..
> 
> 
> arnt tibetan mastiff's origanaly from tibetan wolfs?
> ...


sunny, origins of tibetan mastiff is a mystery! no one knows for sure about their ancestry.. they may have come from himalayan wolves..



BigBlackDogGal said:


> This is probably a stupid question, but is this the dog that has the lion mane cut? I was watching a dog show a few weeks ago and there was some giant mastiff breed that was gorgeous with a show clip that made it look like a lion.


well, himalayan mastiffs are nothing but a regional variant of what they call 'tibetan mastiff' and some dogs do have lion like mane.. but HMs seldom have it.. dogs from china are bred to have it!



BigBlackDogGal said:


> This looks like a lion to me!
> 
> http://aycu29.webshots.com/image/31868/2002546467273577061_rs.jpg
> 
> ...


akc recognizes it as tibetan mastiff


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## Keechak (Aug 10, 2008)

BigBlackDogGal said:


> This looks like a lion to me!
> 
> http://aycu29.webshots.com/image/31868/2002546467273577061_rs.jpg
> 
> ...


none of the dogs in those pictures are clipped to look that way. Their hair naturally grows like that.

The AKC recognized the Tibetan Mastiff in 2006 here is the AKC page of the breed

http://www.akc.org/breeds/tibetan_mastiff/


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## preetham (Feb 22, 2010)

Hi Arun,

Beautiful specimens,I am a dog lover ,what is the difference between a Bhotia and a Gaddi kuta...would like to talk or mail u.

preetham


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