HomeBreeds › Tibetan Mastiff

Working · Giant (70-150 lbs) · 10-12 years

Tibetan Mastiff

Independent, reserved, intensely protective; primitive nocturnal guardian of the Himalayas.

70–150 lb

At a glance

Kid-friendly
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First-time owners
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Energy
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Shedding
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Good with cats
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Alone time
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Apartment OK
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Trainability
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What this is

What they’re great at

✓ Handles alone time better than most breeds
✓ Devoted family loyalty - nothing gets past them
Why it matters

Honest challenges

The fur is a lifestyle
Heavy-shedding coat with seasonal blowouts.

What helps: The weekly rake routine in the Grooming Kit halves it. Robot vacuum on daily patrol (see Home Setup). A professional deshed blowout during coat-blow weeks saves the house.
Independent contractor, not employee
Bred to work without human direction - repetition drills insult them.

What helps: Short sessions, premium pay: five brilliant minutes beat thirty mediocre ones. Work WITH the instincts - scent games for noses, chase games for sprinters. Marker training makes your 'yes' crystal clear (Training School).
Prey drive is hardwired
Small fast animals flip an ancient switch - this is wiring, not disobedience.

What helps: Management IS the training: never unsupervised with small pets, period. Secure fencing plus leash or long line outdoors for life. Feed the drive legally: flirt pole and lure-chase games.
Selective about dog friends
Not every dog wants a hundred friends - this breed prefers a curated list.

What helps: Quality over quantity: a few calm, known companions beat any dog park. Parallel walks are the gold-standard introduction. Advocate for their space - declining strange dogs is good ownership.
What you can do

Exercise & training

Exercise: Moderate
Training profile — Guardian / mastiff / livestock guardian type: Bred to make independent decisions about threats. Your job is teaching them that YOU handle threat assessment. A professional trainer relationship from puppyhood is money well spent.
Sports and outlets that suit them: Property patrol as enrichment · Leash neighborhood exposure
What you can do

Grooming & coat

Grooming: Moderate-high.
Shedding: Heavy seasonal blow (once yearly).
Good to know

Health to know about

Hip/elbow dysplasia, hypothyroidism, inherited demyelinating neuropathy (tested), entropion
Breed-typical tendencies, not a diagnosis. Individual dogs vary enormously — your veterinarian screens for what matters for your dog.
How much should YOUR Tibetan Mastiff eat?

This page can only give breed ranges. The app calculates calories and portions from your dog’s actual weight and life stage, splits them across the right number of meals, and adjusts as they grow.

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Why it matters

Emergency red flags

Poisoning (chocolate, xylitol, grapes, medications, rodenticide)
Vomiting, drooling, tremors, collapse, or known ingestion
Call ASPCA Poison Control 888-426-4435 or Pet Poison Helpline 855-764-7661 immediately; do NOT induce vomiting unless instructed
Know your ER
Save your nearest 24-hour emergency vet's address and phone in your phone TODAY, not during a crisis
BLOAT / GDV - the minutes-matter emergency for this breed
Unproductive retching (trying to vomit, nothing comes), rapidly swelling/hard belly, drooling, pacing, sudden distress after eating
Drive to the ER immediately. Do not wait to see if it passes. Untreated GDV is fatal within hours
Heat stroke
Loud/frantic breathing, brick-red or blue gums, wobbliness, collapse, vomiting in heat
Move to AC, wet with cool (not ice) water especially belly/paws, fan, and drive to ER with windows down/AC on - even if the dog seems to recover
This page never carries product links in the emergency section. ASPCA Poison Control (888) 426-4435 · Pet Poison Helpline (855) 764-7661.
These need to work when the signal does not

The app keeps every Tibetan Mastiff red flag on your phone and opens them with no connection at all — which is the whole point at 2am in a car park. Add it to your home screen and it works like any other app.

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📊 The numbers

Typical ranges for planning, not promises — costs vary by region, breeder and individual dog.

GroupWorking
SizeGiant (70-150 lbs)
Lifespan10-12 years
Healthy adult weight70–150 lb
Original purposeGuarding flocks, camps, and monasteries at night.
Monthly care$130-$220
Typical puppy price$2,000-$5,000+
🐕 Similar breeds
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Add them once and everything here becomes about your dog: feeding by their weight, training picked for their stage, a day built around your hours, and a vitals log that shows the trend. Free, works offline, no account needed.

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