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TagsBY PAT SUMMERS
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
Pity poor “Big Splash,” the red Tibetan mastiff puppy sold earlier this week for $1.5 M (US). That’s 10 million yuan in China, where the three-foot high, 180-pound furry puppy, reportedly “a perfect specimen,” was bred and bought.
It sounds as if it’s all about “arm candy” – or should that be “leash candy”? – for the multi millionaire coal baron who reportedly purchased the 11-month old. In becoming the world’s most expensive dog, Big Splash (Hong Dong in Chinese) became a significant status symbol.
One more ephemeral celebrity in a world full of them — what a come-down for a dog whose ancient breed has long been revered as guardians of flocks, nomad camps and monasteries. Big Splash better watch his back.
Originating with the nomadic cultures of Central Asia, Wikipedia tells us, the Tibetan mastiff typically retains instincts required for survival. These include canine pack behavior and, like the wolf, a single oestrus per year, instead of two.
To survive in a world of status seekers and nouveau riche, Big Splash will have to be lucky besides. Like pets the world over, he’ll have to learn submissiveness toward his master, who has the ultimate power over him. But that’s not a trait that has historically characterized this fierce breed.
Coming from antecedents reputedly strong-willed and powerful, the “baby” Tibetan mastiff will need patient socialization and obedience training. The newly affluent Chinese circles Big Splash will move in probably won’t tolerate much trouble or inconvenience in the forms of acting out or messing up. As “poster pup” for the elite, he’d better not behave too much like a puppy.
“Red” is a lucky color in China. It could work out differently for Big Splash. Rather than living “a dog’s life,” As Care 2 reports, indications are he’ll be bred (and bred and bred. . .), allowing his owner to quickly recoup that headline purchase price. The breeder who sold Big Splash said he saw love for the dog in the buyer’s eyes, but that’s all beside the point.
Because everybody wants a piece of a status symbol, impossible numbers of Big Splash descendents will be claimed over time. If bad breeding and in-breeding ever existed before, just wait, and Tibetan mastiffs will become the cocker spaniels of this century.
Among animal activists, China is notorious for being the source of unlabeled “fur trim” on clothing, often alleged to be from dogs and cats. Overbreeding progeny of Big Splash can only feed that despicable trade.
Beyond that come the moral issues connected with placing such a high value on one dog breed when millions of dogs are euthanized each year for lack of homes. Consider what Big Splash’s $1.5M – and the revenue from succeeding sales of Tibetan mastiffs — could do for animal relief efforts in Japan right now; for feral cats, a human-created problem, anywhere in the world; for endangered species and their habitats.
The Telegraph reports that before this $1.5M sale of Big Splash, the world's most expensive dog was another Tibetan mastiff, named Yangtze River Number Two, sold in 2009 for four million yuan. On arrival in Xi'an, the dog was chauffeured home by a motorcade of 30 black limousines, prompting widespread scorn at the tastelessness of some of China's nouveau riche.
Sounds as if it will get worse before it gets better.
The Tibetan mastiff is also known as “Do-Khyi,” which Wikipedia says is variously translated as “home guard,” “door guard,” and “dog which may be tied (or kept).” To those alternative names, “dog in peril of being treated as a commodity” might now be added.
Freelance writer Pat Summers also blogs at www.AnimalBeat.blogspot.com.
