Think they’re cute? Well if you have a few million to spare in your bank account they can be yours!
In March 2014 a property developer from the Eastern Shandong Province laid down $3.2 million for the Tibetan Mastiff twins. The golden-haired 1-year-old pups, weighing 200 pounds already, was priced at $1.9 million.
It is believed to be the most expensive dog sale in history.
According to the breeder, the puppy has a quiet and gentle temperament, but also strong guarding instincts. He warns he would readily bark and bite a strange intruder.
The golden-red colour is especially valuable in an already pricey breed. A regular Tibetan Mastiff retails at several hundreds of thousands of dollars. The price rises with the quality of the dog, the admiration of the owner and the breeder’s expectations.
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The twins are not the first Tibetan Mastiffs to make news with their sky-high prices. A red mastiff by ‘Big Splash’ or ‘Hong Dong’ in Chinese sold for $1.5 million in 2001. It was at the time the highest dog price on record. He went to the home of a multi-millionaire coal baron. ‘Big Splash’ beat out another mastiff known as ‘Yangtze River Number Two’ which sold to a Chinese lady in 2009 for $600,000.
The Tibetan Mastiff has become a supreme status symbol for China’s new super-rich tired of investing in stock and the property market. Traditionally used as herding and hunting dogs in Central Asia and Tibet, the dogs are as prized by the Chinese as the giant panda. It is believed the dogs have ‘lion’s blood’ running through their veins.
The Tibetan Mastiff was previously popular with the British royal family. King George IV owned a pair of Tibetan Mastiffs in the 19th century that were given to him as a gift. In 1847, the Viceroy of India, Lord Hardinge, sent a mastiff called ‘Bhout’ to Queen Victoria. Her son, the Prince of Wales, imported two more, one of which, called ‘Siring’ was exhibited to the public at Alexandra Palace in the December of 1875.