TIBETAN MASTIFF BREED NOTES 
by Andy Briggs

(Writing about the breed in the UK (and occasionally Europe) for Dog World Newspaper since November 2000
 

Please note: These are the unedited notes sent in-the actual notes appearing in the paper may have been edited slightly

AS FROM 3RD MARCH 2006, I WILL NO LONGER BE WRITING BREED NOTES FOR DOG WORLD NEWSPAPER

29.12.07

TIBETAN MASTIFF BREED NOTES-182 –3.3.06
A few of us in the breed received the following e-mail recently.“Dear breeder , we are interested to purchase of tibetan mastiff puppies, not only one , but potentially much more than one , probably a dozen f it , independently if male or female. Would you please forward me  the follow details; price per puppy, Minimum age for shipment overseas, freight estimated costs and availability of puppies period. We will be interested to engage this potential business on regular basis , provided there is availability. Please do not hesitate to mail me.”

In reply to queries I raised, the following e-mail came back within a few hours.

“My client is located in China, and the request come from a Lama, (tibetan Monks) that has already sold in the past this type of dog to his customers. They would like to have the black hair tibetan mastiff, but this is under my control at present. The need of many puppies is not much my concern we are only sourcing for the supplier, we basically act as a trading of life animals (legally allowed only). My location is now in Malaysia, where most of the trade are conducted, from all over the world towards china. The dogs basically is used to be the guardian of a temple, therefore is in a very open space and with a lot of care from the lamas monastery.  Over this I have a question, about prices, I learnt that in Eourope the price for a Puppy of this breed is around 1000 Euro , per head, with out shipment, what will be your quotation of a puppy if available?

Hope you will have such availability of puppies soon. Waiting for your reply”. 

That is strange; just a couple of weeks ago I was told there were thousands of these dogs in China, so why would they want to go to the time, trouble and vast expense of importing Western bred TM’s? Dubious to say the least.  

I am pleased to say that the Year Book is complete, and all sponsors will have received their copy by now. There are spare copies available for sale, either directly from me or at the forthcoming TMC Spring show. The price of £7.50 sterling will include UK postage. Likewise, I have almost finished the TMC Complete Breed Database, and am just waiting for some additional photographs. I hope to have this available at the TMC spring show. 

I am sorry to say these will be my final breed notes. Having compiled over one hundred and eighty weeks worth averaging between six and fifteen hundred words per week, I need to get a life away from this pc. I have found them fascinating to do, but very time consuming as well. I have no idea who will be taking over, but I wish them the very best of luck, and hope they too will enjoy writing them as much as I have these past almost six years.
Andy Briggs 01132 505 505                          e-mail: sobarnatms@aol.com

TIBETAN MASTIFF BREED NOTES-181 –24.2.06
Shirley Cawthorne sent me the results of a couple of recent shows. At Yeovil, BOB was  Bheara Chee Do Khen and BP was Caroline Allen's Bheara Dawa Say Gi (Elsa). At Newton Abbot & South Devon under Chris Quantrill, Tina Bowyer's, Bheara So Wa Prul (Albert) was best AV Working puppy. 

Deely Cumming asked me to warn people of the dangers of feeding dry food to very young puppies, and sent in the following;

“On 4th December 2005 my 11 year old daughter and myself helped our two and a half year old Bernese - 'Olive' to whelp her first litter. Eight pups, sadly we lost one. However, 7 healthy, happy puppies survived. We did not intervene with Olive's feeding regime until the pups were just over 4 weeks when the need for other sustenance kicked in. Having used a popular, highly-publicised brand of dried complete food before, I went down the same road with the addition of tripe combined with a little boiled water in the evening feed, and bananas and bio-yoghurt for the daytime feeds. The pups thrived and grew hourly, I'm convinced! Time passed, and the new puppy owners came for their pups at 7-8 weeks taking with them the free container, lead and small bag of Giant Puppy food gifted by the well-known dried food manufacturer. This, needless to say, was recommended by myself as one of the better complete dried foods. This left my 11 year old daughter and myself with the pup we had chosen to keep - 'Angus.' A handsome, chunky puppy, full of life and love, with total devotion and adoration towards this young human girl who had helped to rear and nurture him. This was, until yesterday, the 3rd February 2006. My daughter had her morning play with Angus and then went off to school. Another 'normal' day, or so we thought. It came to about 13.00pm and I went into the house to give Angus his lunch. I put his dried food in his bowl and he commenced his rapid devouring of it, with me saying to him, 'just take your time' to no avail. I popped outside for about 1-2 minutes as I had heard a dog bark and went to see what was happening. Upon my return, the dried food was scattered all over the floor and I immediately thought that this was very strange. I flew in the door and our precious little boy was lying slumped, already blue and lifeless. I did what I could, but there was an accumulation of dried food wedged in his throat. I phoned the vet who said bring him down immediately, which I did. The nurse was waiting at the door as I screeched up in the car. We charged in to the surgery, but it was no use. Angus had suffocated on the dried food. I then drove to collect my daughter from school as she would want to be with him. Talk about heartbreak. My daughter sat in the car with Angus for the next hour sobbing her heart out. She then wrote a poem for him and gathered a few treasured items to keep him company before we buried him in the garden. I am a 'sometimes' breeder and have fed complete food previously. However, over the past year I have been studying and adopting 'Natural Rearing' for my dogs. I shall continue to do this, and will not be feeding dried food again. It may be convenient and practical for we humans, but it's a potential killer for our beloved dogs! I have informed the dried food company and I will definitely not be recommending their food or any all-in-one complete food to the people who buy my puppies ever again”.
Andy Briggs 01132 505 505                          e-mail: sobarnatms@aol.com

TIBETAN MASTIFF BREED NOTES-180 –17.2.06
Shirley Cawthorne writes:
“Hi Andy, I received the Year Book. Many thanks.  I know that you put lots of effort and hard work into it. I’m not sure if you have noticed, or may want to let people know in Breed Notes, but Working and Pastoral Breeds Ass. of Wales is not on 22nd April, as stated in the Year Book. My Dog World year planner has it down as 22nd April but schedule gives the date as 15th April so I guess the schedule has to be right”. 

It would seem that there has been a typo somewhere down the line, as I took my information from the KC website show diary, which gave 22^nd April, but I also notice the different date printed on the schedule.  

This is am email I recently received from China;
“Dear anyone concerned. At present, there are 400,000 Tibetan mastiffs in China, but most of them are not pure Tibetan mastiffs, either having one parent of pedigreed stock and the other of unknown or mixed ancestry; or breeding by the continued mating of closely related individuals, which seriously hampers and frustrated the development of Tibetan mastiffs. Chinese government is quite aware of the gravity of this problem, so in the November of 2005, the China Tibetan Mastiff Association was founded authorized by the Chinese government, so that the reproduction and breeding of Tibetan mastiffs can be directed and managed by this professional organization.

Now Chinese government has started a DNA Diagnostics Center and began a DNA data bank for Tibetan Mastiffs, which offer CMOS chip for every tested Tibetan Mastiff so that a computer can track its family back. Up till now, there are over eighty Tibetan mastiffs in China which have the blood files of four generations and they all have CMOS chips in their bodies.

We are a company offering foreign services. Our president and top management have studied in the U.S. and they are familiar with the western contries. Therefore our company was entrusted by China Tibetan Mastiff Association to be the liaison to foreign associations or individuals, helping them to communicate with foreign contries; and accelerate exportation of the Tibetan mastiffs. Now our company has established cooperative partnership with over 40 Tibetan Mastiff breeding Centers all over the China, so that we can help them to export their pure Tibetan mastiffs to U.K.

If you and your members need to import Tibetan mastiffs of pedigreed stock, please contact us. We can offer the blood files of four generations of the Tibetan mastiffs and help process all the formalities. Yours. Francis, usa_investment@yahoo.com
 Miss Li Li, Vice General Manager of TOP Co., Ltd.” 

Someone who has been on my list for a puppy quite some time rang me in a bit of a panic recently, asking to confirm the price she would be paying for her puppy. After breathing a long sigh of relief when I told her it was still £800, the same as last year, she told me she had heard from someone who had seen pups being advertised at £5000. “You mean five hundred?” “No, five thousand”, came the reply. I said I thought that must have been in the Far East, but she seemed adamant that they were being offered here in the UK at that price.  

Antonia Owen tells me she has a hip score of 15:5= 20 back for Heronsview Kaiser, whilst Alexa Sutton has a score of 13/10=23 back for her import “Yogi” (Sierras Yogananda). 

Congratulations to the KC for offering online litter registration at last. I just missed this by a couple of weeks, having sent a paper copy. What a difficult task that turned out to be. I know our eyesight deteriorates as we get older, and I have so far managed the last fifty two years without glasses, but filling out the pup registration form this year really had me squinting and taxed my patience. Why on earth do they have to squeeze it all on one page, with those horrible little text squares we have to write each letter in? As I struggled with this, I thought, surely, in this day and age we should be able to do it electronically, with a system which rejects any unacceptable names automatically? Lo and behold, the powers that be must have been thinking on the same lines. I understand that it is a limited trial system which is being offered for the test, and one needs to register first. 

I think DW miss-typed a sentence in my notes of 2^nd February. First line on paragraph two should have read “was five and a half years old” not “over five years old”. The former is how I sent it in, but the way it was printed completely changed the story. Of coarse it is not impossible for a TM to be “over five years of age”, but it is almost impossible for a TM to be five and a half years old at this time of the year taking into account our breeding seasons. 

Year Books have now been posted out, but if anyone has not received their copy then please let me know. Copies will be available on the breed stand at the spring TMC show, or can be ordered by contacting me or Iris Feddon. 

I have also been working on producing the “TMC UK Complete Breed Database”, and this is now almost finished and ready to go to print. The fifty six A4 pages make for some very interesting reading on the history of our breed from 1982 to December 2005. Every litter born in the UK over this period is listed; each pups name along with sire, dam, Dob, date of KC registration, sex and colour, totaling 509 pups. Again, this should be on sale at the spring show, or available by post from me.

Andy Briggs 01132 505 505                          e-mail: sobarnatms@aol.com

TIBETAN MASTIFF BREED NOTES-179 –10.2.06
Pauline Goldsworthy contacted me with the sad news that her “Tobi” (Khukli Surtobi Belch) was sadly put to sleep on 27^th January at nine years of age. He was unable to walk due to the constriction of his spinal cord, and Pauline is awaiting the outcome of further tests to determine the cause of this. Most people following the breed will have come across Tobi, a large gold dog who was shown regularly from being a pup. Indeed, I well remember my first ever Tibetan Mastiff show with my own TM and meeting Tobi at Baginton in 1997 in the puppy classes. Tobi had a wonderful friendly temperament, as well as enjoying a lot of success in the ring. Among his many honours, he took BOB at the TMC show in 1998 under Eileen Haynes. His last show, to my knowledge, was the TMC last October, where he took second behind Heronsview Downtown Boy in veteran from a class of 6 under Jeff Luscott. Our condolences go to Pauline, Michelle and baby Rebecca on the loss of a wonderful representative of our breed.

Shirley Cawthorne tells me that Bath have given us 8 classes, to be judged by Mrs M Simpson. Schedules are available from Mr Keith Nathan - 01623 754450. 

Primoz Peer (primozpeer@yahoo.com) sent me a schedule and entry for the forthcoming Tibet Dog Europe Show, which this year is to be held in Slovenia. Mrs Margaret Sundqvist (Sweden) will judge Do Khyis, as well as Tibetan Spaniels and Terriers. Tony Moran from Ireland will judge Lhasa Apso, Shih-Tzu and the Juniorhandling class.
Andy Briggs 01132 505 505                          e-mail: sobarnatms@aol.com 

TIBETAN MASTIFF BREED NOTES-178 –3.2.06
I received an email recently from a couple named Jake and Jan, telling me they had just taken in a rescue/re-home TM named “Max”. Jake had found my website, and wrote asking for more info and advice on the breed. They lived in Mirfield, West Yorkshire, and told me the following day that they were going to take “Max” on his first outing with them. As neither of them drove, the threesome would be traveling using a series of  trains and buses on day rover tickets, ending up in Otley. They would then spend the day walking round this busy market town. Quite frankly, I was a bit startled, and wondered if they were being a bit too adventurous. Maybe they should consider short trips first, until they got to know the dog better, I suggested. Oh, no problem, Jake told me, if he doesn’t like it we can always turn round and head for home. Rather you then me, I thought-they had only owned the dog for two days.

I suggested they gave me a ring when they got to Otley,. If my Leah had not gone into labour by then, I could drive down there in fifteen minutes and meet up. Next day, the phone rang and I met them in the bus station. A self description by Jake was hardly needed; I spotted the TM from about half a mile as I entered town. We introduced ourselves, and I suggested that if Max would get into the back of my truck hardtop we could drive a short distance up onto Otley Chevin for a decent country walk. Max had no problem propelling himself into the vehicle, and off we went. During our fourty five minute walk we encountered many other dogs, and horses. None of these had any effect on Max, and he seemed quite at ease. We then went back to my place, leaving Max in my truck, and met the “pack”. They were both impressed with the breed, and promised to visit again before I dropped them all off at the local train station. 

Apparently, the previous owner had told Jake that Max was five and a half years old, which is almost impossible for a TM at this time of the year. It did not take long to do a little preliminary research to discover his true age (six), date of birth, full kennel name and name of parents. None of this information had been given to Jake when he took the dog, which by coincidence was on his sixth birthday, and neither was his medical record, or even a simple diet sheet. Jake tells me he still has not had a phone call from the previous owners to ask if he has settled in alright, even after two weeks. Max now shares his new home with six border collies and gets on well with them all. Jake says there have been no signs of him barking when outside, or even barking at all, which was supposed to be the reason he had to be re-homed.

Also on the re-homing front, Sean and Lynn Quigley have taken on Chang from Deborah Corrigan, who is pregnant and needed to find him a new home. Sean tells me that Chang is settling in well, despite a couple of early confrontations with his ten year old lurcher Eachann, who got a nipped ear. They are now both the best of buddies, and make a happy threesome along with their three year old TM bitch Milo.

Caroline Hughes contacted me with the results of   Manchester Champ show, where seven TM’s entered NSC and rare Breeds classes. All the TM’s were placed, in various positions from 2^nd to 5^th, and Sierras Yogananda took OD and went on to BOB NSC.

I have at last managed to obtain a full database of all TM’s registered in the UK, and this massive record goes back to 1982 and extends right up to December 2005. I hope to spend some time in the future studying this in more detail, but initially there are some very interesting facts and figures. The full database lists almost 800 dogs, and I was a little confused to see names of European and American dogs there which I know for a fact have never been on these shores. Looking closer at the information, I realize now why. When a puppy is imported from another country, or when a litter is registered to a UK bitch which has been mated abroad, her sire and dam are also registered on this list. Taking out all these “foreign” dogs, the list shrinks to 509 TM’s since 1982, slightly less than I was expecting over the 23 year period. If we roughly halved that figure to about 255, that would give us a very conservative estimate of the numbers of TM’s presently in this country. However, I would imagine that figure to be slightly higher, as more TM’s would probably have been born in the latter half of the period. I decided to split the sexes, and again this surprised me somewhat. I was expecting more dogs than bitches, as there always seems to be more boys in a litter than girls, certainly in litters we have bred. Not the case, there were 253 bitches and 256 dogs, almost exactly half of each. Colours too were very interesting, and there seemed to be a hotch pot of colours registered in the past, in the way of “what you see is what you register”. We see black, and black with cream, silver, tan, tan grey, tan white, white, white tan, blue, blue gold, blue tan, blue cream, gold, gold white, golden, light golden, red, red golden and finally red, golden and white. A confusing array of colours, but fortunately now only breed standard colours will be accepted by the KC. Putting all these colours into their correct genre gives us  a clearer indication of what the TM produces; black and tan 53%, black 12%, gold 14%, grey 3% and grey and tan 18%. I suspect many of the grey and tan would actually have been grey, as the tan does not show up too early in this colour and is sometimes more difficult to determine. According to the figures, only six TM’s were registered grey, and I know for a fact that three of these were mine two years ago. I am sure there are many other grey TM’s not showing any tan.

Any colours which don’t conform to the above should now be registered as “non-standard” with the KC as from 1^st January this year. I hope to further break down this data over time, to see if there have been any significant trends over the years. 

Talking pups, we have also been busy at home with pups, and I am pleased to report we have nine to Leah, so breed notes may be quiet for a few weeks now.
Andy Briggs 01132 505 505                          e-mail: sobarnatms@aol.com

TIBETAN MASTIFF BREED NOTES-177 –27.1.06
Geoffrey Stokell sent me the following e-mail following Madeleine’s funeral;
“After a quite exciting day yesterday and after everyone had dispersed I sat for an hour and then listened to my answering machine. I was delighted to have the kind message which you sent about 2:15 (when we were still out at the reception, but ready to set off for the crematorium). I did appreciate the time you took out from your strenuous (and it seems, sleepless) midwifery to think of us. TM folk were well represented, including Richard despite his cold; 150 to160 people attended and sang heartily – we were melancholy without being miserable and several fine tributes were paid. It was a pity that it happened at all, but we had devised the form and much of the detail about 17 months ago, and Madeleine was resolved that it was “going home” rather than “good bye”, a continuity rather than the end of a process. So...thanks for all your encouragement. I look forward to seeing you again later his year; perhaps Crufts will be the first occasion. Kindest regards from Geoffrey, and good luck with your new babies”. 

Pamela Jeans-Brown writes;
“The Tibetan Mastiff Club was well-represented at Madeleine Stokell’s funeral. Robert and I went and met up with Shirley Cawthorne, Richard Gardiner, Jeff Springham and Jim and Gaynor Parry, who had travelled down from North Wales.  The church was packed and what was delightful was that “Dotti” came along with Geoffrey.  The whole service was informal and a paean to Madeleine’s very varied life.  She had obviously reached out to many different people who came together to celebrate her friendship.  It was a very uplifting affair with much laughter and some moving and amusing memories recalled by family and friends. It was followed by a gathering in a hall where excellent refreshments were served and where people from the various strands of Madeleine’s life met together and exchanged memories. “Dotti” honed her survival skills by mesmerising people into giving her food , a very impressive performance.  If she can perfect the angelic expression for judges she should be unbeatable!  She was a superb ambassador for the breed, quite unfazed by the crush of people, and Madeleine would have been proud of her”. 

Kevin Kilner sent me an email attachment recently which was a cutting from ‘Hello’ magazine. It showed a picture of a black & tan TM bitch, in her whelping box along with her puppies, which looked about a week old or so. There was nothing particularly unusual in that, until you counted the pups-all sixteen of them. From the shot of the bitch, she looked to be of very “Chinese” type, carrying a deep tan and sporting quite a long mop of hair on her head, ears and mane. The pups were already showing deep tan on their legs, and quite a few had excessive white socks as well. The text beneath the picture read;

“Mastiff Fortune! Usually Tibetan Mastiffs have litters of up to ten, but this mother has given birth to 16! Each dog could fetch up to £800, so the owners, who hail from China, can look forward to a very prosperous New Year once they are weaned”. 

Shirley Cawthorne writes;
“At the Taunton Show, where we had classes for the first time, there were eleven Tibetan Mastiffs entered and seven present. Babs Carroll's 'Zeus', Bheara Ten Del Chay, won the Graduate class. Alex Worley's 'Kai', Bheara Chee Do Khen, handled by Babs Carroll, won the Open Class and Best of Breed.  We stayed for the Group judging and Kai was placed Group 4.The judge was Mrs Lorna England”. 

I did not realise until a few weeks ago that Eva Garcia, who is in Portugal, is Editor for the American based ATMA Gazette. Eva wrote to me and asked if I would like a copy of her December issue, and what a bumper issue it turned out to be. The quality of the finished publication was excellent, and I would imagine that it was not cheap to produce. I know that ATMA have a very large membership, and Eva tells me that a number of people are involved in producing the Gazette, making it a real team effort. She tells me that it is an ongoing thing, as four issues per year are put out.
Andy Briggs 01132 505 505                          e-mail: sobarnatms@aol.com

TIBETAN MASTIFF BREED NOTES-175 –6.1.06
I have to start this New Year with some very sad news. Geoffrey Stokell contacted me on 21^st December to tell me that his wife Madeleine had finally lost her brave fight against cancer that morning. Madeleine and ‘Dotti’ (Darchen Turandot for Rosen) had been a familiar sight at shows these past few years, not only in this country, but on the Continent as well.

I first met the Stokells at the Three Counties showground during the summer of 2001, when they both came along for the weekend of the NW/P breeds and Evesham open shows. We had a long conversation about the TM over a cup of tea in our caravan, and they were very impressed with the dogs. The following year they managed to get a puppy from Caroline Allen, and from then on showed ‘Dotti’ regularly and attended Discover Dogs as well. Madeleine, who had spent much of her life as a teacher and also as a missionary in various parts of the world with Geoffrey, including twelve years in Tanzania, was not content with restricting her showing to the UK, and applied for a pets passport for ‘Dotti’. In 2003, Madeleine set out on her first European dog venture to the World show at Dortmund, and I would like to reprint here some of what she had to say at the time;

“It was with a lot of trepidation that I set out for the Dover Ferry on my way to Germany.  Had I got the paperwork right?  Would Dotti panic in the car on the ferry, and try to eat her way out? None of these worries materialised, and 12 hours after leaving home we arrived at the Stimbergpark Hotel, where the KTR Dinner would be held after the show.  It was a most dog friendly place, dogs were not excluded from any place, and it was set in the most gorgeous dog-walking woodland.  Taking Dotti into dinner with me, I was soon welcomed by other Tibetan breed owners, and, luckily, English was the common language between Austrians, Slovenians, Estonians etc.  TMs are, of course, called Do Khyi on the continent.  I tried not to let “How much is that Do Khyi in the window?” go through my mind, but…..!The Tibet Dog Europe show at Hamm was a novel experience. 

The bitch entry was not as numerous as the dogs, nor was the depth of quality there.  I was delighted when Dotti won the Youth Bitch class, the only one to be rated Excellent, both here and later at the World Show.  She was awarded a Youth CAC on both occasions, and the title Junior World Winner [JWW.03] at Dortmund.  What a pity that I have no time to get the 3^rd JCAC, but I understand that our KC has no time for Youth titles anyway. To my great surprise, Dotti was placed second, and Prince came nowhere.  How could this happen if Prince was BOB, I asked.  It’s OK, they said, Group Judge Kerstin Handrich is allowed to swap the places if she wants to.  Most confusing!  I was so delighted and relieved to see that Richard and Andy had arrived at the World Show in Dortmund.  The British dogs more than held their own, but I leave that for Andy to report on.  Would I go again?  You bet!”.

And go again she did, you bet, despite being diagnosed her illness in the September of that year. I can remember arriving at Darlington show and Madeleine telling me her bad news about her diagnosis as we walked our dogs around the perimeter fence. She seemed consoled when I told her my father had undergone successful treatment for the very same condition many years earlier and had come through ok.

Health issues were not going to deter Madeleine from pursuing her love of her hobby and in fact, I really think her pioneering spirit, along with her faith, took over and made her even stronger. She drove to Austria twice and at least two or three times to Holland during 2004 and 2005 to compete with ‘Dotti’ and fly the flag for England. In 2004 she also made a trip to the Netherlands to mate ‘Dotti’, (who is one of the few bitches who comes into season in Spring) but unfortunately this did not produce puppies, and the following year Madeleine did not feel strong enough to bring up a litter. I think this is probably one of the things she regretted, not having had just one litter from her girl.

In the UK, Madeleine would think nothing of hitching up her folding caravan to the back of her battle weary Suzuki jeep and travel the length and breadth of the country to attend the shows. Once on site, I would usually try to park nearby so I could assist her with the rather intricate procedure of erecting this small but quite complicated house on wheels. Madeleine’s schoolteacher character took over as she read out the printed instructions step by step and I duly obeyed; everything had to be done in absolute strict order. Once I had the thing erected, I would usually make an excuse to go back to my van for a well deserved cigarette, as Madeleine was not impressed by smoking and lectured me about stopping on many occasions. Madeleine even turned up to one show on her motorbike! Apparently, Geoffrey had taken the dogs in the car, but as Madeleine had to visit the hospital mid day, she arrived on two wheels, dashed off half way through the show, then returned later in the day to carry on showing!

Not only was Madeleine very active showing her TM, she was proactive as a TMC committee member, and her years of showing Cavaliers dating back to 1964 gave her much valuable experience. She was also my “roving correspondent”, and always managed to send me an interesting and comprehensive report on the shows which I did not manage to attend. I am sure I am not alone in saying that Madeleine will be greatly missed, and I would like to offer our condolences to Geoffrey, their daughter Abi and the rest of the family in Oxfordshire.
Andy Briggs 01132 505 505                          e-mail: sobarnatms@aol.com

TIBETAN MASTIFF BREED NOTES-174 –23.12.05

Shirley Cawthorne writes;
“Two UK Tibetan Mastiffs were entered for the Euro Dog Show in Kortrijk on 19th November, Tina and Andy Bowyer's 'Rufus' (Bheara Gyu Ma Khen) and Caroline Allen's 'Maggie' (Bheara Sha Shen Chen). Maggie came into season and was unable to attend. 

Rufus, handled by Jeff Springham was graded 'Excellent' and awarded Res. CAC and Res. CACIB.   He came second to the French Champion Udaipour Du Domaine De Toundra. At LKA, there were five Tibetan Mastiffs entered for AVNSC.  The Judge was Mr J Carter. Suzanne Lloyd's new import 'Taylor' (Liongate Tay La-chu For Carramia) came third in Junior Dog and my Tashi (Khukli Soma-Lo) won the Open Bitch class and Res. Best Bitch”. 

Suzanne Lloyd sent me pictures of ‘Taylor’ and tells me that ‘Kaisa’, who is due a litter any day now, has accepted him and they seem to be settling down well together. 

At Boston DCS, Anne-Marie Class (France) had an entry of 22 and BOB went to Alexa Sutton’s ‘Yogi’ (Sierras Yogananda). BP was Richard Gardiner’s Heronsview Mitchell. ‘Yogi’ then went on to win the Working Group under Pamela Jeans-Brown and if that wasn’t enough, took RBIS, again under Anne-Marie Class. That is an excellent result for our often under rated and overlooked breed, and once again goes to prove that we do get some recognition when being judged by specialists who know the breed.

Whilst there, we picked up a handful of schedules and noticed that Retford CS have allocated 3 breed classes for Sunday 26 March. The judge is Tom Johnstone, entries close 26 February and can be obtained from Anne Hardy on 01777 703417.
Andy Briggs 01132 505 505                          e-mail: sobarnatms@aol.com

TIBETAN MASTIFF BREED NOTES-173 –16.12.05
There cannot be many people in our breed who have never heard of “Heronsview Downtown Boy” (Kaos to his friends) in this country and indeed overseas. In fact, I know that many people not involved in our breed read my notes occasionally and will be very familiar with the name. I venture to say that I have probably written more words about this boy in my column than any other TM. It is with great sadness, then, that I have to write that “Kaos” passed away at home during the night of 29^th November. I understand that he had been quite stressed due to the majority of the bitches at Glasfryn being in season that week, and Richard tells me that this was probably a contributory factor, and he believed that Kaos had suffered a heart attack. Kaos also had a major operation just over two years ago, and no doubt the trauma encountered at the time and since probably went some way to putting a strain on his heart.

Kaos’s show career spanned the majority of his almost nine year life, although it did not really take off in a big way until he was out of puppy and climbing up through junior and above. Like many males in this breed, they are not as quick to mature as the feminine of the species. However, once he settled down he started his winning ways and went on to become the top winning Tibetan Mastiff of all time in the UK; a title which I think will take some beating in the future. He was DW/Pedigree top TM every year from 1999 to 2004.

Among his many top awards, he took BOB at Crufts three times; in 2001 under Sue Garner, in 2002 under Jeff Horsewell and in 2004 under Pam Jeans-Brown. He has also managed the hat-trick at TMC Shows too, taking BIS under Gwen Mogford in 2002, Sue Garner in spring of this year and also in October under Jeff Luscott as a veteran. He was also RBIS at Club Shows three times.

Only a few weeks ago I wrote here with reference to our October show; “BV and eventually BD and BIS was Richard Gardiner’s “Kaos” (Heronsview Downtown Boy), now in retirement but ending his show career with the highest accolade, after eight years as top winning TM. This was a repeat of his BIS awards at Club shows, having taken the title earlier this year and in 2002. What a way to end his show career”.

I never thought then that would be the last time we would ever see him. Janet and I have always had a special place for “Kaos” in our hearts. Apart from him being litter brother to our girl “Chuba”, and sharing her similar laid back temperament, Kaos has been a regular visitor to our abode, usually staying here twice a year for the Leeds and Darlington shows. Richard has on more than one occasion left him with me for the week whilst attending business trips, and never once was he any trouble. Richard often used to joke that Kaos would quite happily settle in with me and Jan, and I am sure he would have done. However, having said that, Kaos was a one man dog at heart; one only had to see how he sat up looking over the bench tops at shows whilst Richard went shopping or whatever, to see how devoted he was to his master. Only when Richard returned to the bench did he lie down and relax again.

I also felt a special affinity with K having shared many overseas show holidays with him, Richard and my girls these past few years. Richard obtained a passport for him in 2001, and duly entered him for his first European show in Holland. We had entered Chuba, and were to travel in convoy. Richard found out he was unable to make it at the last minute, and I offered to take Kaos to Holland for the Dutch TMC, along with Chuba. We both knew the pair of them would get on well together in my van, but the logistics of getting Kaos to meet up with Janet and me en-route were too difficult, and we had to drive over without him. No one was more surprised than us when Chuba not only won BB, but went on to BIS. How wonderful it would have been for me to have handled Kaos as well, and I would have been the proudest man in the World to have come home with BIS, BD and BB awards with a brother and sister double. Who knows how the judging would have gone that weekend, but I often wonder to this day what the final result would have been.

In 2002, the Brits crossed the Channel again, heading for the World Winners show in Amsterdam. I had Leah (Chuba stayed home as I had inadvertently let her rabies jab/passport overrun), and Richard took Kaos and Almaz. On the morning of the show, Kaos developed a limp on the campsite, and it showed up badly that afternoon in the ring. The judge, Mr J van D Berg, spoke with Richard after the show and said that Kaos was the unluckiest dog there. We were all certain he would have taken the honours had it not been for his cut paw on the day.

In 2003, at the World Show in Dortmund, Kaos won first in open dog from a very large class of seventeen under breed specialist Christofer Habig. We thought at the time he was in a good position to win the challenge, but a young (and very mature looking) dog named “Drakyi Senge Sundari” came out of youth class aged sixteen months to win BOB. (Coincidently, “Senge” died in strange circumstances in the Czech Republic a couple of weeks ago just two days before Kaos.)

K’s major triumph on European soil was at the Internationale Rassehundeaustellung Show in 2004 at Salzburg, Austria, in June of that year. He took BOB under Andreas Schemel, and then went on to Group 3 in the big ring under Lisbeth Mac. What a proud moment for the three of us Brits, me, Richard and Madeleine that day.

I guess that the last couple of years have almost been a bonus for Kaos, considering Richard almost lost him in the summer of 2003. He was taken ill and a large blockage was found in his intestine. The vets did a wonderful job of cutting this out and rejoining the bowel and Kaos made a miraculous recovery from this. His first time out just six months later saw him take the coveted BOB title at Crufts.

Kaos was far too busy with his show career to contemplate marriage, but he did sire a litter of six pups in January 2000 with Kangchung Me-To Heronsview. Two of these offspring, H.Dare to Dream and H.Northern Star still live with Richard, and Dreamer in particular has had quite a lot of success in the show ring.

What did the judges think of him? I could fill this whole paper with critiques, but here are just a few comments;

Chris Habig sent me an email when he heard the news; “Kaos was indeed - even for someone who has judged him just twice - a most remarkable and impressive Do Khyi, in type, balance and character. A dog with a unique and most authentic charisma. The breed has lost one of its outstanding ambassadors”.

Janet Gunn “Such a great example of the breed, this 7 year old still has what it takes to command the ring, and a true representative of the breed”.

Ann C Hutchinson “This dog has it all, magnificent, powerfully built”. “This one saw to advantage when he went into the big ring, he just powered around it, I was delighted to see this grand dog shortlisted in the group” (SKC 2003).

Jeff Horsewell “Very impressive and commanding dog of lovely proportions and size”.

Pamela Jeans-Brown “Excellent representative of this slow maturing breed about whom the standard could have been written about who looks even more impressive as he gets older, well balanced 7 years b/tan dog, head proportions excellent, expression is alert and kindly, muzzle is broad and blunt, stop well defined, dark eyes, correct ear carriage, strong neck, excellent bone, good strong forequarters, deep body with strong back and good topline, powerful quarters, shown in excellent winter coat with well feathered tail, moved with power and purpose. Acquitted himself well & with great dignity in the group (Crufts 2004).

Sharon Pinkerton “H.D.B who was winning his 34^th BOB from an entry of 36.Crufts 2004 had been his first show since last July when he had half his intestines removed due to illness and he really did look extremely well” (DW Crufts Working Group Report 2004).

Sue Garner “Best in show, a true TM oozes breed type, well constructed, good size & substance, sound steady movement, one of the few in good coat” (TMC 2005).

Gwen Mogford “Homebred matured male, outstanding one of the breed. Upstanding powerful, so well built. He stands out. Impressive yes, fits the standard, huge head, etc etc. Presented in excellent condition, sound, great mover, well handled. Delighted he went BIS. A real credit to the breed” (TMC 2002).

A few days before he died, Kaos mated with “Chen”, and I know Richard is keeping his fingers crossed for pups from this tie. I am sure that any offspring will be beautiful pups, but for me there will never be another Kaos. What more can one say, except that, had Kaos never even won a single rosette in his life he would still be very special.
Goodnight K, sleep well!
 Andy Briggs 01132 505 505                          e-mail: sobarnatms@aol.com 

TIBETAN MASTIFF BREED NOTES-172 –9.12.05 

Jo Powney writes; “We would like to thank Shirley Cawthorne, Alex Worley and Carole Littlejohn with Kai and Rupert and Jeff Springham with George for their support and help at Discover Dogs at Earls Court.  Both days were very busy and with our stand being so close to the entrance most people made a beeline for us, so at times there were crowds 2 and 3 deep around the dogs, who all coped very well”.

The mysterious “Turkish Hacker” has trashed the TMC website again; I think this is about the third or fourth time this has happened. One has to feel sorry for our webmaster, Kevin Blair, who is spending many hours putting it all together again.

I received a rather disturbing email from Jarmilla Bendova in the Czech Republic, concerning her young male “Senge” (Drakyi Senge Sundari). ”Senge” was bred by Rick Eichorn in the US and won BOB as a Junior at the World Show in Dortmund in 2003. The email said that “Senge” was a very poorly dog, and, worst of all, Jarmilla suspected that he had been deliberately poisoned. A few days later Rick Eichorn contacted me to inform me that Senge had sadly died. If this really was a deliberate act of poisoning, then it is a heinous crime, and it is hoped the culprits are caught. I am not sure whether a PM was carried out to determine what substance had been used.

I received some pictures from Portugal recently, showing a complete contrast in weather. The first ones, taken on the Saturday, showed Eva Garcia and her TM’s and cockers high up in the mountains, wading through six inches of snow. The Sunday pictures showed the three TM’s posing on a sunny beach. It seems like they have the best of both worlds for the dogs in winter.

Since returning from a dog showing holiday in Austria with “Chuba” and “Chila” in May 2004, “Chuba” has sneezed incessantly. This started about a week after returning home, and a few months later I took her to the vet. She was anaesthetized and examined, to see if there was a visible blockage in her nose and throat. Nothing showed up, and a dental check did not reveal anything untoward. My vet suggested that if her condition did not improve, he could refer her to a specialist for further examination. This would involve knocking her out again, and sending a camera up her nose with the possibility of laser treatment to treat the problem, as there was a possibility it could be nasal polyps. We decided to leave it for a while and see what happened, as I was not particularly keen to have Chuba go under anesthetic again unless absolutely necessary. The fact that it seemed to abate somewhat over winter made me think that it may be some kind of pollen allergy. However, this summer has not seen much improvement, and I was really starting to resign myself to the fact that that she would have to have the full examination. When she awoke and moved over to the door every morning it was particularly bad. Her sneezing and coughing was really an annoyance to her, and she was sneezing and covering the tiled floor with really thick sticky phlegm (hope you are not eating as you read this).

Following a scan on her “Lybra”, my sister came up with a homeopathic remedy which we administered to Chuba three times a day as recommended. The bottle lasted about two weeks, and when it was finished, we did not notice much difference; if anything, the symptoms were worse.  However, I know enough about the workings of treating “like for like” to realize that cures don’t always happen overnight, and often the symptoms do get much worse before improvement begins, so a little patience was called for.

Two weeks later, Chuba had a really bad morning session, sneezing time and time again, and I went to get some tissue to clean her nose and the floor. I started to clean up the floor and discovered what resembled a plant like object; it was a green sprig about six to seven centimetres long, with three distinct breaks. The stalks and leaves looked like parsley, hemlock, heather or a similar plant. I know that foxtails (a type of wild barley grass) can be a real problem to dogs with their barbed leaves, although this looked nothing like grass; maybe the plant grows differently in a dark environment. Had this really been ejected from her nose? I threw it in the bin with the tissue, and sat down wondering if I had been seeing things, whilst trying to convince myself that it had merely been a twig which had dropped off her furry neck. A few minutes later, I retrieved it from the bin for further examination. By now it was completely dry, with no moisture or sap present within the plant. It was so dry it just crumbled to dust in my fingers. At the time of writing, three days after this event, the sneezing, coughing and catarrh have almost ceased.

I am of the opinion now that “Chuba” had either sniffed a grass or plant seed up her nose or it had entered through her ear canal, whilst we were out walking in the Austrian countryside. Maybe this seed had been germinating for the last eighteen months, causing this irritation? TM’s do seem to spend a great deal of time sniffing objects. If this was a germinating seed, I really hope that it has been ejected at last complete with the root and her problems with this are over. Only time will tell.

Just as I was about to submit these notes, Richard Gardiner rang me and I knew something was wrong by the tone of his voice. His beloved “Kaos” (Heronsview Downtown Boy) had died suddenly through the night. I hope to have more details later. 
 Andy Briggs 01132 505 505                          e-mail: sobarnatms@aol.com

TIBETAN MASTIFF BREED NOTES-171 –25.11.05
Well, that was a long bonfire night- it seemed to last for weeks-will I be so glad when November 6^th comes along! 

Marina Hudcovikova contacted me from  Slovakia to tell me the sad news that she has lost her beloved “Orine” at 8 years of age to cancer. 

At W/P Scotland under Miss M J Manfredi, Wesley McCrum was delighted to cross the Irish Sea and take home BOB with his “Leo” (Heronsview Kalabia with Kaltekhan) and BP with his H. Kaltekan Mr Midnight , a puppy on his first time out. There were no TM bitches credited at this show, which seems to be the norm now in Scotland-BOS’s do not exist! I remained absent as my entry of three girls were all in season.

Ruth Reheauser contacted me from Germany to inform me that she has set up a web based genealogy database of TM pedigrees. It is still in its infancy and under development. The URL is http://www.quamdo.de/database/index.php if anyone wishes to take a look.
 

Whilst the Internet is a great tool for putting people with similar interests in touch with each other, there are also times when one receives some really weird e-mails. Here is one I received recently;

“Dear Seller, How are you and your family, Hope they are feeling fine, My aim of  sending this mail to you is to inform you that I am interested in Sobarna which  you  have for sale. Please kindly get back to me which you last price and also some available  pictures of  it.”

What on earth is this guy talking about? Is he looking for a puppy or a product? I won’t print my reply back to him. 

I got an email from an old Internet friend in the US dating back to the nineties. Morgan (Skye) McLeod sent me a photo of her boy “Khan”, who is now eleven years of age and still in tip top health. Anyone who read any of my first newsletters back then will probably remember the story I ran about “Khan” saving Skye’s life when a cougar attacked them whilst out hiking in the Rockies. Both dog and owner were slightly injured and sustained some quite nasty scars, but Khan’s persistence eventually saw off the coyote and they both lived another day to tell the tale. Skye tells me that they have now moved down from Montana back to the mid west. 

Some show news: at Kensington CS under Alex Gunn  Caroline Hughes “Caspar” took BOB. There were 4 entries but three were absent. 

Shirley Cawthorne tells me that she has had another hip score back from a litter she bred. Tina and Andy Bowyer's, "Rufus" (Bheara Gyu Ma Khen) is a 9 (6:3) and scored 0:0 on his elbows. 

Two more dogs join the small list of TM’s to have obtained their KC Good Citizens Bronze Awards. Jo Powney’s “Taktser” and Caroline Hughes “ Caspar” have successfully passed the tests. 

Caroline told me that on a recent vet visit they could not find “Caspar’s” microchip, and further investigation revealed that it had actually migrated down his leg to below his shoulder. They had him re-chipped, but wondered if the old chip was causing a problem, as “Caspar” had developed a limp. She wondered if it was actually in contact with a nerve, and is presently awaiting a visit from a McTimoney Chiropractor.

I am pleased to report that entries for the forthcoming Year Book have been coming in fast and furious this month. I have extended the deadline until the end of the month, so please let me have your entries in now. I spent a wet weekend ringing round and chasing up strays and shy people, and some folk seemed to be under the impression that a page in the Year Book is merely an advert to publicise forthcoming litters and glorify show dogs. This is not the case; family pets are more than welcome and encouraged. My persistence paid off and another ten pages were added. If anyone wishes to place an ad in the forthcoming December newsletter, then please let me have it asap. 

Jessica and Nigel Vine tell me that they have now emigrated to France, along with their TM “Topaz”.
 Andy Briggs 01132 505 505                          e-mail: sobarnatms@aol.com

TIBETAN MASTIFF BREED NOTES-170 –28.10.05
Jo Powney tells me that at Driffield under Mrs Valerie Foss, her “Takster” (Bheara Sgo Srung Khungs Can) was 2^nd in NSC Working Puppy Dog. She said that Mrs Foss had a long discussion about him and thought his colour (deep red) was lovely. Sobarna Atena (Jigme) was entered into PGD and took first. Jo also mentioned that the judge seemed really interested in the breed and it was nice to have some interaction.

Shirley Cawthorne writes;
“We had one Open class at SW W/P at Clevedon.  There were six TM's entered with one absent. BOB was “Kai” (Bheara Chee Do Khen).I have received a schedule for Yeovil & District Canine Society Open Show taking place on Sunday, 22nd January 06.  We have two TM classes, Graduate and Open, Judge Mrs B Murray.  Secretary, Mrs S Hooper, 01963 440493.” 

 Andy Briggs 01132 505 505                          e-mail: sobarnatms@aol.com

TIBETAN MASTIFF BREED NOTES-169 –21.10.05
Lyn Turner writes;
“We have found out today that ‘Barbie’ has a hip score of 6-4=10, whilst Peter Rees-Jones and Eric Holliday’s girl ‘Shaydo’ coincidently also scored 10 (5:5)” 

Lars Olaf Hellgren was so pleased with ‘Caesars’ (Sobarna Black Caesar) excellent hip score of A:A that he rang me from Sweden as soon as he found out.

It would appear that “bitch season” is upon us, and I understand that quite a few TM’s are on heat now. For any owner with mixed sexes at home, this can be a crazy three weeks.

 Andy Briggs 01132 505 505                          e-mail: sobarnatms@aol.com

TIBETAN MASTIFF BREED NOTES-168 –14.10.05
The TMC held it’s Autumn Show and Jeff Luscott had a brilliant entry of 71, which I would estimate to be about 25% of the total population of the breed in the UK. To put this into perspective, imagine over sixty thousand GSD’s turning up to an Alsation Club dog show (and that is only the KC registered ones).

It could not have gone un-noticed how enthusiastically our judge went over the dogs, and how patient and understanding he was with the very few exhibits that did not want to show or were nervous on the day; I should know, two of the worst offenders were mine. “Gus” decided that he would only sit down to be gone over, so eventually I joined him and sat on the floor, whilst my puppy “Dorje” threw a total “spook”. I decided to withdraw her from the ring to save her (and me) even more stress.

Six entries with only one absentee lined up in the first class, veteran dog or bitch, and our show manager Pam Jeans-Brown commented afterwards that it was wonderful to see such a lovely class of “oldies”. BV and eventually BD and BIS was Richard Gardiner’s “Kaos” (Heronsview Downtown Boy), now in retirement but ending his show career with the highest accolade, after eight years as top winning TM. This was a repeat of his BIS awards at Club shows, having taken the title earlier this year and in 2002. What a way to end his show career.

RBD and RBIS was Alexa Sutton’s “Yogi” (Sierras Yogananda), a US import who is just shy of his second birthday, but already has made his mark in the showring in the few months he has been in the UK.

My “Leah” (Heronsview Lady Leah of Sobarna) did me proud and reversed my earlier disastrous attempts at handling by winning BB and BOS, a repeat of her performance at this same venue twelve months earlier.

RBB was Shirley Cawthorne’s “Tashi” (Khukli Soma-Lo), who had taken 2^nd in OB. BDP was Richard’s “Mitch” (Heronsview Mitchell), and BPIS was the girl, Bheara Dawa Saygi, owned by Caroline Allen. Finally, Shirley Cawthorne took the progeny class with “Tashi” and her offspring.

All in all, this was yet again a wonderful show and credit must be given to Pam as manager (or should that be manageress?).I know that Pam and Robert have been very busy moving house recently, yet everything still ran very smoothly. I would also like to take this opportunity of thanking all those who offered condolences to me on the recent loss of my Mum. It is in times of bereavement that one realizes how genuine and caring dog folk really are at heart.

Our return journey home did not quite go to plan, as my van decided to suffer sudden brake failure upon entering the dual carriageway. Fortunately, my son Chris was able to drive down from Yorkshire and repatriate two passengers and three dogs, whilst Chuba, Leah and I had an overnight stay at Tomlinson’s “campsite”.  I got back home twenty four hours after the show had finished, tired, weary and much poorer. Tow trucks do not come cheap, but the sight of two TM’s sat on the front seats whilst the tow hitch had the van’s front end three feet up in the air was rather amusing. The mechanic must have thought the same, as he took pictures of them on his phone, whilst they just slept on!

Jo Powney has details of a forthcoming show;
“Boston DCS Open Show is on 11 December. TM classes are to be judged by Anne-Marie Class (France).  Entries close Tuesday November 8 2005.  Schedules from Mrs Pat Dufty (01775 840295-  Email patti@triken.freeserve.co.uk.)”
 Andy Briggs 01132 505 505                          e-mail: sobarnatms@aol.com

TIBETAN MASTIFF BREED NOTES-167 –7.10.05 
Some news from Lyn Peel in Australia; 
“At one of our biggest shows 6 TMs were shown at the Royal Melbourne Show on 17 September under Ralph Campbell [Norway].   His BOB was from Sierras and Ausables breeding Kyeho the Magician (Merlin-) [breeder Lyn Peel, owner C Allen];  Best bitch was from Kukhli and Chokola breeding and went to Temzin Kham dha Chi Ri [2003], [breeder C Allen, Owner C Allen].   The judge declined to award Reserve BOB”.  

David and Pam Preston contacted me with news about “Madison” (Sobarna Bonnie Lass) who has now passed her Kennel Club Good Citizens scheme at Gold level. David thinks that the KC is now considering introducing a platinum award as well.

The TMC judging seminar was well attended, but unfortunately due to a family bereavement I was unable to attend with my two dogs. I understand that five TM’s, of varying ages and colours, took part in the assessment, and all were very well behaved on the day. I hope to have more details next week.

The deadline for entries in the new yearbook is coming round fast (30^th October).  Advertisements have, so far, only trickled in very slowly. This publication can only go ahead if I get enough response to make it viable.
 Andy Briggs 01132 505 505                          e-mail: sobarnatms@aol.com

TIBETAN MASTIFF BREED NOTES-166 – 30.9.05
Kevin Blair writes, “Due to copious amounts of spam and viagra ads I've had to change the email address of the club. The new email is contact@tmcgb.co.uk”.

Caroline Hughes let me have the results of the Thame open show, and writes;

“It rained in the morning so we were showing inside. Very cramped conditions, the sort of conditions that would normally have sparked “Caspar” to misbehave, but he could not have been better behaved. In AV rare breeds, judged by Mrs Fran Kaye, “Sobarna Casparian” was second and another TM “Bheara gya ma khen” third, whilst “Caspar” also took first in open. The working classes were in the afternoon, and in AVNSC, judged by Marion Seeney, “Caspar also took first place from an entry of eight. “Caspar” was then given BOB and “Bheara so wa prul” was best puppy owned by Tina Bowyer. It was the same judge for AVW , with 4 entries in open. Again, she gave 1 to Caspar and also BOB, beating a nice great dane that won the novice class”.

At Darlington, Mrs Pat Parkes had an entry of twenty nine dogs making thirty two entries, with only seven absent. I cannot ever remember such a high entry for this quite northerly location, and this year seems to have seen record entries for many shows. When I get time, I am going to trawl through past catalogues and compare our Championship entry numbers.

There was a lovely entry of nine mixed sex puppies for Mrs Pat Parkes, and I was delighted to win BP with my “Sobarna Dorje”, on what was only her second ever outing. Richard Gardiner’s “Heronsview Mitchell” was BP Dog, and Richard also went on to win BD and BOB with his gold boy “Luke” (H. Cool Hand Luke) and RBB with his “Chen” (Darchen Lyin Eyes to Heronsview). “Luke” had won the PG dog or bitch class, which had an entry of eleven.

My girl “Leah” (H.Lady Leah of Sobarna) won BB and BOS, which, if my maths are correct, keeps her at the top of the DW/Pedigree Top dogs league so far. The only veteran entry of the day, “Chuba”, stayed home, as I thought it could be a long day and too tiring for her. Alexa Sutton handled her “Yogi” (Sierras Yogananda) to RBD.

Madeleine Stokell did not feel well enough travel, but it was nice to see Geoffrey had driven up with “Dotti”, and their daughter Abbi handled her in the ring.

Richard and Jackie and four of their TM’s stayed over the weekend with us, and it was nice to see that once again visiting dogs were accepted within ten to fifteen minutes by our tenpack. In fact, I think they enjoy playing host to occasional canine visitors, and they actually find it rather entertaining, especially watching “Mad Mitch” throw himself around. He ended up on top of my head and shoulders more than once, but has a lovely temperament, albeit slightly exuberant. Give me a happy confident puppy any day over a nervous one; they grow out of it, nerves are more difficult to address. Once the lights were out for the night, we never heard a sound from the kennels until we let them out the following morning.

Anyone seeing “Luke” taking BOB who has followed the show scene this summer could not fail to notice how he has developed these past few months. Even Richard would agree that he did not look his best earlier this year, and at Blackpool in June he took him to the “James Wellbeloved” stand to enquire if they had a diet which could improve his coat and build his back end up.  “Luke” just would not eat, despite being offered every kind of food ranging from dry to fresh meat. The guy on the stand offered his “James Wellbeloved” dry food, “Ocean White Fish & Rice Kibble”. Crown Pet Food’s  claim that it would show significant improvement within six months has been substantiated, and Luke already looks a different dog after only four months on this new regime, along with some fresh meat to add flavour. Luke has also been enjoying daily (but carefully limited and monitored) exercise routines on his new treadmill, so this may also have helped. For those who cannot afford this diet or a new treadmill, maybe a daily two mile walk with the dog to the local fishmongers could have the same effect!

Just a reminder that this Sunday is our Club Show.
 Andy Briggs 01132 505 505                          e-mail: sobarnatms@aol.com

TIBETAN MASTIFF BREED NOTES-165 – 23.9.05
Jacky Page, who was stewarding at SKC, sent me an email explaining the confusion regarding judging of mixed sex classes there. Apparently, there is a KC ruling that states that when classes are mixed, the judge does not have to award BOS awards. It was nothing to do with rare breeds, and applied to all breeds that had mixed classes.

Caroline Hughes took “Caspar” (S. Casparian) to Richmond, where he won a third place in NSC under Jean Lanning.

Someone in the US sent me an email asking if I thought that her TM was normal in having webbed feet. I have never come across this before in a TM, and wondered if the dog had some Newfie in its background perhaps. I wonder if anyone else has ever come across TM’s with webbed feet.

Shirley Cawthorne, who took in the mixed TM/GSD/Rough collie until he was re-homed, tells me she has found a new home for him already, after less than a week. “Rack” will be going to live with a family who Shirley has known for many years, and who have previously experienced re-homing rescue dogs. Shirley also has two hip scores back from her litter last year. Alex Worley's “Mims” (Bheara Kyile Gal Chen Po) has scored 4:6 (10), the same hip score as her mum “Tang-go”, whilst Caroline's “Maggie” (Bheara Sha Shen Chen for Darchen) has a hip score of 2:3 (5). 

Taunton and District CA Open Show have scheduled two classes at the next show on 8th January. The judge is Lorna England and schedules are available from Jackie Norris on 01823 275908. 

There was an entry of sixty four TM’s for the Dutch Club Show in Houten, and of these over ten per cent were from England. Of the seven British entries, Madeleine Stokell’s “Dotti” and my veteran “Chuba” stayed home. I understand Madeleine did not feel well enough to travel, and we all wish her the best for a speedy recovery. I decided to leave Chuba at home, as a journey of this length would have tired her for weeks, and it would be unfair to expect her to undertake it.

I took my “Leah” and Chila” in the van across the water, whilst Caroline Allen, Jeff Springham, and Shirley and Geoff Cawthorne traveled in two vehicles via the tunnel, along with “Maggie”, “George” and “Tang-Go”.

Temperatures on the day were ideal for the dogs, and judging was underway by 10am sharp after all dogs were vet checked in and ring numbers given out. The dogs took three full hours, and after a very short lunch break the bitches were judged in the afternoon also taking three hours. The British dogs did not disappoint, and Jeff’s Bheara Chu Tsen got off to a good start and won his class in Intermediate dog. Caroline Allen showed her B.Sha Shen Chen for Darchen and won her class from an entry of seven. It was noticeable how few dogs on the day were absent, and the largest class of the show, OB, had an entry of twenty with only three absentees. In this class, my “Leah” and Shirley’s “Tang-Go” (Khukli Bzanba Kang-Riy) both made it into the last cut of seven, but were then not placed. Pity, but with seventeen bitches in the ring making the last seven was respectable enough we reckoned. It was then the turn of my Sobarna Amchila, who was placed fourth in Breeders bitch class. A great cheer went up from “our” corner when, in the challenge, Caroline’s “Maggie” was awarded BB, and went on to be placed BOS against the BIS winner, Schreuder’s Samantabhadras Kung Dondrup. This is the second time that a British girl has won BB at the Dutch Club show, the last time being in 2001 when my “Chuba” took the award and then went on to BIS. I think all the British dogs did us proud, as every one of the five of them received an "excellent" in their critiques, which at FCI shows is far more important than class placings. A dog could be placed first in a class, but only have very good mark, which would not allow it to compete in the challenge.

RBD was Roland Kruytzer’s Chokola Kancha, bred in the UK by Karen Giles. RBB was Verschaeren’s Lafahhs Danpo Dawa, and BP went to Sanne Rutloh and Kuhl’s Samantabhadras Patiala. Of the “oldies”, Bettina Marsmen won B Veteran with her “Pharchin”, nine years old.

The vet in attendance at the show did not bring his rubber stamp, “Drontal” and  “Frontline” to cater for the requirements of PETS 2 for the British dogs returning home. The other three TM’s at the show had already been pre-treated and had passports stamped in England, so did not need him. They were returning within the 48 hour deadline, but my journey back to the north of England was further and I would be out of the country three days. Fortunately, he lived only thirty miles away and gave me his contact details in Leerdam, so I made a one hour detour straight after the show on my return journey. I was lucky that he was willing to meet me at his surgery, on a Sunday evening, within ten minutes of ringing him when I entered the town, and he duly completed the necessary paperwork. This 24 to 48 hour “window” for treating the dogs I personally find one of the most stressful parts of travelling abroad, and something which I am sure could be made much more flexible by DEFRA.

I also won a bottle of wine for being the farthest travelled exhibitor, but when I stopped overnight in Belgium to dog walk, eat and sleep for the night, could I heck as like find my corkscrew in the van. How frustrating, so had to make do with beer.

Driving home the following day, I was slightly bemused by the news headlines that the English cricket team was bringing the ashes home again; in a way, I was also doing the same. In my wardrobe, was a cardboard box containing an urn bearing the ashes of a past TM. “Mac” (Heronsview the Widowmaker) who died after a bloat attack in Holland four years ago, whilst there being campaigned and used at stud. The date on the cremation certificate was October 2001. Sanne and Ruud Rutloh had him cremated, and had intended bringing his ashes back to England. Sanne asked me on Sunday if I would return them to Richard Gardiner, so they can be scattered in the grounds at Glasfryn.

Martina Hudcovika emailed from Slovakia, where they had a weekend of showing in the Slovakian Molosser breeds club show. On the Saturday, there was a talk given on dog behaviour, followed by a barbecue and carnival, where all the dogs were in fancy dress. The following day was the club show. Martina says most of the entries were TM’s, and her “Dzong” took BOB and RBIS to a bullmastiff, and her new puppy “Atisha” took BPIS first time out. Martina also won best breeding group with Alma, Alina and Dzong.

Martina confirmed that Albert and Aneke Maring, who lived in the UK for a few years, have now gone to live in Slovakia with their two TM’s “Igor” and “Zimba”, and came along to the show on Sunday with “Igor”.

How on earth do our dogs know when they get near to home? Having travelled over 1100 miles to the Netherlands and back, about three miles from home my two girls, who had been semi-comatose for most of the journey, got very excited and came up into the cab with me. They instinctively knew we were almost home, and stood there wagging tails as they looked out of the window.

My “Chuba” has had coughing and sneezing attacks regularly since visiting Austria in May last year. She was x-rayed to see if there was a nasal obstruction, and this proved negative. We have since put this down to hay fever, in response to a pollen allergy. She recently had one particular bad week, and I spoke to Jackie Thomas, Glasfryn’s kennel manageress, who suggested that administering “Benylin” would ease the cough, as it could be a type of kennel cough. Jackie also said that “Piriton" allergy tablets, from a local chemist, would be cheaper than the same product at vet prices. She had a few days of this treatment, and it seems to be helping. However, is it the “Piriton”, or the fact that we just discovered that the lilies in a vase in our room was causing Janet’s eyes to water, and the fragrance was excessive. Thinking about it, this is one flower that hospitals don’t allow visitors to bring in; maybe “Chuba” is also allergic to them.  Needless to say, they ended up in the bin.

TIBETAN MASTIFF BREED NOTES-164 – 16.9.05
Caroline Hughes tells me that “Caspar” recently took part in a heelwork to music demonstration. She went on to say, “He only had to do heelwork with about turns, sits and spins. The whole pattern was repeated with stays and tricks separating it. “Caspar” did the first set very well, did the stays and demonstrated what he had to do in the show ring. All was going to plan, until the second set of heelwork, then he decided that he had enough, so he plodded along next to us while all the others did it correctly. That's a TM”

Caroline also sent me a picture for the newsletter which was taken at Kingsclere fete where they won "Dog like Owner" judged by Clare Baldwin.

John and Jo Powney are looking for more photographs of TM’s to decorate the breed stand for Discover Dogs in November. Jo said that they are looking for natural poses of dogs, especially puppies, preferably without handlers, cups and other distractions in the background. They can be emailed to jopowney@yahoo.co.uk. John will then blow them up to A3 or A4 and laminate and mount them for the booth display.

Kathleen MacDonald, of Citadel TM’s in Illinois, tells me that she has some ambitious plans for the new tibetanmastiffinfo website, and she hopes to create a database of pedigrees soon. Photographs of TM’s are also invited for the gallery page.

I understand that at least four British exhibitors with five dogs have entered the Dutch TMC show, and I hope to report on this next week.

The critique for Leeds Ch show has appeared in OD, and seems to have caused quite a lot of outrage within the breed. I had at least five telephone calls from exhibitors who were upset by the remarks made. I had not had access to this report, until Jo Powney kindly faxed me a copy. Although the text was not perfectly readable, the general context was clear enough. Some of the sentences were indeed quite damning; in fact, almost an insult to those of us who spent time and money bothering to turn up. For Ms Cartledge to describe the exhibits before her as a “fairly mixed and motley lot” is not something I would have expected from any judge. “This breed needs some serious help from its dedicated followers”. This, in such sharp contrast to the encouraging critiques a couple of weeks earlier from other judges who had viewed many of the same dogs. “Delighted with this entry today, one of my favourite breeds”, “breed type was evident, you are on the right track”,  “what a lovely breed, and such splendid examples were brought for my pleasure”, “you are fortunate to have such strong breed type”, “ I was impressed”, etc etc. Are all these people really looking at the same breed?

A six month old puppy, on its second outing, whilst encouragingly being described as “clean, well presented, good body, feminine, well handled and a focused showgirl”, also received the comment “very new puppy, has a lot of maturing to do”. How ridiculous, it is a six month old puppy and in our breed will need at least three more years to mature, if one bothers to read the breed standard first! Another bitch was given “Five years, failed in movement, no further notes”. Does this mean the notes had been lost, then? 

It would seem that, the more positive and encouraging comments come from judges who have been dedicated enough to follow our breed over the years, fully understand it and take a great deal of interest in Tibetan Mastiffs. It is common knowledge that TM’s are not the showiest of breeds; they can be stubborn and aloof and some can even back off unless approached with understanding and caution. Anyone who is aware of their slight peculiarities will know this before they even enter the ring, and take this into account. You simply cannot compare them side by side with the seven glamorous group winners which grace our TV screens on a Sunday night every year at Crufts. I think far too much emphasis is made of rear ends, but we really must accept that a dog which spent thousands of years climbing mountains have much stronger fronts than rears.  Dedicated fanciers know and love our breed for what it naturally is, not for what man would like it to become.

 Andy Briggs 01132 505 505                          e-mail: sobarnatms@aol.com

TIBETAN MASTIFF BREED NOTES-163-9.9.05
Caroline Allen tells me that at Leicester CS there were four TM’s present, although a fifth TM arrived a few minutes late and missed the class. Her Bheara Sha Shen Chen for Darchen took BOB, and her Bheara Dawa Sat Gi was BP. Jeff Springham’s Bheara  Chu Tsen was RBB. I don’t know who was judging. 

At SKC, there was an entry of twelve for Mrs F Kaye, with four absent. It seemed to be a good day for bitches, and all three classes were won by the female of the species. Deely Cumming’s “Flora” (Sobarna Duma Flora cum Clanquaich) took BP, and my Heronsview Lady Leah of Sobarna was BOB, and went on to represent the breed in the group. The ring steward told me that there would be no BOS or RBOB declared, which I thought rather strange. Apparently, she said they were not allowed to declare these as we were in mixed classes. I happened to look on Fosse Data’s website when I got home. Many other breeds were also in mixed classes, yet they were showing BOS and RBOB for them. Perhaps it’s just for rare breeds then. 

Whilst in the group collecting ring at SKC, I lined up behind Tan Nagrecha with his St Bernard bitch. He told me that at Welsh KC, although he had handled Alexa Suttons “Yogi” in the breed class, Alexa herself had gone into group as Tan was showing his St Bernard. Apparently, Yogi was actually pulled out in the first cut. You kept that quiet Alexa, definitely something to publicise for our breed. 

I received an email from Susanne Schwann in Austria, which had been sent out as a round robin. An attachment showed a very disturbing picture of a small dog with a double hook and line through its nose. The text was in German, but it transpired that it was a request for people to send email objection petitions to a number of tourism related addresses in the French Reunion Islands. Apparently, an age old tradition of using cats and small dogs as shark bait still continues on this island in the Indian Ocean, despite being illegal. I was not fully convinced that the picture or the accusation was bona fida, but a link in the email took me to the website run by Brigitte Bardot in Paris. Sure enough, the same picture was shown there too. I could not imagine that Ms Bardot would put anything on her animal welfare site which could be a scam, so I reckon that some credence should be given to this story. If anyone wishes to add their name, I can forward a copy of the email with the details. 

With the seeming demise of the tibetanmastiff.com website in the US, I understand that a new one has emerged. Rick Eichorn pointed me to www.tibetanmastiffinfo.com, and I paid a visit. It is an informative independent site, although still in its infancy, having only gone online on 6^th August. The site contains a links list of TM breeders worldwide, which is very useful for anyone wishing to surf the web looking at different TM’s. 

The Dutch TMC show is on this weekend, and if manage to get over I will report on my return.

 Andy Briggs 01132 505 505                          e-mail: sobarnatms@aol.com

TIBETAN MASTIFF BREED NOTES-162-2.9.05
A reminder that the closing date for entries for the TMC Autumn show is this coming Monday, 5^th September. 

I understand that Chris Turner suffered a heart attack at the Bournemouth Show, and was rushed into hospital at Lymington. Apparently, he was kept there under observation for two days, before being given the OK to travel back home to King Lyn. When I contacted Lyn, she told me that he was doing well, and that the doctors said he could go home, but only on the understanding that he that he stayed there and rested. He had hoped to attend Welsh KC with Lyn, but must have decided to take the Doctor’s advice and stay at home. We all wish him well on his recovery. 

Madeleine Stokell told me about an incident which happened at Bournemouth;
“Dotti and I were walking peaceably out to our Ring, when “Dotti” was nipped by a Siberian Husky. She yelled out and jumped away, only to be lunged at by two separate Dobermans, one of whom was fortunately wearing a muzzle.  “Dotti” is calm by nature and is a seasoned showgirl, but I was appalled to think what might have been the effects on one of the four new puppies out for their first show if it had happened to them.  None of the owners of the offending dogs was remotely concerned by their behaviour, which was in marked contrast to the well behaved heap of TMs who cuddled up to each other at our ringside.”

At Welsh KC, we had what I believe could be a record TM entry for any Championship show, discounting Crufts. Thirty seven names were catalogued, although thirteen of these were absent on the day for Jeff Horsewell. Tan Nagrecha handled Alexa Sutton’s Sierras Yogananda to BOB, whilst Caroline Allen’s Bheara Sha Shen Chen for Darchen took BB. Anne Windheuser’s Chokola Ku-Wung was RBD, and Madeleine Stokell won RBB with Dotti. Best Puppy went to Bheara Dawa Say GI, also owned by Caroline. 

I’ve noticed over the last few years that two things always occur in August, to remind me that Autumn is just around the corner. Firstly, hormones start to drift around, as my bitches seem to give off a very interesting scent causing the male snouts to investigate further. The girls seem to become much fonder and more playful, although this starts at least eight weeks before they actually come into season in mid-October. Could this really be two months of PMT?

The second, really annoying problem is the fox cubs visiting the yard after dusk and leaving their evidence behind-everywhere. Some of my TM’s take great delight in this, a fragrance which is not appreciated as much by us as the dogs. 

Talking about bitch cycles, Wesley McCrum rang from Ulster to tell me that his “Matilda” is already in full season, less than eight months after having her litter.
Andy Briggs 01132 505 505                          e-mail: sobarnatms@aol.com

TIBETAN MASTIFF BREED NOTES-161-26.8.05
Not having entered Bournemouth show, I logged on to the Higham Press website for the results, where Claire Coxall was judging an entry of twenty three. The “Bheara” affix dominated the catalogue, and there were in fact only five TM’s present not bearing this prefix, which is understandable given the extreme southerly location of this venue.  The judge’s premier choice came from the bitches, and she found her BOB in Caroline Allen’s Bheara Sha Shen Chen for Darchen. BOS was taken by Alex Worley with Bheara Chee Do Khen. Reserve BOS’s came from Anne Windheauser with “Marco” (Chokola Ku-Wung) in dogs and Mrs L Dunford with Bheara Po Nya in bitches. The latter also won BP. I don’t know this pup, but I have a feeling it could have been it’s first time out at a Championship show (Shirley’s litter was born in February), which is an excellent way to start. 

A litter of six pups born on 12^th August in the Slovak Republic at “Gangkar” kennels, shows that TM’s can and do occasionally come into season in summer and still become pregnant. Martina was pleased to tell me that her “Asia” has had three of each sex, and all are black and tan. 

The forthcoming TMC Seminar on September 24th venue has changed. It is now to be held in the village hall at Kingsbury Youth Centre, Pear Tree Avenue, Kingsbury, Warwks. B78 2LN, not the address previously advertised. The first choice of location would have struggled to accommodate the number of people wishing to attend. 

It is early days yet, but already four adverts have come in for the planned Year Book, and two of these are from our European members. 

In this column I often moan about judges who fail to produce show critiques, and rightly so. What a contrast recently when I opened my post to find, not only a clearly typed report on the recent Paignton show, but a lovely letter too from our judge on the day, Patricia James. Patricia wrote to say what a lovely breed the TM is, and how fortunate we are in the breed to have such strong breed type, with excellent mouths and strong white teeth. She goes on to say how impressed she was with the dogs before her, and feels that we are to be congratulated for not interfering too much with this breed. Patricia added “you are fortunate to have really dedicated owners and breeders who like what they have and wish to keep things that way. I felt quite humbled by so many tolerant, noble and gently aloof TM’s – a great day in my life”. She ends by saying “good luck to you all and plea