514 



THE NEW BOOK OF THE DOG. 



head is somewhat between that of the Blood- 

 liound and the Mastiff, with powerful jaws, as 

 necessary in a dog required to encounter leopard 

 or wolf, or to hold an infuriated yak. The 

 occiput is high, and the skull and sides of the 

 face are much wrinkled. The eyes are small, 

 deeply set, and showing a good deal of the haw. 

 On the borders and outskirts of Thibet, the size 

 and type of the dog deteriorates ; the marked 

 properties disappear, and an ordinary looking 

 animal of sheep-dog type is reached. But the 

 true type is unmistakably Mastiff. The black 

 of the coat is velvety, very different from the 

 black of the Newfoundland." 



At the Kennel Club Show at the Crystal 

 Palace in igo6, a very magnificent specimen 

 of this breed attracted the attention of all 

 visitors. This was Major W. Dougall's 

 Bhotean, unquestionably the most perfect 

 Thibet Mastiff ever seen in Great Britain. 

 He was in remarkably good coat, and the 

 richness of his markings — distributed as 

 are those of the Black-and-tan Terrier, 

 including the tan spots over the eyes — was 

 greatly admired. Very naturally he took 

 the first prize as the finest foreign dog in the 

 show. A high price was put against him in 

 the catalogue, and he was claimed by Sir 

 William Ingram. 



The photograph on p. 51J, which was 

 taken in India, was kindly supplied by- 

 Ma j or Dougall, who imported him direct 

 from Thibet, where he secured him during 

 the last Lhasa expedition under General 

 Sir Francis Younghusband. Major Dougall 

 has also favoured me with the following 

 account of Bhotean and his breed : — 



" These wonderfully handsome dogs are now 

 yearly becoming more difficult to obtain. Tlie 

 old type of Thibetan Mastiff, with his enormous 

 cowl of hair round the neck and beautiful 

 brush, carried curled over the back, is being 

 replaced by a hound type of animal, with 

 shorter coat, blunt head, and standing on 

 longer legs. The markings of the old type and 

 breed are, generally speaking, black and bright 

 red tan. They have almost all got a white 

 star or patch on the chest. Bhotean in his own 

 country was considered a particularly fine 

 specimen, and there was nothing like him 

 amongst the others which I saw, which were 

 brought to India on the return of the Thibet 



E.xpedition in 1904. He was the long, low type,, 

 on very short legs, with great bone, and enor- 

 mously powerful. His markings were as nearly 

 perfect as possible, and although it has been 

 stated that he did not show as much haw as 

 some specimens, I have never seen one which 

 showed as much as he did. His characteristics 

 were many and various. He was essentially a 

 one man's dog. I could do anything with him, 

 but he had an uncontrollable aversion to all 

 strangers (male), but never attempted to attack 

 any child or woman. He was, in consequence, 

 always led at exercise, and. latterly, never 

 allowed loose. At first I thought he had become 

 quite domesticated, and allowed him to go 

 loose, but with disastrous results. You could 

 not cure him of his fault of regarding strangers 

 (men) as his personal enemies. He was an 

 excellent guard, always awake at night and 

 resting during the day. He had a great fondne.ss 

 for puppies and cats, and used invariably to 

 have either one or other in his box (loose). 



" These dogs can stand any amount of cold, 

 but they cannot endure wet and damp. Their 

 own country being practically rainless, this is 

 perhaps accounted for. The Bhutans, who use 

 these dogs, are a copper - coloured race ; 

 they set the same value on them as the Arab 

 does upon his horse. They are used as guards 

 and protectors only, and are in no sense a 

 sheep dog. When the Bhutans come down to 

 the plains to sell their produce the dogs are left 

 behind as guards to their women and children. 

 Also, during the short summer, they are taken 

 to guard the flocks and herds, which travel long 

 distances to forage. 



" These dogs have very often a great leather 

 collar on with roughly beaten spikes in it, so 

 that, in the event of a leopard or panther attack- 

 ing them, they are protected from the fatal grip 

 which these animals always try for on the throat. 

 When the herds are stationary for any time, the 

 natives hobble the dogs, by tying their forelegs 

 together, crossed. As they have excellent noses, 

 and are always on the qui vive, they soon speak 

 at the approach of any wild animal or stranger, 

 when they are set loose at once. The only food 

 (flesh) they get is what they kill themselves. 

 The bitches are very hard to get, and in my 

 opinion unless you could breed them and train 

 them from puppvhood in this country, they are 

 not worth the trouble of importing, as you 

 cannot alter the dog's nature, and although 

 perhaps for months he shows no sign ol the 

 devil in him, it is assuredly there, and for nO' 



