Precious pups for China’s rich
Tibetan mastiffs, slobber and all, latest craze for elite
BEIJING – China’s latest must-have luxury for the ultra-rich, to go with mansions and sports cars, is a large, slobbery dog with massive amounts of hair best known for herding sheep in Tibet.
Once banned by the Communist Party as bourgeois, pet ownership is booming in China, and the Tibetan mastiff is the dog of the moment for those who want to spread their wealth beyond stocks and real estate.
“I used to invest in German shepherds, but Tibetan mastiffs are what’s hot right now,” said Sui Huizheng, a business owner who has about 20 of the dogs and attended the 6th annual China Tibetan Mastiff Expo this past weekend.
Hundreds of the hairy dogs were on hand, and owners and handlers marched the most expensive ones down catwalks as though they were fashion models. Some carried the names of wealthy Americans like “Warren Buffett,” while others were called “God” and “Prince.”
Their hoped-for prize: breeders willing to pay tens of thousands of dollars for a mate for their mastiff. Sui spent $43,000 for a large platform and a poster-plastered booth to show off his dogs. One breeding session with Sui’s top mastiff King goes for $40,000.
The craze seems to defy sales patterns and common sense elsewhere, especially for a dog that is common, has lion-mane-like hair, grows to 180 pounds and is known for being fierce.
“I can understand racehorses and diamonds, but I don’t understand why someone would want to pay half a million dollars for a dog,” said Martha Feltenstein, president of the American Tibetan Mastiff Association. “They have a relatively short life expectancy and are not especially rare, so it’s quite puzzling why they are fetching such a high price in China.”
Breeders in China say adult Tibetan mastiffs sell for tens of thousands of dollars.