The Tibetan Mastiff is extremely large, strong, hot-tempered, and very powerful, with a strong wild nature. For that reason it is not suitable for ordinary home keeping, but in Tibet it is still used to help guard territory, protect homes, and watch livestock. If trained properly, it can be an excellent working assistant for guarding, herding horses, and tending sheep.
To train a Tibetan Mastiff well, you first need to understand all aspects of it. Once you are familiar with the dog, training can begin.
Before weaning, puppies receive a certain degree of physical and courage-building exercise under the guidance of the mother dog. Once separated from the mother, however, they depend entirely on careful human care. In general, the goals and requirements of puppy training include the following: 1. Build strong attachment, obedience to commands, concentration, and the habit of not leaving the owner at random, not picking up food from the ground, getting used to the leash, and coming quickly when called. 2. Through walking and guided or slightly forced exercise, help the puppy develop strong health, normal growth, coordinated limbs, good running ability, speed, and endurance. 3. Through exercise, build courage so the dog is not afraid of sound, light, vehicles, horses, or strangers, and dares to enter dark rooms or tunnels and move at night. It should not fear provocation from others and should be able to bark loudly in warning or even take initiative to attack when necessary. 4. Through moderate training, make the dog active, energetic, and willing to move, dare to climb or jump over obstacles of a certain height or width, happily retrieve objects, and get used to transportation by vehicle. These goals can only be achieved through planned, step-by-step, scientific training and development.
Physical conditioning
Before weaning, the mother dog usually takes the whole litter to roam in a quiet environment with clean ground. During this free movement, the puppies chase each other, roll, climb, jump, and move around naturally. In this way, their physical constitution is strengthened by nature. After weaning, puppies should generally be exercised separately and given special physical conditioning. The method is: 1. Walk the dog on foot for conditioning. Strictly speaking, ordinary free exercise already improves the dog’s body, but with a smaller workload. Therefore, when conditioning the dog by walking, the key issue is controlling the amount of activity. Usually, the dog is first allowed some free exercise, and then the duration of activity is gradually lengthened day by day. During the process, the owner deliberately runs with the dog from time to time, gradually increasing both the distance and speed. After about fifteen days of walking-based conditioning, the puppy will have grown somewhat, and both its physical strength and running ability will improve. 2. Jumping obstacles. Jumping obstacles can increase lung capacity and improve coordination of the limbs, which helps the dog’s physique develop even better. The way to train this is to use natural terrain while exercising outdoors, such as small ditches, bridges, and embankments, to encourage the dog to jump or climb. Once the puppy gains some ability, special training equipment can be introduced, which also helps strengthen courage.
Courage training
Puppies naturally have a kind of group attack tendency, but when a single dog is separated from the group, its willingness to attack when provoked is much weaker. Therefore, some methods should be used to build initiative in an individual puppy. One method is this: bring a group of puppies to the training area, and have an assistant wear strange clothing, hold branches, make unusual sounds, and emerge sneakily from hiding to provoke the dogs, making a fake attack while retreating as if frightened. At this time, the trainer encourages the dogs, uses the “good” command, and leads them to chase the assistant. When the group of puppies begins barking or even chasing, the trainer can stay slightly behind them while still using the “good” command to encourage them. If only a single dog is being trained, then food and praise should also be given until the assistant retreats. The important point here is that the assistant’s movements must not be too large or violent, and the branch must never actually strike the puppy, otherwise fear will be created. In each session, the dog should feel as if it has won a complete victory. After the dog has developed some courage, the same method can later be practiced in early dawn or at night.
The formation of a puppy’s attachment to its owner usually starts with name-calling during feeding. Every puppy should have its own name. Once the name is chosen, the dog must become familiar with it. The method is: during feeding, first call the dog’s name, then pat its head or another part of the body and say “good, good” as praise before giving the food. While the dog is eating, continue calling its name and saying “good.” After two or three days of this training, the dog will become familiar with its own name. Also, before letting the dog out to play, the owner should first call its name, give it praise and patting, say “good,” and then let it out. After the puppy has played for a short while, the owner calls its name and gives the command “come,” while squatting down, clapping hands, and repeatedly saying “good, come” to lure it over. Food can also be prepared in advance for luring. Once the dog comes, the owner should feed it and praise it with touch. After repeated training, as soon as the owner makes these movements and gives the “come” command, the dog will quickly return. At that point, attachment to the owner has basically been established.
Building obedience
Good obedience in a puppy is formed only after attachment has been well established and strict introductory training has been carried out.
The method is: step one, get the puppy used to wearing a collar. First choose a light and soft small leather collar. Before feeding or free exercise, gently put it on the dog. Once the collar is on, immediately feed or let the dog play. In this way, even if the dog is initially uncomfortable with the new sensation, it quickly forgets because food and play follow immediately. Putting the collar on while the dog is eating also works well and does not make the dog afraid or uneasy. After two or three days, the dog fully gets used to the collar and the next stage can begin.
Step two, get the dog used to leash walking. Before taking the dog out to play, attach the lead and simply lead the dog outside. Some puppies will initially feel constrained and struggle. At this point, the owner can guide the dog step by step with mild force. Once the dog manages to follow for a few steps, it should receive a tasty reward. Through patient guidance, the puppy soon gets used to the lead. Another method is to attach the lead but not immediately guide the dog, instead allowing it to drag the line itself. If the dog still refuses to move, the owner can use tasty food in front of it to lure it forward. When the dog moves toward the food, it should receive the treat and be rewarded with touch and praise. After one or two such repetitions, the puppy usually adapts. At that point, proper leading no longer causes resistance.
Step three, use a long line to control the puppy’s recall. In earlier attachment training, the “come” command was introduced mainly through luring. That alone is not enough to fully build obedience. A long line must be used. First, use a normal lead during play or free movement, letting the dog move slightly ahead on purpose, then give the “come” command and lightly pull on the lead. As soon as the dog turns its head, the owner steps backward while repeating “come” and “good,” luring the dog over. When the dog complies, it should immediately be rewarded with food and praise, and the training can stop for that round. The key lies in how much force is used in the pull. Since the dog is still young and has limited tolerance, the pull must be very light. With repeated training and some foundation, the difficulty can then be increased by switching to a longer line, usually five to ten meters. During free play, the owner intentionally lets go of the line so the dog can move more freely. If it runs too far or does not listen when called, the owner gently pulls the long line to bring it back. Once it returns, it should be rewarded. After enough repetitions, the puppy will stop running off randomly, keep its attention on the owner more often, and follow as soon as the owner shows any sign of moving. This means the puppy has become more obedient.
The Tibetan Mastiff is much more difficult to train than most dog breeds. In recent years there have indeed been reports of Tibetan Mastiffs biting their owners, but in many cases that is because the dog and owner were not truly familiar with one another. Tibetan Mastiffs have a very strong instinct to protect their own people. In general, they mainly show aggression toward strangers, so owners should not lose confidence in them.