Today we celebrate a very rare show animal, the Rare West Tibetan Mountain Dog. Like the more common Eastern Tibetan Mountain Dog, they are a tribe of Chow. The breed is distinguished by its wheaten color, gentle tail curl, and lack of black tongue. Working dogs with incredible stamina, strength, and spunk they are said to have originated among Yangtze River clans where they served as guards on fishing boats until political turmoil in China forced many to flee into the mountainous regions of Tibet. The remaining population of Rare West Tibetan Mountain Dogs is believed to be less than 500 worldwide (fewer than 50 have been identified in the United States). Due to these restrictions, they are not a registered American Kennel Club breed, but have been known, in spite of the
Rules Applying to Dog Shows to sometimes appear at Best-of-Show conformational events.
We illustrate the breed with two examples. The first, sire Man O' Spondy Lus Gigas (lower photo), ring name Trex, (rhymes with tricks and short for T-Rex). The 4-year old Trex was born on M.L. King Day 2003 and exhibits the classic features and soundness of his tribe.
Boy-named-Sue (upper photo), the largest example of this breed known to exist, still displays the playful nature and working man's mentality of the breed. Sue, was discovered and subsequently rescued by a pair of observant amatuer anthropologists who were roaming the streets of Kansas City during a late winter snowstorm in search of hot coffee and a donut. Repetitive Polymerase Chain Reaction (rep-PCR) genomic tests were used to confirm that this was indeed a rare breed.
Future posts will explore this clan in more depth and detail.
m.o.i.: rare west tibetan mountain dogelsewhere:m.o.i.: hat's offm.o.i.: 99 dollar brain surgery
T-Rex returned to Union Station just in time to find out that Prairie Village has finally started a curbside recycling program.
