I couldn't help but scoff at the price tag. Now granted, the Tibetan Mastiff is a glorious dog. The article described it's face to that of the Cowardly Lion (I must agree). A Chinese woman by the name of Mrs Wang, purchased the dog while looking for a suitable peer to breed her current Mastiff. The pooch, black in color - is named, White Root.
White Root's life expectancy is 10-12 years. Which means that the new owner gets mister fluffy for a bargain price of about $58,000.00 a year. $58,000.00 a year will get you shedding on the furniture, shoveling poop, vomit on your Persian rugs, potty walks in the rain and drool on your favorite outfit.
Now to the irony: I am the proud owner of a Goldendoodle. A Goldendoodle our family paid $1500 for. A bargain price of $1500 - for a dog that is not even considered a breed. A dog that by purebred enthusiast - is nothing more than a mutt (at best). When the price tag was discussed among family, we were ashamed to admit what we paid for our fantastic puppy. What would people think? We come from a modest family. A family that would possibly spend a couple hundred dollars on a dog, but certainly not over a thousand. In-fact, they prefer shelter dogs. So, we lied. We said we got a great deal - that the breeder was taking a hit because of the economy. Shall I say, a little "White Root" lie. :-)
What you spend on a dog is all relative. I'm assuming that Mrs Wang's purchase was a drop in the bucket. We didn't feel $1500 was a great expense for our little guy (though, not a drop in a bucket either). Though, other's viewed it as unnecessary excess. So Mrs Wang - you enjoy your $58,000 a year Mastiff and I'll keep spoiling my $100 a year mutt!
To quote Mrs Wang, "Gold has a price, but this Tibetan mastiff doesn't."
"Ollie Doodle - The Magnificent Poodle" (our little song we sing to him)
(P.S. I am NOT in anyway opposed to Rescue animals. I was raised adopting. However, I have two small children, and animals are unpredictable - I was not willing to put my children at risk - so please no complaints about our choice in contacting a breeder - Thanks!)
