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 and 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 who attended the sixth annual China Tibetan Mastiff Expo last weekend.
Hundreds of the 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.”
The owners’ 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 elsewhere, especially for a dog that is common, has thick hair, grows to 180 pounds and is fierce.
