By gradually whittling down public communication on our activities to zero, which lasted for several years and possibly for too long a period, one particularly charming dog defined Amdo Khyi in the unavoidably disjointed perception of some observers. It’s therefore only right to introduce him, and also take the opportunity to illustrate his lineage.

Kundun is the name of the dog in question, and in 2008 he was imported from a breeder in Beijing and lived in perfect physical condition for almost 14 years. He was the result of very specific choices regarding coat and colour, but had a relatively concise pedigree chart and most of his ancestors were still alive when he was born.

Given that officially he dated back to the start of our activities, we did not prevent his lineage from being passed on, therefore it is now possible to come across his name on pedigree certificates for various dogs throughout the world, often the result of pairing that is hard to understand or agree with. However, his most important descendants have never left Amdo Khyi. Even though not represented in the specimen photos on this website (apart from a few necessary exceptions), this blood line, which is also the only blood line that is immediately recognisable among our dogs, is jealously guarded.

Among his hereditary characteristics Kundun has passed on certain features of the unmistakeable ‘voice’ of the so-called Tibetan Mastiff to his descendants. This is a sound traditionally sought by the native population, who deemed it a distinctive trait of the sacred animals, but it also made an impression on various explorers in the past, despite it being extremely rare among most of the indigenous dogs. It is not a deep, rough bark as is often suggested by people who haven’t heard it, but more of a guttural and astonishing sound that emanates from the diaphragm, which is neither the same or similar to the bark of any other breed of dog, and extraneous to the global population of bred dogs we are aware of that supposedly relate to the Tibetan Mastiff (except for some of this dog’s descendants of course). This will be examined within the scope of the BDTS with supporting audiovisual material.

Some dogs of the pedigree in question that live in our facility are shown below.