Tibetan Terrier Facts You Should Know (with Pictures).

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Tibetan Terrier Breed Overview

The Tibetan Terrier is a small-sized dog.

The adult Tibetan Terrier stands 14 to 16 inches tall at the shoulder.

The Tibetan Terrier belongs to the Companion Dogs group.

Dogs in the Companion Dogs group, like the Tibetan Terrier, were bred to be companions for humans. Their main goal in life is to be with people, and they will be very sad if left to themselves for long hours day after day.

The fact that the Tibetan Terrier belongs to the Companion Dogs group is one of the reasons why Tibetan Terriers have the personality and temperament that they have.

The temperament of the Tibetan Terrier is generally described as:

  • Affectionate
  • Amiable
  • Energetic
  • Gentle
  • Reserved
  • Sensitive

History of the Tibetan Terrier Breed. Where Tibetan Terriers came from

Tibetan Terriers are a breed of dog that is native to Tibet.

They were originally bred as companions for Tibetan monks, and they have been used as working dogs in Tibetan villages for centuries.

Tibetan Terriers are medium-sized dogs with thick, furry coats that make them well-suited for cold climates.

They are intelligent and friendly dogs that make great pets.

Tibetan Terriers come in a variety of colors, including black, white, brown, and red.

Most Tibetan Terriers have black masks on their faces.

Tibetan Terriers were first brought to the West in the early twentieth century by English explorer Francis Youngblood.

Since then, they have become popular pets in many countries around the world.

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What the Tibetan Terrier Looks Like

Tibetan Terriers are a medium-sized breed of dog with a thick, double coat that is well-suited to cold weather.

Tibetan Terriers have a long history as Tibetan Buddhist temple dogs, and they are still used as working dogs in their homeland of Tibet.

Tibetan Terriers are intelligent and playful dogs that make good family pets.

They are also very trainable and can excel at obedience and agility trials.

Tibetan Terriers require plenty of exercise and grooming, but they are generally healthy dogs.

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How Much is the Tibetan Terrier Puppy?

How Much Tibetan Terriers Cost

The average price of a Tibetan Terrier puppy is $2500. The price of a Tibetan Terrier puppy ranges from $2500 to $2500.

A lot of factors determine the price of the Tibetan Terrier. These factors include what health records the Tibetan Terrier puppy has, the lineage of the Tibetan Terrier puppy, the US state the breeder is located in, etc.

To estimate how much you can expect to pay for a puppy Tibetan Terrier based on the many factors that determine the price of the Tibetan Terrier puppy, check out our calculator that lets you estimate how much you should expect to pay for the Tibetan Terrier puppy based on what you want in the puppy.

When looking to buy a puppy, look at buying a puppy only from well-established breeders that breed puppies primarily for the love of the Tibetan Terrier breed, and secondarily for profit. Do not buy a puppy from a puppy mill. Puppy mills mass-produce puppies in bad living conditions for maximum profit.

You may also consider adopting instead of buying a puppy. Adoption costs are very low compared to the price of a puppy.

Best Tibetan Terrier Breeders

Tibetan Terrier Breeders in the United States

We have researched reputable Tibetan Terrier breeders that you can buy a puppy.

Go to this page for our complete list of reputable Tibetan Terrier breeders in various states in the United States.

On this page, you will see how much these breeders sell their puppies for, and how many puppies they have available.

A few of these breeders are listed below.

  1. TIDEWATCH

    Puppy Price: $2000

  2. Byron Davenport

    Puppy Price: Check with breeder

  3. JOSELLE MCDOWELL

    Puppy Price: Check with breeder

  4. Sunsi Tibetan Terriers

    Puppy Price: Check with breeder

  5. Zin-Pa

    Puppy Price: Check with breeder

Adopting or Rescuing the Tibetan Terrier

You may consider adopting a dog instead of buying a puppy. Many dogs, Tibetan Terriers included, are currently available for adoption in your local dog shelters.

These helpless but adorable dogs are waiting in dog shelters hoping that someday someone will rescue them. Dog adoption costs are lesser than the cost of a new puppy. Dog adoption costs are usually around $300 or even less.

In addition to your local dog shelter, another good place to find dogs that are available for adoption is petfinder.com.

Below is an adorable Male Tibetan Terrier named Redman & Scarlett that is currently available for adoption on Petfinder.com. You can find other lovely Tibetan Terriers like Redman & Scarlett on pefinder.com.

Tibetan Terriers like Redman & Scarlett are available for Adoption! It is cheaper to adopt. Image from petfinder.com

You can find more Tibetan Terriers that are available for adoption on petfinder.

Tibetan Terrier Growth

Tibetan Terrier Growth

New Tibetan Terrier owners need to know about the growth of their Tibetan Terriers. This will help them plan their living spaces accordingly.

Also, knowing the typical growth pattern of the Tibetan Terrier will help new owners catch the abnormal growth of their Tibetan Terrier early.

See our calculator for predicting how big your Tibetan Terrier puppy will get. You will also learn about the typical weight of the Tibetan Terrier at different ages and how to catch abnormal growth in your Tibetan Terrier

Tibetan Terrier
Tibetan Terrier

The Temperament of the Tibetan Terrier

The temperament of the Tibetan Terrier based can be summarized as in the table below.

The table shows the scores of the Tibetan Terrier for 13 important dog behavioral factors.

We obtained these scores by analyzing raw data from the C-BARQ dog personality survey tool. The higher the score of a dog for a factor, the worse the temperament of the dog regarding that factor.

The C-BARQ tool was developed by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, and it is a scientific tool that is used worldwide for reliably measuring the temperament of dog breeds.

See our complete analysis of the temperament of the Tibetan Terrier here.

Factor Score
Dog Directed Aggression 62.3 percent
Dog Directed Fear 60.3 percent
Prey Drive 46.0 percent
Stubbornness 44.8 percent
Nonsocial Fear 38.8 percent
Excitability 38.7 percent
Owner Directed Aggression 36.5 percent
Separation Related Behavior 35.7 percent
Stranger Directed Fear 32.6 percent
Dog Rivalry 30.1 percent
Energy Level 30.0 percent
Attachment Attention Seeking 28.3 percent
Touch Sensitivity 24.2 percent
Stranger Directed Aggression 23.5 percent
Tibetan Terrier
Tibetan Terrier

Tibetan Terrier Litter Size

Researchers from the Norwegian School of Veterinary Science did a study where they counted the numbers of puppies in 28 different Tibetan Terrier birth litters.

From this study, the researchers found that the average number of puppies that Tibetan Terriers can have is 5 puppies. Also, the Tibetan Terrier can have as few as 1 puppies per litter and as many as 9 puppies per litter.

The number of puppies that the Tibetan Terrier will have depends on factors such as the age of the Tibetan Terrier, the method of pregnancy, etc.

Click here to see our calculator for predicting how many puppies your Tibetan Terrier will have and how the litter size of the Tibetan Terrier compares to the litter size of other dog breeds.

How Fast Tibetan Terriers Can Run

How fast a dog breed can run is a good measure of how athletic the dog breed is.

The American Kennel Club (AKC) regularly conducts dog running competitions. The AKC records the running speed of competing dogs in these competitions. These competitions are open to all dog breeds.

Based on our analysis of the speeds of 17 different Tibetan Terriers, the average speed of the Tibetan Terrier is 21.0 mph (33.7 kmph).

The fastest speed on AKC record that the Tibetan Terrier ran in a race is 32.0 mph (51.5 kmph) and the minimum speed on record in a race for a Tibetan Terrier is 11.62 mph (18.7 kmph).

Click here to see how the speed of the Tibetan Terrier compares to the speed of other dogs and other mammals such as cats, horses, humans, etc.

How fast Tibetan Terrier can run compared to other mammals

Good Names for Tibetan Terriers

Here are some really good names that are typical for the Tibetan Terrier ranked by popularity:

  • Benny
  • Sylvester
  • Edgar
  • Bruce
  • Dusty
  • Flapjack
  • Teddy
  • Yoshi
  • Redman
  • Sonnie
Tibetan Terrier

How Intelligent are Tibetan Terriers?

Tibetan Terrier
Intelligence Rank 62 out of 130 dog breeds
Trainability Tend To Learn New Commands After 40 To 80 Repetitions!

According to Prof. Stanley Coren, a Canadian psychology professor/dog trainer, the total intelligence that a dog demonstrates is the addition of three types of intelligence. These intelligence types are:

  1. Instinctive Intelligence: This is the natural intelligence that comes from instinct. For example, dog breeds that have been historically bred to be guard dogs will have a high `guarding` intelligence compared to dogs that were not bred for guarding.

  2. Adaptive Intelligence (learning and problem-solving ability): This indicates what a dog can learn to do for himself or herself. Adaptive intelligence is specific to each dog, and not breed specific. You can improve your dog`s adaptive intelligence by investing time to train your dog.

  3. Working/Obedience Intelligence: This type of intelligence is breed-specific. Certain dog breeds tend to have higher working/obedience intelligence than some other breeds. This intelligence is the closest to what we might call school-learning ability and it is based upon what the dog can learn to do when instructed by humans. This type of intelligence can be measured for each dog breed and compared to that of other dog breeds.

Professor Stanley Coren measured and ranked the working intelligence of about 130 different dog breeds.

Prof. Coren found that the Tibetan Terrier has an obedience intelligence rank of 62 out of 130 dog breeds. Thus, Prof. Coren put Tibetan Terriers in the `Fair Working/Obedience Intelligence Dogs` category.

This means that Tibetan Terriers tend to learn new commands after 40 to 80 repetitions!.

However, we should mention that a dog should not be judged based on its intelligence alone. There are other important factors you need to consider when deciding on which dog breed to get. These other factors include sociability, adorability, and compatibility of the dog breed with your lifestyle.

See the intelligence ranking of some other dog breeds below:

Breed Intelligence Rank
Shetland Sheepdog 6
Labrador Retriever 7
Pembroke Welsh Corgi 11
Pomeranian 23
Bedlington Terrier 40
Curly-Coated Retriever 41
Kuvasz 42
American Water Spaniel 44
Bichon Frise 45
American Foxhound 46
Boxer 48
Rhodesian Ridgeback 52
Ibizan Hound 53
Pug 57
Saint Bernard 65
Bull Terrier 66
Bullmastiff 69
Shih Tzu 70
Beagle 72
Pekingese 73
Tibetan Terrier

How Popular are Tibetan Terriers with New Dog Owners?

Every year, the American Kennel Club (AKC) publishes information on how popular a dog breed is in that particular year. The AKC gets the popularity information of a breed from how many dogs of that breed the owners register with the AKC every year. The AKC collects this data for about 200 dog breeds.

The graph below shows the popularity trend of the Tibetan Terrier.

The popularity of the Tibetan Terrier averaged over the years is Number 96 out of about 200 dog breeds.

Popularity of Tibetan Terrier

Do not get a dog breed just because it is a popular dog breed. And do not reject a dog breed just because it is an unpopular breed.

Tibetan Terrier

Health Problems in Tibetan Terriers and How to Prevent Them

Every dog breed has its own set of health problems that it tends to develop. There is nothing like a perfect dog breed.

The Tibetan Terrier is prone to certain genetic health conditions. The Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) is an organization that keeps track of genetic health problems in dog breeds.

From the extensive records that the OFA keeps, the OFA knows what health problems each dog breed is naturally prone to develop.

Hence, the OFA recommends which health screening breeders should perform on a dog breed to make sure that the breeders won`t breed `defective` dog parents that can pass down defective genes to their puppy offspring.

If you want a Tibetan Terrier puppy that will grow up to be healthy, make sure that your Tibetan Terrier breeder screens your puppy or your puppy`s parents for the health problems that the OFA recommends for your puppy`s breed. This will increase the chances that your puppy is free from genetic defects.

The following are the health tests that Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) recommends that breeders should screen Tibetan Terriers for:

  1. Autoimmune thyroiditis
  2. Congenital Deafness
  3. Elbow Dysplasia
  4. Eye Examination- Annual recertification REQUIRED
  5. Hip Dysplasia
  6. NEURONAL CEROID LIPOFUSCINOSIS (NCL)
  7. Patellar Luxation
  8. Primary Lens Luxation

You can find out more about OFA`s recommended tests for Tibetan Terriers here.

Tibetan Terrier

How to Take Care of Tibetan Terrier

How to feed your Tibetan Terrier.

To take good care of your Tibetan Terrier, you need to make sure that you groom your Tibetan Terrier regularly.

Secondly, you need to find a veterinarian in your area that will routinely check the health status of your Tibetan Terrier regularly, and give you appropriate recommendations on your Tibetan Terrier`s preventative care.

Thirdly, you need to commit some time to exercise your Tibetan Terrier daily. Regular exercise helps improve the health and quality of life of your Tibetan Terrier.

Also, you need to feed your Tibetan Terrier high-quality dog food, and the food should be of the right amount to prevent your Tibetan Terrier from getting overweight or underweight.

See our recommendations on what to feed the Tibetan Terrier and how much food to feed the Tibetan Terrier at different life stages.

Finally, you need to make sure that your Tibetan Terrier has access to clean water all the time. See our recommendations on how much water your Tibetan Terrier needs to drink at different ages.

How much water your Tibetan Terrier needs.

Dog Breeds That Are Similar to Tibetan Terriers

If you have not made up your mind on which dog breed to get, you may also want to consider some other dogs similar to the Tibetan Terrier.

We crunched the numbers and found that the following dog breeds that have similar behavior and temperament as the Tibetan Terrier:

  • Portuguese Water Dog (78 percent match with Tibetan Terrier). Learn more about the Portuguese Water Dog here.
  • Barbet (79 percent match with Tibetan Terrier). Learn more about the Barbet here.
  • Lakeland Terrier (79 percent match with Tibetan Terrier). Learn more about the Lakeland Terrier here.
  • Norwich Terrier (77 percent match with Tibetan Terrier). Learn more about the Norwich Terrier here.
  • Polish Lowland Sheepdog (78 percent match with Tibetan Terrier). Learn more about the Polish Lowland Sheepdog here.
  • Bich Poo (76 percent match with Tibetan Terrier). Learn more about the Bich Poo here.
Tibetan Terrier

Other Things to Know About Tibetan Terriers

Here are some of the very important characteristics of the Tibetan Terrier that you need to know about the Tibetan Terrier breed:

  • Tibetan Terriers do not like to be left alone.
  • Tibetan Terriers do not shed a lot. They are good for people with dog allergies.
  • Tibetan Terriers do not have the tendency to drool.
  • Tibetan Terriers require a lot of grooming and are not very easy to groom.
  • Tibetan Terriers are not prone to nip and chew at things.
  • Tibetan Terriers have a very low prey drive. This means they get along well with other pets.
  • Tibetan Terriers are easily disturbed by noise in their environments. They are sensitive to human tone. They will understand the tone of your voice when you try to correct their behaviors with a firm tone.
  • Tibetan Terriers can tolerate cold weather.
  • Tibetan Terriers can tolerate hot weather.
  • Tibetan Terriers get along well with other dogs.
  • Tibetan Terriers are very easy to train.
  • Tibetan Terriers are highly intelligent.
  • Tibetan Terriers are highly vocal. They have the tendency to bark and howl.
  • Tibetan Terriers do things with high intensity. They can be very forceful.
  • Tibetan Terriers adapt well to apartment living.
  • Tibetan Terriers are great family dogs. They are very affectionate with family.
  • Tibetan Terriers get along well with kids. They are kid-friendly.
  • Tibetan Terriers are very healthy. They do not suffer from a lot of health problems compared to other dog breeds
  • Tibetan Terriers have very high energy levels. They need a lot of exercise time to release their high energy.
  • Tibetan Terriers require a lot of exercise. They are good for owners who like to exercise.
  • Tibetan Terriers are very playful.
  • Tibetan Terriers weigh 20 to 24 pounds when fully grown.
  • Tibetan Terriers are 14 to 16 inches tall at the shoulder when fully grown.
  • Tibetan Terriers have a lifespan of 12 to 15 years.