CONTAINNING YOUR TIBETAN MASTIFF?- THIS IS BASED ON MY EXPERIENCES. EVERYBODY IS DIFFERENT BECAUSE EVERY DOG IS NOT THE SAME.
Tibetan Mastiffs who are not properly socialized or integrated into your daily life (i.e. IN the House), will escape. Most knowledgable breeders will agree with this. Try keeping an unsocialized Tibetan Mastiff in a 4 x 12 5 foot high kennel. It simply will not work and you will have the liability of having a possibly aggressive Tibetan Mastiff on the loose. Tibetan Mastiffs need their human compainionship and must be properly contained.
Some breeders recommend six foot high fencing concreted into the ground. I have been to some of these breeders homes and the dogs were in an area with four foot chain link fencing or had flimsy 4x4 horse fencing, four feet high, attached to steel stakes. What I have found is that many of these people will tell you things that they are not doing themselves. Why? I really don't know. Anyway, I believe that there are many ways to secure Tibetan Mastiffs and each depends on the dog and the situation it is in.
I think that Tibetan Mastiffs that are well socialized and raised to be in the house with their owners at night are much less likely to do all the damage that you see and hear about. Unless you are breeding and have many Tibetan Mastiffs that do not get along; those problems are less likely to happen. Breeders with 9, 10 or 11 dogs or might forget that the average person will probably only keep one or two. When you have so many intact dogs; you are going to have damage for sure.
I cannot speak for everybody, bit what has worked for us is crate training them until they are about nine months old while they are left alone. I only crate when I am not at home or overnight. Based on my experiences; they do the most "chewing" up until nine months of age. I also believe they do need a "playmate", whether it be another Tibetan Mastiff or another pet. They will do damage when they are younger if bored. I can leave my older TMs alone for eight or more hours by themselves and never have them do damage. I am not real big on crating beyond nine months unless you are using a "great Dane" crate.
I have had very good luck with 12 gauge 2x4 horse fencing attached to wooden 6 inch diameter posts concreted into the ground. Five feet with a hot wire at the top. We live in the mountains so digging isn't really a problem. But in areas where they can dig; hog paneling secured to the bottom of the fencing does the trick OR landscape timbers secured at the bottom with rebar driven into the ground! (see photos below) I do not recommend leaving the dogs in the yard while there is nobody home. You just never know. These are not Labrador Retrievers and they are very "guardy" of "their territory" no matter how socialized they are. You just would not want to take the chance.
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