Rare dog sells for $1.5m

Shanghai - A Red Tibetan Mastiff puppy named Big Splash, or "Hong Dong" in Chinese, has become the most expensive dog in the world after being sold for $1.5m (nearly R11.2m) in China, reports The Telegraph.

He was purchased by a coal baron in China, where Tibetan mastiffs have become a status symbol. The dogs are thought to be a pure "Chinese" breed and they are rarely found outside Tibet, giving them an added exclusivity.

Big Splash is 11 months old and stands nearly 1m at the shoulder and weighs more than 80kg, according to his breeder, Lu Liang.

Excellent genes

"He is a perfect specimen," said Mr Lu, who runs the Tibetan Mastiff Garden in Laoshan, near the eastern Chinese city of Qingdao. "He has excellent genes and will be a good breeding dog. When I started in this business, ten years ago, I never thought we would see such a price."

Mr Lu said the details of the sale were confidential, but revealed that the buyer, who payed 10 million yuan (R10.6m), was a multi-millionaire coal baron from the north of China.

Before the sale, the world's most expensive dog was another Tibetan Mastiff, named Yangtze River Number Two, who was sold in 2009 for four million yuan.