Chortens Tibetan Mastiffs

About Us

Eric

My experience with dogs had been restricted to family pets until the first of our Apsos came into my life in 1978. I was never certain that showing dogs was something I wanted to do but we did show the two Apsos and I soon learnt why it is imperitive to thoroughly know a breed and get to see it before beginning showing dogs. We realised that the Apsos we had were just not up to show quality, so we began a search for show quality dogs to begin a breeding programme. This took a while but over the next few years we had some success in the ring. In those days there were no guarantees of qualifying for Crufts, such were the numbers and quality of Apsos being shown, but we succeeded on two occasions. One beautiful bitch was awarded Best of Breed at an Open Show. The Apsos continued to share our homes until the last one died in 2002.

I first judged Lhasa Apsos in 1981 and went on to judge them at Open Show level until 1988. I have judged a Utility Group at an Open Show and have also carried out smaller, but no less enjoyable, judging appointments during those years. A proud moment for me was seeing my Best of Breed Shih Tzu at a Harlow Show, go on to be awarded Best in Show.

My involvement with Tibetan Mastiffs began in 1986 when Peter informed me he had found one which we were going to buy. We did do that and Kaya entered our lives. I was a Founder Member of the Tibetan Mastiff Club of GB when it was formed in 1987 and served as Treasurer and as a Committee member for a number of years. Since then, my life has often revolved round TMs.

My first judging appointment for Tibetan Mastiffs was at Crufts in 1993. I was asked to accept the honour by the Clubs' now Patron, Mr Terry Thorn and was pleased to be able to do so and to know that I was considered by the Kennel Club here, worthy and capable of performing that task. My previous judging experience and knowledge of the breed qualifying me to judge at that prestigious event. Since then I have judged TMs at the South Wales Championship Show, at the first TMCA Specialty Show in the US in 2000 and at the ATMA Specialty in 2001.

Peter

Born into a 'doggy and horsey' family, it could be said my whole life has included an interest in dogs.
We had Welsh sheepdogs and Pekes when I was a young child and into my teens, at which time I decided I wanted my own dogs and, since I had always liked them I had my first Afghan Hound, a big gold dog called Fred. A little later came Misty from the famous Horningsea kennels. She was a delicious smokey blue colour.

I had been showing dogs since my childhood (in those days we did what was called 'our apprenticeship', through local village and town shows, to Limit and Exemption, to Open and eventually, when we were ready, to Championship level, where we hoped we might qualify our dog for Crufts) and in my early twenties my first judging appointment came along. It was at Open show level and I judged Afghans, Alsatians (GSD) and Salukis.

I had an interest in Tibet from a very young age and though I wanted a Tibetan Mastiff and had been promised one for my 11th birthday, there were none in the UK, so my desire for one of these mythical creatures had to wait for fulfillment for almost 25 years, until I was aged 35. At that time we had our first TM, Delviento Tham-che, who we called Kaya. She was the mother of our Ben and Lingka and grandmother to our Jampa. Major (Althan de la Tour chandos) was their father.

I was one of the founder members of the Tibetan Mastiff Club of GB and was its first Chairman, a position I held for four years, when business commitments caused me to resign, but stayed on, as a committee member and newsletter editor, for a few years more. Now I am a mere ordinary member of the Club, though I was one of the members of the sub-committee which drew up the latest UK Standard for the TM.

I have judged TMs for Crufts Dog show, as well as for several other championship shows, in the UK and have judged for both the major TM clubs – ATMA and TMCA – in the United States.
At Open Show level I have judged all the Tibetan Breeds – Apso, Spaniel, Terrier and the Shih Tzu. Other breeds I have judged at this level include Pyrennean; Mastiff; Bullmastiff; GSD; Bernese Mountain Dog; Rhodesian Ridgebacks, Rottweilers, Dobermans.
I have also judged several Exemption and Limit shows, including one which consisted of over 600 dogs, which took me from 11 in the morning until gone 8 o'clock at night. It was an exhausting day!

I have travelled extensively in the Himalayan region and have seen many TMs – and dogs which pretended to be one, of which there were many!

My other interests include growing orchids and I am now Secretary of our local orchid society.



Jointly

Outside dogs, our main interest and livelihood, is our tour company : NEI UK Ltd. which, in 2004, saw our 10th Anniversary.

We offer a wide range of fully bonded holidays to India, Nepal and Tibet, Sri Lanka, Malaysia including Malaysian Borneo, Singapore, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Peru . New destinations being added this year are the Maldives, and the Andamans, probably the most unspoilt island chain in the world.

If anyone shares Peter's interest in orchids, then our unique orchid related tours will be for you. We are foremost in this field.

We also “tailor make” holidays to all of the above destinations at prices which are hard to beat but provide value and attention to detail, not always found elsewhere. And we are a British company. Be patriotic.

Please check out our website www.neiuk.co.uk and we will do our utmost to
provide you with the holiday of a lifetime.

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Our work and travels in India have also enabled us to set up a small sideline
importing items of interest from India and Tibet. Our contacts in India are able
to search for any items anyone might find difficulty in locating elsewhere.