DNA evidence tells us that mastiff-type dogs originated in Tibet some 5,000 years ago, and the Tibetan Mastiff is no doubt a descendant of those dogs. They developed into two types: the Do-Khyi, who lived in villages or traveled with nomadic shepherds and functioned as flock guardians, and the larger Tsang-Khyi, which were often given to lamaseries, where they served as guardians for the Tibetan Buddhist monks, or lamas, who lived there.

Little is known of the Tibetan Mastiff before 1800. In 1800, a Captain Samuel Turner mentioned the use of "huge dogs" in his memoir, An account of an Embassy to the Court of the Teshoo Lama in Tibet, but he gave no description of them.

In 1847, the first dog from Tibet was imported to England and given to Queen Victoria as a gift from Lord Hardinge, the Viceroy of India. In 1873, England's Kennel Club was formed and the Tibetan Mastiff was officially entered into the Stud Book as the Tibetan Mastiff, leaving its earlier title as "large dog from Tibet" behind.

In 1874, the Prince of Wales, who later became King Edward VII, imported two more Tibetan Mastiffs to England and they were shown in 1875 at the Alexandra Palace Show. Tibetan Mastiffs continued to be imported occasionally into England and Europe, and the first Tibetan Mastiff breed club was formed in 1931. World War II put an end to breeding, and it wasn't until 1976 that English breeders began importing the dogs again.

The breed had a similar history in the United States. The late 1950s saw two Tibetan Mastiffs given to the President of the United States, but the dogs were taken to a farm and vanished from public scrutiny. It wasn't until 1970 that several more Tibetan Mastiffs were imported into the United States and they became the foundation dogs of the United States line.

The Tibetan Mastiff Club of America was founded in 1974, as was the American Tibetan Mastiff Association. The first show that the Tibetan Mastiffs appeared in was the first National Specialty Match in October 1979.

The breed was only recently recognized by the American Kennel Club as a member of the Working Group in January 2007. Today, in Tibet, it's difficult to find a purebred Tibetan Mastiff, but occasionally one can be found traveling with caravans and traders, and guarding livestock and homes.

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