Training an 11-week Tibetan Mastiff

The first few months genuinely set the patterns for life — the right tools from the start make training easier and less stressful for both puppy and owner, and the wrong ones create habits that are really hard to undo. A Tibetan Mastiff at 11 weeks is already showing you who they are: independent, thoughtful, not remotely interested in performing for your approval the way a Labrador might be. That changes everything about how you approach this. What are you mainly trying to work on right now — basic recall, getting them to engage with you at all, settling calmly, something else?

That is such a classic Tibetan Mastiff response and it's actually a good sign — he's behaving exactly as the breed is wired to behave. These dogs were bred to guard livestock independently for centuries, making their own decisions without human direction. So the normal training loop of 'ask, reward, repeat' doesn't land the same way because human approval genuinely isn't their primary motivator. Before you can train him, you need to find what does motivate him — and with TMs it's almost always scent and food, but delivered on their terms, not yours. Have you tried higher-value food like small pieces of cooked chicken or liver rather than dry treats?

Right — so the food works, but you're asking him to come to you for it, which requires engagement he hasn't learned to value yet. That's the real gap at 11 weeks with this breed: you need to make interacting with you the interesting thing, not just the food itself. The tool I'd start with is a snuffle mat. Specifically the Sniffiz SmellyMatty Snuffle Mat — it's a well-made, durable one that holds up to an enthusiastic digger, which TMs become quickly. You scatter small pieces of chicken or liver through it and let him work it out. The reason this works for your situation is that it builds a calm, nose-led engagement habit, and crucially it starts to associate being near you and an object you've prepared with something genuinely satisfying to him. You're not demanding his attention — you're becoming the source of interesting things. At 11 weeks that association is everything. Once he's reliably trotting over when you put the mat down, you have the beginning of a recall.

Exactly — and that framing will serve you well for the next two years with this dog. Tibetan Mastiffs respect things that are worth their time. The snuffle mat gets you that first foot in the door. Use it daily, always in the same spot, always set up by you while he watches, and always put away when you're done so it stays novel. Keep sessions to three or four minutes maximum at his age. You're building a habit of orientation toward you, not teaching commands yet — that comes later once he believes you're a reliable source of good things.

Yes — the main one is repetition without reward. If you ask him to sit or come and he ignores you, don't repeat the cue. Every time you say 'come, come, come' while he wanders off, you're teaching him that the word means nothing. Say it once, if nothing happens go back to building engagement with the mat first. Also avoid any kind of punishment or frustrated tone — TMs have very long memories for bad associations and a single negative experience at this age can make a behaviour or a location or even a person an object of suspicion for life. Patience and consistency are your actual training tools right now. The mat is just the vehicle.