The $1.5 Million Pooch

If you've followed me on this space, you know that I've got a bit of a fixation on the world's most expensive things.  Take the $5,000 Fleur Burger, the $14,000 Gucci Bicycle or the $395,000 Ferrari featured on the Neiman Marcus annual holiday gift guide.  These are all very impressive price tags, but the cute, furry mug you see before you above takes the cake.  That there is an 11-month old prized Tibetan mastiff named Hong Dong ("Big Splash") who was recently sold in the Chinese city of Qingdao for 10 million Yuan - roughly $1.5 million dollars. Evidently, this is a breed that is rarely seen outside of Tibet, one that has become a status symbol among China's wealthiest elite.  In a country where you share real estate with 1.3 billion others, I suppose you must do what you have to in order to stand out.  And according to legend, both Genghis Khan & The Buddha had one of these dogs, though I'm having trouble picturing what in the world Buddha's Fido did with himself while The Enlightened One was meditating for all those years?