Less common colors include blue, blue and tan, chocolate, and chocolate and tan. In addition to these basic coat colors, come a plethra of modifiers. Tan points can vary from honey gold to nearly white. Tan points can also be bold and clear, or diminished to the point where they are barely visable. The gold dogs can be sabled, where many hairs are tipped with black.
All dogs can have white patches that vary in size and location.
More rare are dogs with spectacles around the eyes, irish spotting, or brindling on the tan points or over the entire body. The variability of color in this breed is one indicator that the Tibetan Mastiff is one of the most ancient breeds known to man, providing the genetic variety seen across the many breeds of large dogs. Despite the existence of breed standards, differing philosophies held by breeders and an extremely heterogeneous gene pool help maintain the diversity of characteristics seen in the Tibetan Mastiff. The difference in appearance shows in color, size, type, and structure. This is so pronounced, that long time breeders can accurately guess entire pedigrees from a poor photograph of a single dog.