Dogar Puncog Rabgye was also called Rab Gashag Puncog Rabgye. In Lhasa, people called him Rab Gashag, which is a title of a great aristocrat. Tibetan aristocrats used the name of their manor as their own "surname" or preceded their name with it. Dogar is the name of his manor, and RabGashag is that of his mansion in Lhasa. His mansion was a Tibetan-style three-storied blockhouse to the south of the Jokhang Monastery.

The Dogar family was very powerful and distinguished in old Tibet. According to textual research, Dogar Puncog Rabgye was a descendant of Ludongzan, the Prime Minister of the Tubo Kingdom. His ancestors once controlled the political and religious affairs in Darlung, Pengdog Luzhub and other areas north of Lhasa.

Dogar Puncog Rabgye was a famous patriotic personage in Tibet and served as top PLA general. Before the peaceful liberation of Tibet in 1951, he acted as one of the four Galoins of the Gashag and commander-in-chief of the Tibetan army. He held the posts of a member of the Tibet Autonomous Region Preparatory Committee and deputy commander of the PLA Tibet Military Area Command, with a military rank of lieutenant general.