Lhasa Apso

Lhasa Apso

Country of origin	Tibet
Traits Weight 6-7 kg (13-15 lb) Height 10–11 inches (25–28 cm) Coat Long, dense Color All dog colors Litter size 4-6 puppies Life span 13-14 years
Classification / standards FCI Group 9 Section 5 #227 standard AKC Non-sporting standard ANKC Group 7 (Non-Sporting) standard CKC Group 6 – Non-sporting Dogs standard KC (UK) Utility standard NZKC Non-sporting standard UKC Companion Breeds standard
Dog (Canis lupus familiaris)

The Lhasa Apso (/ˈlɑːsə ˈæpsoʊ/ LAH-sə AP-soh) is a non-sporting dog breed originating in Tibet.^[1] It was bred as an interior sentinel in the Buddhist monasteries, to alert the monks to any intruders who entered. Lhasa is the capital city of Tibet and apso is a word in the Tibetan language meaning "bearded", so, Lhasa Apso simply means "long-haired Lhasa dog". There are, however, some who claim that the word "apso" is a form of the Tibetan word "rapso", meaning "goat-like",^[2] which would make the equivalent translation "wooly Lhasa dog".

Appearance

A Lhasa Apso head.

Lhasa Apso a half a year old

A young Lhasa Apso, not yet fully coated.

A Lhasa Apso with a long, dense coat.

Male Lhasa Apsos should ideally be 10.75 inches (27.3 cm) at the withers and weigh about 14 to 18 pounds (6.4 to 8.2 kg). The females are slightly smaller, and weigh between 12 to 14 pounds (5.4 to 6.4 kg). The breed standard requires dark brown eyes and a black nose, although liver-colored lhasas have a brown nose. The texture of the coat is heavy, straight, hard, neither woolly nor silky, and very dense. They come in a wide variety of colors including black, white, red and gold with various shadings. Lhasas can be with or without dark tips at the ends of ears and beard. The tail should be carried well over the dog's back. The breed standard currently used by the American Kennel Club was approved on July 11, 1978.^[3]

Temperament

Having been bred as an indoor monastery sentinel dog by Tibetan Buddhist monks, Lhasa Apsos are alert with a keen sense of hearing. The ideal Lhasa temperament is to be wary of strangers while being loyal to those closest to them. They can be very aggressive to strangers if they're left untrained. They rank 68th (out of 79) in Stanley Coren's The Intelligence of Dogs, being of fair working/obedience intelligence.^[4][5]

Lhasa Apsos are independent as well as companion dogs who want to please their owners, yet they may be suspicious toward strangers.^[6] Lhasa Apsos often show happiness by rubbing their head on their owners, running and rolling around, or sitting on their owner's feet.

A Lhasa Apso responds to exercise and discipline with a calm assertive energy. These dogs require early socialization with dogs and other people as puppies and throughout their lives. They require patience and may be slow to house train, but in return, they can be quite comical, entertaining and caring companions. They aim to please their owners and enjoy training. While their personality belies their size, they need a home that is mindful that there is a small dog in the house to prevent injury. They enjoy vantage points in the house where they can view all that is going on.

The Lhasa Apso is a long-lived breed, with many living in good health into their early 20s.^[7] The average age for these dogs is 12–14. There are few health problems specific to the breed. Their vision may deteriorate with age, but they are not sight-oriented dogs and they endure blindness with few noticeable changes in behavior.

History

The Lhasa Apso originated in the area of Tibet over 4,000 years ago as a small breed of mountain wolf.^[8] They were domesticated and actively bred perhaps as long ago as 800 BC, which makes the Lhasa Apso one of the oldest recognized breeds in the world. Recent research has shown the Lhasa as one of the breeds most closely related to the ancestral wolf. (Others are Akita, Shiba Inu, Shar-Pei, Chow, Basenji, Alaskan Malamute, Siberian Husky, Saluki, Afghan, Pekingese, Shih Tzu, and Samoyed.)^[9]

Referred to in Tibet as Apso Seng Kyi, which can be translated as "Bearded Lion Dog", the Lhasa's primary function was that of a household sentinel, guarding the homes of Tibetan nobility and Buddhist monasteries, particularly in or near the sacred city of Lhasa. The large Tibetan Mastiffs guarded the monasteries' entrances, but the keen hearing and sharp bark of the Lhasa Apso served to warn residents by acting like a burglar alarm if an intruder happened to get past the exterior guards.

It was believed that the bodies of the Lhasa Apsos could be entered by souls of deceased lamas while they awaited rebirth into a new body. Lhasas in Tibet were never sold. The only way a person could get one was as a gift.^[9]

Lhasa Apsos

In the early 1900s, a few of the breed were brought by military men returning from the Indian subcontinent to England, where the breed was referred to as "Lhasa Terrier".^[10]

The original American pair of Lhasas was a gift from Thubten Gyatso, 13th Dalai Lama to C. Suydam Cutting, arriving in the United States in 1933. Mr. Cutting had traveled in Tibet and met the Dalai Lama there.^[11] At this time, there was only one Lhasa Apso registered in England.^[12] The breed was at first called the Lhasa Terrier, later the Lhasa Apso. The American Kennel Club officially accepted the breed in 1935 in the Terrier Group, and in 1959 transferred the breed to the Non-Sporting Group.^[13] In the UK, they are placed in the Utility Group.

Certain characteristics which are part of the breed type evolved as a result of geographical and climatic environment — the high altitudes, the dry windy climate, the dusty terrain, the short hot summer and the long bitterly cold winter of the Himalaya region. Among these are head features, the coat, eye-fall, the musculation and body structure, the general hardiness and longevity of the breed.^[14]

DNA Analysis has identified the Lhasa Apso as one of the 14 most ancient dog breeds, verifying that lap dogs and companion dogs were among the first dogs bred by humans.^[15][16]

Currently, there is worldwide concern that it is necessary to breed some of the original Tibetan Lhasa Apsos into the Western bred line which is now 60 years old, to maintain the Tibetan authenticity of the breed. The two lines now differ in some ways which is a concern to breeders who want to properly preserve the breed. There is also some concern for Tibetan Lhasa Apso lines because many dogs were killed during & after the Chinese invasion of Tibet because of the breed's strong cultural symbolism to Tibetans.^[17]

Shedding

A brown Lhasa Apso

Like most mammals, all dogs slough off dander. Since dander and many other allergens become trapped in hair, and shed hairs are light enough to spend considerable time airborne indoors before settling to the floor to be removed during housecleaning (an activity which can, ironically, help them stay airborne), shedding of the coat is a typical way in which house-pets spread their allergens in a domestic environment.

Coming from the extremely cold weather of the Himalayas, the Apso has a double coat: only the undercoat, which is soft, will shed out once a year; the outer coat, consisting of coarse outer guard hairs, does not shed. People with allergies can co-exist with the low-shedding breeds of dogs, including the Lhasa Apso, when they are properly managed.^[18]

Health

The Lhasa Apso is known to suffer from a few health problems. For example, it is known to suffer from sebaceous adenitis, a hereditary skin disease that occurs primarily in Standard Poodles, but has also been reported in a number of other breeds, including the Lhasa Apso. They are also known to suffer from the genetic disease progressive retinal atrophy (PRA) which can render them blind. Responsible breeders have their breeding dogs checked yearly by a canine ophthalmologist to check that they are not developing the disease, which is heritable in offspring. Lhasa Apsos are also prone to eye diseases, such as cherry eye and keratoconjunctivitis sicca (KCS or dry eye syndrome).^[19] A 2004 Kennel Club survey puts the median lifespan of the breed at 14 years 4 months.^[20] UK vet clinic data puts the median at 13.0 years.^[21]

In pop culture

• The Brazilian comic series Monica's Gang features a green-colored Lhasa Apso named Fluffy which belongs to Jimmy Five.
• In the animated series Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends, Angelica Jones/Firestar owns a Lhasa Apso named Ms. Lion.
• Lhasa Apsos have also appeared in at least two episodes of The Simpsons. In the episode "Three Gays of the Condo", Homer Simpson moves in with a couple of gay men. Homer started to act like a gay man and got a Lhasa Apso. Also, Milhouse Van Houten owns a Lhasa Apso.
• In the television series The L Word, Helena is assured by her wealthy mother that she was going to leave her inheritance to her, not to her Lhasa Apsos.
• Lhasa Apsos are said to bring luck, hence the saying "Lucky Lhasa".^[22]
• Singer Arturo Paz owns a Lhasa Apso named Coco.^[23]
• Actress/Singer-Songwriter Keke Palmer has a Lhasa Apso named Rust^[24]
• A Lhasa Apso is both a major character and a plot device in the 1948 children's novel Daughter of the Mountains by Louise Rankin (ISBN 978-0140363357).
• Singer Gwen Stefani had a Lhasa Apso dog called Lamb/Meggan.
• Reality star Bethenny Frankel has a Lhasa Apso named Cookie, who regularly appears on her show Bethenny Ever After.
• Science fiction author John Scalzi includes a Lhasa Apso named Tuffy in a pivotal role in the The Dog King, the seventh part of his episodic novel The Human Division.
• Writer Kurt Vonnegut lived with a Lhasa Apso named Pumpkin.
• Singer Barbra Streisand owned a Lhasa Apso, and dedicated her performance of "Smile" on the Oprah Winfrey Show to it, after its death. She even dressed up as her beloved pup for her 2013 "Halloween Bash" hosted by Patti LaBelle.
• Avant-garde art collector Peggy Guggenheim loved the Lhasa Apso breed so much, she has a burial site next to her own for her 14 "Beloved Babies" in Venice, Italy.

References

External links

• Lhasa Apso at DMOZ