Lhasa Apso

History

Considered a sacred breed from several hundreds of years ago, the Lhasa Apso was named after the city of Lhasa in the Himalayan Mountains. This breed was kept as a companion and watch dog. Today, this breed is still kept as a companion and watch dog, and treated as royalty within many households for their undeniable cuteness!

Appearance

The Lhasa Apso is a small breed dog with both males and females measuring 9-12 inches in height and generally weighing 12-15 pounds in weight. This breed is built low, long and sturdy. Their small head is round with two, large, pendant shaped ears that hang alongside their face. Their tiny muzzle forms into a scissor bite, as their two round eyes are generally dark brown or black in color. This breed has 4 short legs that are low to the ground, making them appear stocky. Their tail is size appropriate for their body, and should be carried high and towards the body. This breed has a thick, soft, double coat that is generally long in length. Their coat is available in cream, tan, gold, gray, black and white, and all shade variations of these colors.

Temperament

The Lhasa Apso is a wonderful family addition to almost any family. This breed is gently, silly, loving and loyal. Their natural "small dog" personalities make them very confident, lively and at times, assertive. This breed requires early socialization as well as rules and boundaries set within the home to prevent any "small dog syndrome" behavioral issues in the future. The Lhasa Apso loves to be included in any and all family activities such as car rides, vacations, outdoor activities and of course, relaxing. This breed should be walked once a day and be able to have indoor play time as well. The Lhasa Apso will be okay in apartment and county living environments with physical and mental stimulation needs met. Be sure to have some boundaries within your home with this breed, as too much one on one time can cause serious separation anxiety issues when leaving for work or any other circumstances. We recommend early obedience class with your new dog to teach both you and your new addition how to properly respond in situations; as well as ensure a solid foundation in your new relationship. This breed can do well with children that he or she grows up around, but please use supervision to ensure everyone's safety and gentleness, as this breed is small and delicate. This breed is unsure of strangers including children he or she does not know. The Lhasa Apso does very well with cats and other pets it grows up around. This breed is a wonderful watchdog.

Grooming

Daily brushing and cleaning near eyes is required. We highly recommend regular trips to a professional groomer to ensure proper care of their coat.

Special Notes

Please note that this breed requires a proper fitting harness and leash while outdoors at all times, unless within a properly fenced in area to remain safe of large birds such as Hawks, as well as other typical safety concerns. Please fully educate yourself of the health, care and other requirements needed to be met in order to own this breed to ensure this is the correct breed of choice for you. Do not add a new dog to your household unless you are able to provide life long physical and financial care of your new pet. All dogs originate from wolves (Canis Lupus). Each breed of dog was originally created by mixing different breeds together in an effort to bring forth certain characteristics. Once a breeder has created acceptable “breed characteristics” within their bloodline and these “breed characteristics” have shown to be reliably reproduced in the offspring for three (3) generations, the bloodline may be upgraded from the category of “foundation stock” to “pure-bred”. The same “pure-bred” breed standards vary from different continents, countries, territories, regions, breed clubs, and canine pure-breed registries depending on the goals of their breeders. Dog DNA testing companies can have accurate results for a specific bloodline of a small colony of dogs. However, there are tens of thousands of different bloodlines in the world which have not yet been tested for marker baseline results by Dog DNA testing companies as of 2017. For this reason Dog DNA testing companies do not guarantee the 100% accuracy of their breed lineage results and will also show different marker results for the same pure-bred breed in different continents, countries, territories, regions, breed clubs, and canine pure-breed registries depending on the goals of their breeders.