Gorgeous perfect pooch! (Lhasa Apso)

Member Name: katyboo123

Product:	Lhasa Apso
Date:	05/11/09 (48 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Loyalty, character, ancestry, cute!

Disadvantages: Vets bills can be high, grooming

A Lhasa Apso is a Tibetan dog, which was original bred for Buddhist Monastries to alert the Monks of intruders and to sit on their feet to keep them warm. Lhasa is the capital of Tibet, Apso means bearded, ergo Lhasa Apso means bearded Tibetan dog. It is one of the closest breeds to the ancestral wolf and as it has been around since 800BC, one of the oldest recognised breeds. They feature on the Tibetan Flag and are said to be lucky.

Appearance
Male and Females are different in size and weight. My Mam has two, a little boy and a little girl, and you can visably see the differences in size. The male is about 2-3 kg heavier than the female, and a little bit taller. Rusty, the boy is Rust coloured unsurprisingly and Evie, the girl is White. You can also commonly get them in Grey, Champagne and Golden. They have a curled over tail, both of my Mam's dogs have a slightly different shade tail, ear tips and beard. Rusty's coat used to be much more Orangey, but now he is getting old (15 years) he has started to go lighter - almost human like.

Coat
Lhasa's coats are very dense, in fact they have a double coat and if you grow the coat long, it needs to be maintained properly. My Mam is disabled so she has hers clipped in a short cut, but they still need to go to the Groomers once a month. The allergens which normally settle on dog hair are not as intense on a Lhasa because of the type of hair, it's almost human like in composition, and they shed very little - making them an excellent companion if you have allergies.

Temperament
Because of their history as guard dogs for the Monks, Lhasa's are very alert and they have a good sense of hearing, with a very surprising bark. My Mam's two hear the faintest noise and start going wild, if they think it is something which will hurt or intrude - such as a car door slamming outside or the gate opening. They trot around very quietly, Evie creeps up on me all the time in my room when I'm getting ready or cooking, this is also in their nature, they had to be silent in their movement in the Monastries. They are really intelligent, they love climbing the furniture, burrowing, Evie is white and the colour of her beard is a tell tale sign of where she has been burrowing, green for grass, brown for mud, etc. They love cuddles, and snuggling in to your feet - they are really human like, inquisitive and comical. They are also creatures of habit. When Rusty goes out to the toilet in the garden, he walks the same circuit every time. If there is something in his way he barks until we move it! Evie was used for breeding before we got her; at the kennels the dogs would steal each other's food, so when we give her a treat or a biscuit, she scurries off and buries it behind the sofa cushions! They both love to jump on the back of the seat in the bay window and bark away at passers by.

One thing to be very wary of, in my opinion, if you work and are considering buying one, they get quite bad separation anxiety. We can't leave the dogs for longer than a couple of hours while we go shopping or out for tea. They get really attached and protective.

Lifespan / Health
According to the internet, Lhasa's are expected to live potentially in to their early 20s. Rusty is 15 and Evie is about 6/7. They both have really bad eyes. Rusty is blind in one eye and has a partial cataract in the other. It doesn't stop him, he still gets about. He also has arthritis and 'dog dimentia' and according to the vet he is still in great shape for a dog of his age. He gets regular medication for his conditions. Evie has just started losing her sight. Again, it doesn't stop her, apparently this is a characteristic of this kind of dog; they 'endure' it well and they have some protective hair over their eyes to help prevent this - they also have strong eyelashes (which are really long!) to push the protective hair out of their eyes. Sometimes on both Rusty and Evie their eyes get filled up with gunge and they have to be thoroughly cleaned.

Cost
Grooming costs my Mam £20 per dog per month. Rusty's medication costs £16.65 every month. When Rusty was younger he had Pancreatitis and had to have an operation. It cost a few hundred pounds. I would definitely recommend pet insurance when you buy a puppy. Feeding isnt too bad. Because of Rusty's condition he can only eat egg and rice biscuits and sometimes scrambled egg and boiled rice as a treat. No meat. Evie east half a can of dog food per day with a handful of mixer. They are pretty inexpensive when it comes to feeding.

Overall, a brilliant loyal comical sweet pet, with human characteristics, you cant fail to fall in love with them :o)

Just for fun... Famous Lhasa's:

In the animated series Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends, Peter's Aunt May owns a lhasa apso named Ms. Lion

On a 1972 episode of The Price is Right, a Lhasa Apso puppy was the first item up for bids.

Lhasa Apso has also appeared in at least one episode of the Simpsons. In the episode Three Gays of the Condo, Homer Simpson moved in with a couple of gay men. Homer started to act like a gay man and got a Lhasa Apso.

In "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.

Singer Arturo Paz owns a Lhasa Apso named Coco, seen on Tiger Beat.

Actress/Singer-Songwriter Keke Palmer has a Lhasa Apso named Rusty, seen in a picture on MTV Cribs.

A Lhasa Apso is both a major character and a plot device in the Newbery Award-winning 1948 children's novel, Daughter of the Mountains, by Louise Rankin

Summary: Everyone needs a Lhasa