Historical Signals

In order to discover to the origins of this small great dog, we must return back in time. This little known and remote race is born on plateaus of Tibet, the roof of the world, and takes the name from vital Lhasa of Tibet while Apso means solicit guardian. It is considered as a religious symbol for excellence and integrating part of the culture of  Tibetan people who believed that after death, the spirit of the master entered in the body of the dog, for this reason was considered a sacred animals. Solicit Guardian of theTibetan monastery, is mentioned for the first time,(these are the first documented news on the existence of these dogs) on the holy texts that the monks, adepts person of the Dalai Lama, spiritual head of the Buddhist religion, conserved with care. Noble and proud, they were the silent witnesses of the monastic life and of prayer of the monastery, the Dalai Lama was always surrounded by Lhasa Apso that  followeded him in all his movements. It was the English that first brought the breed race in Europe, in fact the first news on British canine books go bak to 1900 and  the breed was entrusted to the Kennel Club. The first dog proclaimed champion was called Ruspo and was conserved and emalmed in 1917, today it can be seen in the British Museum, In America it arrived in 1930 and in Italy the first lhasa was carried to show in 1968. At the beginning and for a long-time these dogs were morphologically little homogenous, until in the 50' the English  made official one standard much more similar to the one of the United States but with some small differences.
 

 
Standard

Aspect: very well proportionate, vigorous body
Character: joyful, sure of himself, but mistrustful with the strangers.
Head and skull:important head, with cascade of hair on the eyes, folta beardand moustaches.Moderately tightened skull that one sinks considerably behind the eyes, not completely flat but not even to cupola or shape of apple.Stop medium. Blak tartufo.Straight but not squared, long nasal cane approximately four cm.4. Its length measured from the extremity of the tartufo to the level of the eyes, must be of approximately a third party of the total length of the head measured from the tip of the nose to the occipital crest.
Eyes: Dark of medium dimension, placed frontally ovals, neither great and globosi neither small neither infossati. The white man of the ocular globe does not have itself to be seen.
Orecchie: Hanging, heavy frangiate.
Mouth:the advanced incisor close hardly to the inside of the inferior, to "turned upside down scissor". Arched dental such widths and that the incisor can be arranged on one most possible the straight line. Desiderable E' one complete set of teeth.
Neck:strongly and very arch.
Front limbs: shoulders very tilted to behind.Straigth limbs and abundantly covered of hair.
Body: the length of the tip of the shoulder to the tip of the buttok is greater of the height to the garrese. Good thoracic case. Straight and horizontal advanced line. Strong kidneys. Proportionate and compact body.
Posterior limbs: very developed and with good musculature. Very angled and abundantly covered of hair.Garrets squared gives behind parallels between they and not too much draw near.Feet: round from cat, very supplied of hair with solid plantar bearings.
Tail: inserted up, capacity very to of over of the back and not to uncino. To its exstremity a frangiata node is often formed ben.
Cape: guard hair, along heavy, straight and hard, neither lanoso neither setoso.
Colour: gold, honey, sand, dark, gray, slate, smoke, black, white man brown or pluricolore.All equally acceptable.
Ransom: ideal height for the males: 25,4 cm to the shoulder. The females can slightly be more small.
Defects: every shunting line the previous points must be considered a defect. The importance to give to it depends on is gravity.
Famous: every male must completely have to apparently normal testicles eductions in the scoto.

Character And Reflections
 While this  breed of dog is little known in Italy,  it is well known and often seen in the rest of Europe and in America. They are lively and joyful in character, but strong willed, bark little but are good guardians, and, true to their origins, fear neither cold or bad weather. They await quietly the return of their owner if left alone without making any fuss. They rarely get ill, and eat  any type of food with a healthy appetite! If they are well looked after they will lead a long and happy life. They love and respect their master, and play gently with children, but of course they too want to be rightly considered! Everything they do for you they will do out of love, and never because they are forced to, and this gives them an inner peace that according to me makes this breed quite unique. The females make exceptional mothers : they will defend their little ones at the cost of their own lives, look after them tenderly, but also educate them strictly when needed. They pups learn very early to respect the rules of behaviour. They are not generally litigious dogs, and will look for a peaceful way out of most situations, but if they are confronted with a real bully they certainly will never turn and run!