Up on
the Roof
Politically,
Tibet is an autonomous region occupying 463,320 square miles
of the southwest portion of the People's Republic of China.
China formally annexed Tibet in 1951 following a military
incursion by the Chinese army the year before.
Geographically,
Tibet is one of the most remote, inaccessible, demanding countries
on earth. It was formed millions of years ago when India slowly
crashed into Asia, giving rise to the Himalaya mountains and
other rocky behemoths that form Tibet's borders on three sides.
China, which constitutes the fourth border, does an equally
forbidding job of keeping outsiders at bay.
The Tibetan
climate is just as formidable as the terrain. The latitude
of Tibet, the same as northern Florida's, provides gleaming,
subtropical sunlight while the altitude promotes subarctic
temperatures. The thermometer ranges from below zero in the
winter to above 100 on torrid summer days when scorching winds
sandblast the canyons. Tibet's dizzying altitude, schizophrenic
temperatures, lack of rainfall, and coarse terrain make it
one of the most grim of all the places that humans call home.
Three
for the Shows
Despite
its remoteness, poverty and inhospitable climate, Tibet is
the homeland of three breeds of dogs that found their way
to the studbook of the American Kennel Club (AKC). They are,
in ascending order of popularity among the 145 breeds registered
by AKC last year: the Tibetan spaniel (106), the Tibetan terrier
(90) and the Lhasa apso (31). The latter accounted for 11,223
new AKC registrations in 1997. These breeds possess several
characteristics in common: a heavy coat, a tail that curves
over the back and a close association with Tibetan monks,
who are also known as lamas.
Before
China annexed Tibet, monks had accounted for one fifth of
the Tibetan population. They lived in monasteries supported
for the most part by income from land holdings and private
donations. Many of the monasteries amassed great wealth because
of their land ownership. This resource allowed monks to maintain
dogs.
Introducing
the Bhutanese
According
to many present-day writers, the Lhasa apso, once known as
the Lhasa terrier, was developed about 800 years ago in and
around Lhasa, Tibet's capital and largest city (population
106,000 according to a 1988 estimate). But A. McLaren Morrison,
whose wife is credited with bringing the first Lhasas to England,
wrote in the 1908 issue of The Kennel Encyclopedia, "It has
been asked by some why our shaggy little friend should be
called the Lhasa Terrier, as it does not especially come from
the capital of Tibet, any more than the Fox Terrier comes
especially from London ... When first introduced into this
country it [the Lhasa terrier] was called Bhutia and
Bhutanese. It is [also] to be found in Bhutan and other
hill countries bordering Tibet."
Equal
confusing is the question about when this little soul train
took up residence in and about Tibet. Some observers believe
a "hardier type of dog common for centuries over Central Asia"
is the possible ancestor of the Lhasa apso, but others maintain
"there is not sufficient fact to warrant indulging in discussion"
of the breed's ultimate origin.
Although
the first half of the Lhasa apso's name is misleading, the
second half, derived from the Tibetan word abso, which
means longhaired or goatlike, is on the mark.
The Lhasa is called the abso seng kyi or bark lion
sentinel dog in its homeland, where Tibetans favor a fail-safe
security system. A fearsome Tibetan mastiff stands guard outside
a dwelling while a smaller dog is ready to sound the alarm
indoors if anyone is clever enough or lucky enough to slip
past the mastiff.
Geography
Rules
The drastic
environment of Tibet, where people developed their domestic
animals in isolation for uncounted centuries, shaped the mental
and physical characteristics of the Lhasa apso. There is little
difference between the domestic animals of Tibet and their
wild ancestors because the Tibetan environment leaves no margin
for "improving" upon nature. Moreover, the Tibetans' hardscrabble
existence left little in the way of comforts for their animals.
Thus, the Lhasa apso undoubtedly was developed more by circumstance
than by design. Its well-muscled, compact body is heat-preserving;
its weatherproof coat insulates the Lhasa against all manner
of inclement weather; its short legs (the breed should stand
10 or 11 inches at the shoulders) gave it the agility to maneuver
the mountainous landscape of Tibet; the hair that covers the
eyes shields them from the wind and bright sunlight.
A Wild
Time
The Lhasa
apso first appeared in the Western world in 1901 when Mrs.
McLaren Morrison returned to England from Darjeeling, India,
with several of the little dogs. She gave one to Marjorie
Wild, who became so fascinated with the longhaired sprite
that she devoted the rest of her life, 70 years in all, to
breeding and promoting Lhasas. At first the breed was known
as the Lhasa terrier, though it is not and never was an earth
dog, i.e., one that pursues its quarry underground.
That misnomer
did not prevent the Lhasa from becoming popular in England,
and in 1902 the Kennel Club established a separate breed registry
for Lhasa terriers. Unfortunately World War I decimated the
Lhasa population, and breeders were obliged to import stock
as soon as peace had been declared. These imports included
several dogs from China whose appearance, though clearly different
from the other Lhasas that had been brought to England, did
not prevent their being included in the Kennel Club's registry
or a number of breeding programs. These dogs were not, in
fact, Lhasa apsos at all, but shih tzus.
The
Lhasa Comes to America
C. Suydam
Cutting, a naturalist and world traveler from Gladstone, New
Jersey, visited Tibet in 1930, 1935 and 1937. After his first
trip, Cutting developed a friendship via an exchange of letters
with the 13th Dalai Lama. The two men also exchanged gifts,
and among the presents received by Cutting were three Lhasa
apsos, which he brought back to this country. After the Dalai
Lama's death, his successor, the 14th Dalai Lama, sent a pair
of Lhasas -- a male and a female -- to Cutting in 1950.
Cutting
and his wife, Mary, bred Lhasas for nearly 30 years. During
that time their Hamilton Farms kennel registered 249 Lhasas
with AKC and produced at least 40 champions. Unlike the Cuttings,
whose breeding was based on dogs imported directly and solely
from Tibet, other breeders obtained Lhasas from England, some
of which were descended from the shih tzus that had been recognized
as Lhasas by the Kennel Club following their importation from
China after World War I.
The Lhasa
was officially recognized by AKC in 1935. The breed was called
the Lhasa terrier, just as it had been in England, until that
name was officially changed to Lhasa Apso in 1944. The Lhasa
was not transferred from the terrier group to the nonsporting
group until 1959, however.
Living
with a Lhasa
The Lhasa
apso is tough and independent breed that expects to live by
its own rules. As loving and affectionate as the Lhasa can
be, it has a mind of its own. There are few breeds that surpass
the Lhasa for devotion and companionship, if it receives the
affection and firm hand it needs. Otherwise, the Lhasa is
fully capable of testing your patience and endurance to their
limits. If there is a breed of dog that needs to understand
it cannot do just as it pleases, it is, indeed, the Lhasa.
With those
it loves the Lhasa apso can be a riotous clown or an extremely
sensitive and caring friend. Its innate wariness of strangers
keeps the Lhasa at home on constant sentinel duty, but this
tendency should not be allowed to manifest itself in aggression.
Early and continual socialization is a must for every Lhasa
apso.
Lhasas,
not surprisingly, like heights. They are excellent climbers,
and one should never be surprised to find a Lhasa perched
on top of the television or the uppermost shelf of the bookcase.
Lhasas are also fond of caves and will create their own under
the coffee table or footstool.
Happily,
the Lhasa can provide its owner with companionship for many
years because it generally lives well into its teens. Owners
should not be deceived, however, by the Lhasa's size and glamorized
Western appearance into believing this is a delicate creature
in need of indulgence. One only has to consider the breed's
origin and history to understand that this dog is as sturdy
and resilient as the Tibetan people.
Finally,
don't be put off by the Lhasa's which-end's-the-front hairdo.
Nature never intended the Lhasa to look the way it does in
the showring, and you shouldn't either. Periodic trips to
the groomer's for a pet clip will keep the Lhasa's coat manageable
while still allowing the dog to look like a real Lhasa. Nevertheless,
twice weekly brushing sessions are a regular part of owning
a Lhasa.
A Nation
in Exile
Although
the Lhasa apso has flourished in many parts of the world,
neither it nor its people enjoy this happy state in their
homeland. In 1950 Communist China sent troops into Tibet.
The following year Tibet signed an annexation treaty with
its uninvited guests. According to the agreement, Tibet is
an autonomous region; but that description is about as accurate
as the prediction in a fortune cookie. Since 1950 the Chinese
army has killed more than 1 million Tibetans, destroyed more
than 6,000 monasteries and flooded the country with huge numbers
of Chinese in an attempt to eradicate the Tibetan culture
and to dilute its population. (The Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual
and temporal ruler, fled Tibet in 1959 after the Chinese army
had obliterated a Tibetan uprising. The winner of the 1989
Nobel peace prize, he lives in exile in Dharamsala, India,
about 100 miles from the Tibetanborder.)
As part
of their reinvention of Tibet, the Chinese have virtually
taken over the remaining monasteries, often forcing monks
to kill dogs, which the Chinese communist party considers
a decadent bourgeois luxury. "Aside from violating the general
Buddhist prohibition against taking life," reported Maclean
magazine in October 1987, "killing a dog is particularly reprehensible
for monks because of their belief ... that monks sometimes
return as dogs."
Thousands
of Tibetans fleeing Chinese oppression have made a harrowing,
sometimes fatal, weeks-long trip through the Himalayas to
neighboring countries such as India, Bhutan and Nepal. The
refugees who survive blizzards, crevasses and ice arrive at
their destinations frostbitten and starved, often missing
fingers and toes. Tibet's India-based government-in-exile
reports that the number of refugees crossing the Himalayas
into Nepal doubled last year to 2,639. In many refugee communities
Lhasa apsos live beside their people in exile.
Back in
Tibet packs of dogs run wild in the cities and villages. A
visitor to Tibet in 1995 wrote in the Photographic Society
of America Journal that "mangy, vicious-looking, barking
dogs are something to be wary of." In 1989 a Travel Weekly
article warned, "... visitors should be prepared for packs
of barking dogs that roam freely throughout the country. We
counted more than 125 dogs at Sera monastery, and they often
kept us awake at night with their barking."
The stray-dog
population had grown so large, the China Daily wrote
eight years ago, that Lhasa "has built a special dog hotel
to house 400 of the city's 10,000 stray dogs." The Daily
also reported that there were about 50,000 dogs in Lhasa --
some kept as watchdogs or pets and others for religious reasons.
Tibetans bathe in the Lhasa River with their dogs in summer
and bring dogs on buses and into public places.
Health
Considerations
Although
you couldn't tell by looking at a fussily coiffed showring
specimen, the Lhasa apso was shaped to meet the rigorous demands
of the Tibetan climate and landscape. The showring, however,
makes demands of its own, and these often include the spread
of certain inherited genetic diseases. Renal dysplasia, sebaceous
adenitis and progressive retinal atrophy are three conditions
about which potential Lhasa buyers should be informed.
Renal
dysplasia, the failure of the kidneys to develop normally,
is characterized, among other symptoms, by excessive thirst
and urine volume, reduced stature and body weight and pale
urine. Severely affected dogs fail to thrive by two or three
months of age and progress rapidly to renal failure and death.
Moderately affected puppies may appear normal until they're
five or six months old, but chronic debilitation and death
claim them between the ages of nine and 12 months.
Renal
dysplasia is poorly recognized because many dogs with mild
afflictions show no clinical signs, and routine laboratory
tests may fail to detect its presence. "The disease is going
to be with us for a long time," one breeder has written, "because
it is transmitted in a very silent fashion by many animals
that appear clinically normal [therefore] every dog used for
breeding should be tested for urine specific gravity and urine
concentration." Do not consider buying a puppy from breeders
who do not test their dogs and are not willing to show you
the results of those tests and to discuss them with you.
Sebaceous
adenitis (SA) is a hereditary disease that causes an inflammation
of the sebaceous (oil) glands in the skin. The signs of SA
include excessive dandruff, greasy or dry, scaling, darkened
skin, a musty odor, thickening of the skin and hair loss ranging
from scattered to total baldness. Secondary skin infections
can also occur as part of the inflammatory process.
There
is no cure for SA, but frequent baths can alleviate its symptoms.
In addition, oil treatments have been helpful in removing
scales and lubricating the skin. Antibiotics are used to treat
secondary infections.
Progressive
retinal atrophy (PRA) is the wasting away of the vessels
in the retina. Initially manifested as night blindness in
young dogs, as PRA progresses, its victims become totally
blind. Responsible breeders screen their breeding stock for
PRA. Responsible buyers should inquire after the results of
those tests.
Conjunctivitis
and corneal ulcers, which can result from the hairs on the
Lhasa's short muzzle constantly scraping the eyes, are other
problems known to exist in the breed.
Rick
Beauchamp is a freelance writer who resides in Cambria,
California. He is the author of numerous books on canine breeds
and is a judge licensed with the American Kennel Club and
the United Kennel Club.
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