This "standard" was an attempt to write a modern version of the original 1901 standard of Lionel Jacobs.  It incorporates what we know to be true of modern Himalayan landrace stocks, as well as what we can see in the old photographs of Apsos of nearly 100 years ago.

General: Originating in the Himalayas and high plateau of Tibet, the Lhasa Apso is a small, long-haired dog, well adapted to extremes of climate and altitude. He presents a rectangular outline due to a slight shortening of his extremities, but otherwise is a sound, normal canine in construction, with a natural topline, and a smooth efficient gait. His original purpose as an indoor sentinel requires him to be alert, independent, and discriminating toward strangers.

Character:  Gay and assertive, but chary of strangers.  However, the Apso's intitial mistrust of strangers should not be confused with timidity or fearfulness.

Size: About l0 in. to a maximum of 11 in. height at shoulder for dogs, and about 9.5 in. to a maximum of 10.5 in. for bitches.

Head: Distinctly terrier-like,  skull narrow, not quite flat, but not domed or apple shaped. Fore face of fair length, strong in front of the eyes. The planes of the top of the skull and the top of the muzzle are parallel. The stop is moderate, not well defined or indented. The muzzle is about 4 cm in length, measured from a point at the midline between the medial corners of the eyes to the end of the nose, or one third of the total length of the head measured from occiput to nose tip. A Square muzzle is objectionable. The nose leather is large and prominent, not depressed, with large open nostrils. The nose should be black. 

Mouth: The jaws should be quite level. Owing to the level jaws, the dental occlusion may be level, reverse scissors or scissors. Both overshot and marked undershot are undesirable. Six incisors in both upper and lower jaws are desirable. Incisors are set in a very slight curve, to allow for normal occlusion of the canines.

Ears: Pendant, set on somewhat below the crown of the head, heavily furnished with hair.

Eyes: Almond in shape, neither very large and full nor very small and sunk, dark brown in color. The eyes appear to be placed more frontally than in most breeds, owing to an alteration in the shape of the malar bone (cheekbone)  exhibiting an almost "human" expression.  Noticably light eyes should be penalized.

Front and rear assemblies: Shoulders should be set well back on the body and parallel to the sides of the body, and laid back at a normal canine angle, namely about 60 degrees with respect to the horizontal axis. The sternum is well developed for the muscular attachments of the neck and shoulder. The pelvis is normally angled for a canine which carries its tail over the back - that is not so steep as to present a low tail set, but not flat or tipped up. Angulation front and rear should be moderate and balanced fore and aft.

Body: There is a tendency in all breeds to look for a level top and a short back. The Lhasa Apso body should not be too short; it should be noticeably longer than the height at the withers, but still compact.  There should be a very slight arch at the loin to provide strength, and the the dog should be well ribbed up, with a strong loin and well developed quarters and thighs.

Legs and Feet: The fore legs should be straight. However, in all short legged breeds there is a tendency to crookedness, but the straighter the legs the better, so long as there is no sacrifice of substance. There should be good bone. Owing to the heavy coat the legs look, and should look, very heavy in bone, but in reality, the bone is medium, neither heavy nor fine. It should be rounded and of good strength right down to the toes. The hocks should be well let down. Feet should be round and catlike, with good pads.

Tail: Should be carried well over the back while on the move. At rest, or when surprised or unhappy, the dog may lower the tail.

Coat: Should be heavy, of good length and very dense. There should be a strong growth on the skull, falling on both sides. The legs should be well clothed right down to the toes. In general appearance the hair should look hard, straight and strong with no tendency to curl.  The coat should have weight, so that when picked up and released it should fall immediately into its original position.  Cottony, silky or woolly coats should be penalized.  Coat should be judged on the basis of quality, not on excess length or grooming.

Color: All colors carrying black nose pigmentation  are acceptable. Traditionally, dark tips on beard and ears are considered an asset.

Faults: Any deviation from the above to be penalized to the degree it deviates.

Some Modern Tibetans

Meet Chu-Chu, owned by friends of mine in Switzerland. This is a bitch recently imported from Bhutan.  Her great-great grandfather was bred by the previous king of Bhutan, and was pictured on one of that country's postage stamps.  Note the expression - so similar to Le, one of the original foundation imports.  She stands a little under 10 inches at the shoulder, and is noticably longer than tall.  She has a beautiful almond eye, and a fairly long muzzle.  Her bite is scissor.   Her coat is hard and straight.

These three beauties are "gompa Apsos" from a line of dogs originally obtained from Tibetan refugees years ago.  Mrs. Mumta Khanna and her mother and daughters have been breeding this line of Apsos for 30 years in New Delhi, in northern India.  They have the same almond eyed, terrier type faces as the original imports to the West, and are very similar in type to the Bhutanese, Chu-Chu pictured above.  Again note the hard, straight coats.  Mrs Khanna reports that her males are generally not more than 10 inches high at the shoulder, and her females not more than 9 inches as a rule.  Most of the dogs have level bites, some reverse scissor, some scissor.



This photo was taken in Bhutan recently.  This handsome gentleman is guarding his 80 year old Tibetan mistress' shop.  He is 15 years old in this photo.  In spite of the cropped coat and lack of grooming, we can still see the wonderful expression and the super coat texture.  He has the significant muzzle length and large nose leather of the typical Tibetan Apso.  The dog has a scissor bite, but obviously has level jaws, as can be seen by the finish of the muzzle.