The Lhasa Apso Breed Standard

Let's  discuss the breed  standard of the popular and gorgeous Lhasa Apso shall we?

The Lhasa Apso is shown in the Non-Sporting Dog group, and is easily recognized by their distinctive coat and the medium small stocky body.

 The average Lhaso Apso weighs between thirteen and fifteen pounds or six to seven kilograms. 

While there are some slight variations between different judging bodies, the following is a guideline for the Lhasa Apso breed standards, based on the information provided by the American Kennel Club.

HEAD

·        The skull is narrow and falls away from behind the ridge of the eyebrow in a marked degree. The skull is not flat but also is not domed or apple-shaped either.

·        The foreface is straight and the muzzle is medium in length. A square shaped muzzle is objectionable.

·        The nose should be black and the tip of the nose should be carried level with the slit of the lower eye rim when viewed from the front of the dog.

·        There should be a heavy furnishing of hair over the eyes and a good set of whiskers and a beard.

·        The ears should be pendant type and should have a heavy feathering of hair.

·        The eyes are to be dark brown and of medium size. Overly large and full eyes or small and sunken eyes are objectionable.

·        An overbite is not acceptable, and a slightly undershot or level bite is preferred.  The desired bite is described as a “reverse scissors” with the upper incisors just touching the inside of the lower incisors. The teeth should not be showing while the mouth is closed.

 NECK

·        The neck is study and is well set on the shoulders. The neck should give an appearance of elegance to the carriage of the head.

 BODY

·        The length of the body should be longer than the height at the withers, when measured from the point of the shoulders to the point of the buttocks.

·        The loin should be firmly muscled and not overly long.

·        The ribs should extend well back along the body to provide balance and stance. 

·        The quarters and the thighs should be powerful and muscular and the abdomen should be tucked up at the loin.

·        There is some variation in the size allowed, but males should not exceed 11 inches at the shoulder and females should not exceed 10 inches.

·        All colors are acceptable, with mixtures and variations of colors with white. There may be darker markings on the edges of the ears and the beard.

·        The coat should be long, but not touching the ground. It should be very thick and dense on the body, head and not overly coarse or silky to the touch.  It is to be completely straight with no curl. The legs should be completely covered and the hair should grow between the toes.

·        The legs should be as straight as possible with no bowing or crookedness. Due to the heavy coat and stout appearance, the leg bone will appear to be heavy but is not in reality.

·        The pads of the feet should be large and almost cat-like in appearance.

 TAIL

·        The tail of the Lhasa Apso should be curved over the backbone in a screw.

·        The tail may have a slight kink at the end, and this is acceptable.

·        The hair on the tail should be well feathered and should be thick and dense. 

·        A low carriage of the tail is not acceptable in the breed.

 GAIT

·        The Lhasa Apso should move gracefully and forcefully, with a trot being the normally preferred gait.

·        The pads should be lifted off the ground and should be able to be seen as the dog is moving away.

·        This dog has been bred for working in the mountains on rough and difficult terrain so speed is not important, rather the purposeful movement is.

 CHARACTER

·        The terms used in the breed standards are “gay and assertive but wary of strangers”. The Lhasa Apso is lively,  intelligent  and devoted to their owners.

·        They are a good watch dog as they are naturally wary of new people but should be loyal companions of family members and familiar people.

I am sorry if that was all a bit "dry" but it is a little tricky to make the breed standards exciting.

 Thanks for visiting us and we hope  you enjoyed learning a little about the breed standard of the Lhasa Apso.

Feel free to look around some more at our other pages on our  website.

     Home      Breed Standard     History    Potty Training    Barking Help    Nipping & Biting Help