Alice White
Lhasa Apso is a self-sufficient intellectual, a loyal companion, and a creepy owner with the courage of a shepherd dog and the appearance of a soft toy. Sly and in many respects independent, this “Tibetan” will easily pick up the key to the master’s heart, and if allowed, he will gladly begin to lead all family members. However, if you do not delay and manage to besiege the shaggy usurper in time, relations with him can go according to a different scenario – from properly educated Lhasa apso, wonderful watchmen, as well as no less sensitive human friends, turn out.
#1 The birthplace of the breed is Tibet, or rather, its monasteries, whose inhabitants were not indifferent to small dogs, famous for their strong-willed character and sociability.
It is known, for example, that the gates of Buddhist monasteries were always guarded by Tibetan mastiffs, while the status of the guardians of the Dalai Lamas' quarters belonged entirely to the Lhasa apsos. Local beliefs also helped to maintain the breed's image. According to them, the souls of their dead owners entered the bodies of animals, thus continuing their earthly path.
#2 In praising the breed, the Tibetans went so far as to classify its representatives as sacred animals, the sale of which was severely punished.
Sometimes Lhasa Apso was still given, but such offerings were made in exceptional cases and almost always not to Europeans. That is why dogs came to the Old World only by the end of the 19th century.
#3 Curious fact
in their homeland, the Lhasa Apso breed was often called dining admirers. It was believed that Buddhist monks specifically taught dogs to sigh in sorrow in order to pity the believers. Those interested in the reason for the strange sobbing of animals were explained that the dog had not eaten for a long time, but education does not allow him to whine and beg for alms. It is clear that after such stories, the number of monastic donations increased sharply.
