FCI-Standard N° 227 / 02. 04. 2004 / GB

LHASA APSO

ORIGIN : Tibet.

PATRONAGE : Great Britain.

DATE OF PUBLICATION OF THE ORIGINAL VALID STANDARD : 24.03.2004.

 UTILIZATION : Toy Dog.

CLASSIFICATION F.C.I. : Group 9 Companion and Toy Dogs.

Section 5 Tibetan breeds.

Without working trial.

GENERAL APPEARANCE : Well balanced, sturdy, heavily coated.

BEHAVIOUR / TEMPERAMENT : Gay and assertive. Alert, steady but somewhat aloof with strangers.

HEAD : Heavy head furnishings with good fall over eyes; good whiskers and beard.

CRANIAL REGION :

Skull : Moderately narrow, falling away behind eyes, not quite flat, but not domed or apple headed.

Stop : Medium.

FACIAL REGION :

Nose : Black.

Muzzle : About 4cm (1 1/2 ins), but not square; length from tip of nose roughly one third of total length from nose to back of skull.

Foreface : Straight.

Jaws/Teeth : Upper incisors close just inside lower i.e. reverse scissor bite. Incisors in a broad and as straight a line as possible. Full dentition desirable.

Eyes : Dark. Medium size, frontally placed, oval, neither large nor full, nor small and sunk. No white showing at base or top.

Ears : Pendant, heavily feathered.

NECK : Strong and well arched.

BODY : Length from point of shoulders to point of buttocks greater than height at withers. Balanced and compact.

Back : Level topline.

Loin : Strong.

Chest : Ribs extending well back .

 TAIL : High set, carried well over back but not like a pot-hook. Often a kink at end. Well feathered.

LIMBS

FOREQUARTERS : Forelegs straight, heavily furnished with hair.

Shoulders : Well laid back.

HINDQUARTERS : Well developed with good muscle. Good angulation. Heavily furnished with hair.

Hocks : When viewed from behind parallel and not too close together.

FEET : Round, cat-like with firm pads. Well feathered.

GAIT / MOVEMENT : Free and jaunty.

 COAT

HAIR : Top coat long, heavy, straight, hard neither woolly nor silky. Moderate undercoat.

COLOUR : Golden, sandy, honey, dark grizzle, slate, smoke, parti-colour, black, white or brown. All equally acceptable.

SIZE : Ideal height : 25.4 cm (10 ins) at shoulder for dogs; bitches slightly smaller.

FAULTS : Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree and its effect upon the health and welfare of the dog .

Any dog clearly showing physical or behavioural abnormalities shall be disqualified.

N.B. : Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.