The Lhasa Leaves Tibet
It is early in the 1900's and an exposition headed by Francis Youngshusband has just returned to England. With them are the first Tibetan dogs. These dogs, at the time called Lhasa Terriers were likely the modern Lhasa's ancestors, but breeders faced with a limited number of them soon resorted to breeding withEnglish dogs and soon the original lines were lost. The dogs pictured below were brought to England as part of the Youngshusband exposition by Mrs. A McLaren Morrison. Despite the popularity of the breed and the fact it had been granted status as a separate and unique breed of dog by the Kennel Club of England the type was now mixed with what was most likely the Skye Terrier.
World War One took a toll on the fledgling Lhasa Terrier. After the end of the war a number of breeders of the Lhasa imported several dogs from China. These dogs were most certainly not Lhasa's but Shih Tzu's. Nevertheless they were used in many of the breeding programs greatly influencing the breed.
In 1928 the Kennel Club entrusted the future of the " Lhasa Terrier" to Colonel and Mrs. Bailey who were returning from a period in Tibet. These dogs seen here were to become the foundation for English Lhasa Apso's
The fresh blood brought by the Baileys rejuvenated the breed and set in motion the foundation of the Lhasa Apso in England. However the Shih Tzu influence is said by some to have remained in the English line even to this day.
The Lhasa Comes To America
C.Suydam Cutting was a naturalist and world traveler. He and his wife Mary owned a 5,000 acre estate outside Gladstone, New Jersey called Hamilton Farms. The Cuttings would visit Tibet several times once in 1930, again in 1935 and finally in 1937.
After the 1930 trip Cutting developed a friendship via letters with the 13th Dalai Lama. The two exchanged gifts and among the gifts received were three Lhasa Apso's which he brought back to Hamilton Farms.
Later after the death of the Dalai Lama, his successor the 14th Dalai Lama bestowed a pair of Lhasa's, a male and female on Cutting in 1950.
In 1935 the American Kennel Club gave the Lhasa breed official recognition and the first American breed standard was approved. The breed was known and shown in America as the Lhasa Terrier until 1944 when the "Terrier" suffix was removed and changed to
Apso".
The Cuttings fondness of these little dogs spurred a breeding program at Hamilton Farm. Under the guidance of John Anderson and Fred Huyler the Cuttings went on to register 249 Lhasa's with the AKC producing at least 40 champions.
Unlike the Cuttings who's breeding stock was obtained directly from Tibet other U.S. breeders obtained Lhasa's from England, some of which were mixed with the Shih Tzu's that had been registered as Lhasa's at the close of World War One. This controversy over the purity of the Hamilton bloodlines vs the imports still rages today.
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