Originating in the Himalayas 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, and has a somewhat modified head, but otherwise his construction is that of a sound, normal canine.

Since his arrival in the west about 100 years ago, there has been a steady drift away from the original Himalayan type largely due to a lack of selection for the survival based qualities that originally distinguished the breed.

The objective of this page is to demonstrate the relationship of the original type to the original standards, and to provide examples of correct Tibetan type, both old and new, and some of the modern deviations from the authentic Apso type.