Tibetan Terrier

The Tibetan Terrier is not a terrier at all — it is a Tibetan herding and companion dog, and the name is a European misreading of its size.

History

Tibetan monasteries kept it for around two thousand years as a companion and a watchdog, and as a luck-bringer that was given rather than sold; the breed is sometimes called the holy dog of Tibet. Its large flat feet work like snowshoes on mountain ground. It reached Europe in the 1920s with a British doctor who was given a pair for treating a Tibetan patient.

Temperament

The breed is known for being lively, sensitive and closely attuned to its family, reserved with strangers without being timid, and long-lived and playful into old age.

Care and training

It needs moderate exercise. The long double coat mats and needs thorough brushing every few days. Training suits gentle consistency; it is sensitive to harshness.

Health

Known tendencies include progressive retinal atrophy, lens luxation, hip dysplasia and a neurological storage disease the breed's clubs test for. These are known patterns for the breed and a matter for a breeder and a vet; the measured facts are in the panel.