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In Quest of the Lhasa Apso
by Barbara Ratledge
written February 1984 |
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The following is a result of an
interview with Gerry D'Aoust, who has traveled extensively
in Northern India, Nepal and Afghanistan. Gerry originally
fame to me for more information of the Lhasa Apso as he
had seen them for the first time in Kabul, Afghanistan.
These dogs belonged to a young European lady who was
carrying her little treasures in a picnic basket. Gerry
became very interested in the breed, wanting to know more
and more about them.
In the winter of 1980 Gerry
found himself in Nepal on his quest for the Lhasa Apso.
Here he found that it was possible to purchase the dogs in
the Tibetan camps of Jawlakheel and Patan. He proceeded to
these camps but was not impressed with the dogs.
In Katmandu, Getty met Mrs. Ann-Marie Parr, a Swiss German
lady, who was manager of the Dwarika hotel. She was also
past president of the Nepal Kennel Club. She offered two
suggestions where Lhasa Apsos could be obtained; the
registered dogs of a family by the name of Ranas, or the
unregistered dogs in a small Tibetan camp in the vicinity
of the famous shrine of Bodnath. It was at Bodnath that he
purchased two young females, Lili and Kipa, and one male,
Sindhu. Unfortunately, Gerry was forced to leave them in
India as he had made no preparation for quarantine in
Canada.
Early in 1982, with predetermined
quarantine premises in Canada, he was once again in Nepal.
All the previously visited Lhasa Apso sites were revisited
and searched extensively. Again the Lhasas in the vicinity
of Bodnath were the better ones. From the puppies offered
he chose: Singha (M), Raji (F), Sindhu (M), Yangsom (F),
Kabi (F) and Kylo (M). These were all between the ages of
seven to ten weeks and because of their environment came
with all possible options, namely: fleas, ticks, etc. The
pups were treated with a local children's medicine which
proved very effective. A short time later Gerry was
supplied with health certificates from the Veterinarian at
the Katmandu Veterinarian Hospital. After a thirty hour
journey from Katmandu via Delhi and Frankfurt, Gerry and
the pups arrived in Canada.
In December of 1982 he
returned once again to Northern India, this time arriving
at his predetermined destination of Dharamsala, which
became, in 1982, the capital of Tibetans-in-exile. After
obtaining a filming permit he was off once again in search
of Lhasa Apsos. He found that the dogs in Dharamsala were
of mixed descendents and was advised to travel to
Mossoorie where supposedly, the best ones in India were
bred. However, he was disappointed with the quality
presented and did not obtain any. While in this area he
began researching the subject of dogs in Tibet and the
Lhasa Apso, in particular, and found that no books on dogs
had ever been published in Tibet.
In January of
1983, Gerry had the honor of meeting with Prince Jigme
Taring and his most charming wife Dolma Rinchen
Tsarong-Taring at their home Rajpur. While asking a few
questions about the Lhasas, Dolma Rinchen replied by
asking if he had read her book "Daughter of Tibet". He
headn't, but had remembered a mention of it in Herbel's
book "The Co9mplete Lhasa Apso". Gerry happened to have
Herbel's book with him and showed them the picture of page
22 described as Mr. C. Cutting with Tibetan Commander
Chief Tsarong Shape and his wife Mrs. Mary Taring. She
very quickly read the caption and wrote under the picture
"This is my sister Phema Dolka Tsarong. I also married him
(Tsarong) and later married Mr. Jigme Taring. Please read
my book "Daughter of Tibet" and you will know all about
us". She then signed her name Rinchen Dolma Taring.
Gerry was shown Jigme's Pridgie, a fawn colored Lhasa
bitch that has a brown nose. This dog, according to Jigme,
is one of today's best in India. He stated that the Lhasas
were not very good in India and that many are mixtures.
Gerry was once again able to meet with Mr. Taring,
this time in Dharamsala. Mr. Taring stated that some the
dogs that Gerry had acquired were the best he had seen in
the last twenty years. He thought that some of the puppies
looked quite promising. He was surprised at the black
noses on the dogs. Mr. Taring served as a fourth rand
government official for 18 years in the Department of
Revenue and Treasury of Endowment in Lhasa. His interests
are wide and cover such fields as Tibetan flora and fauna,
architecture, gardening and photography. Hi is also the
foremost authority on the Lhasa Apso breed in Tibet.
Meanwhile, while staying in Delhi Gerry contacted a
Dr. Sharma. Dr. Sharma, in his retirement, is the
Veterinary advisor to both the Minister of Food and
Agriculture and the Delhi Zoo. He is the Secretary General
of the Federation of Kennel Cubs of India and a very
active all-breed judge. After hearing that Gerry's dogs
had been seen by Jigme Taring he promised to come and see
the dogs on Gerry's way out of India. As a result he
registered six of the dogs with FKCI in India.
During the next five months Gerry made three more
trips to the remote Kingdom of Nepal and realized that
only in the vicinity of Bodnath were the best Lhasas to be
found. Here he took many photographs, not only of the dogs
that he purchased, but, also of their ancestors. Having
seen both the pictures and the actual dogs that Gerry has
acquired, I am most impressed with their quality and their
movement. The latter being the "Lhasa Bounce" which I had
heard about from Mrs. McFadden when I first became
involved in the breed many years ago. She defined one of
the differences between the Shih Tzu and the Lhasa Apso
was in the way of going. The Shih Tzu rolled like the
Pekingese and the Lhasa Apso had a bounce to his gait. I
couldn't believe my eyes when I saw them move. If Gerry is
able to register even one or two the best representatives
of the breed that he has brought back to Canada, I am
certain that Mrs. Cohen would be delighted for as she
wrote in 1966 before her untimely death "Many are
interested in breeding and exhibiting dogs. It is a very
interesting hobby. I am interested in preserving, from
extinction, possibly one of the oldest breeds known to
man, known a few years ago as the Tibetan Lhasa Apsos,
rare then and rare now. Since the invasion of Tibet by the
Chinese, the monasteries where these had been raised for
centuries have been looted, many destroyed. The dogs
cannot be duplicated or replaced from Lhasa or Tibet. What
we have of Tibetan origin now, as all we are destined to
every have. Breeders are needed that will continue and
preserve this line for posterity."
Gerry is going
back again, perhaps this time into an area where the dogs
have been brought directly from the monasteries in Tibet
and the monasteries where they are kept in their original
state. Perhaps Mrs. Cohen's dream is still alive.
B. Ratledge
February 1984 |
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