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The Gompa Lhasa
Apso Preservation Program is a small population genetics
management program seeking to perpetuate the genetic
lineage of the Gompa Lhasa Apso. This unique gene pool
now represents the last remaining vestiges of the Apso
as it developed as a landrace in its native country of
Tibet.
Gompa
is the Tibetan word for a monastery's main
meditation hall, and Apso is Tibetan for hairy
dog. Lhasa, of course, is the capital of Tibet, and
the name "Lhasa Apso" came into use by Westerners when
these little dogs became popular in the West.
These
charming little "monastery dogs" are direct descendants
of the Apsos at the Drepung Monastery in Tibet. Like
messengers from the past, they connect today's Apsos
with the shaggy little dogs that once ran freely through
the great halls and passageways as part of Tibetan
monastery life. Although genetically equivalent to the
Lhasa Apsos in current breeding programs, the Gompa dogs
have not been bred towards a written standard of
perfection; they have not been bred to type. They are
reminiscent of dogs one would have seen in Tibet prior
to the 1950s - their coats, for example, are the same as
those shown in pre-1950 photos of Apsos taken in Tibet.
 The
importance of this program cannot be overstated: here,
in the Gompa dogs, lies the origin of the Lhasa Apso as
we know it today. Descended from ancestors in a country
whose spiritual traditions are its culture, the
Gompa dogs stand as a legacy from Tibet, where thousands
of monasteries (and their Apsos) have been
systematically destroyed since the 1950s. They speak not
only for their ancestors but for their ancient purposes
in monastery life, whether running to sound an alarm or
settling peacefully beside the monks for companionship.
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Maintain
a database that meets the American Kennel Club
requirements for a domestic registry.