The committee of the The Lhasa Apso Club (UK) considered this article
unsuitable for inclusion in the LAC newsletter.

It has become apparent that we have a problem concerning the rib cage of
the Lhasa Apso.
The standard did ask for a dog that was ‘well ribbed up’, meaning that the rib cage should extend well back towards the pelvis region of the dog. This is necessary in order to accommodate the lungs which need to expand well in order to breathe properly in the oxygen depleted atmosphere of Tibet, the home country of our dogs.
However, it appears people, for whatever reason, have been breeding the Lhasa Apso in order to gain a short back. Our standard makes it very clear that the Lhasa Apso is NOT a short backed dog. No where does it ask for a short back. The word ‘compact’ that is employed in the standard is in reference to the fact that an Apso is a solid well muscled dog with good bone, packed into a small body. You get a lot of dog in small package. An Apso feels much heavier than one would expect for a dog it’s size. Another word, though not used in the standard, that is often used to describe the Apso is ‘cobby’. This word means the same as compact and comes from the horse world. A Welsh Cob is a compact horse-small but well packed with bone and muscle.
The standard does make it clear that a rectangular shaped dog is required when it states clearly that the Apso should be longer than tall. It would not then also say that it should be short backed by using the word compact in the way many have misinterpreted it to mean.
Now back to the rib cage-of course rib cages have become too short. They have no where to go. One cannot breed for a short back and also have an elongated rib cage.
The ribs are attached to the 13 vertebrae that form the thoracic region of the spine. No breeding plan will alter the number of ribs or vertebrae. It is fixed.
Selection in breeding can alter the length of these vertebrae but not in isolation. Attached at the front of the section are the 7 neck vertebrae and attached at the rear are the 7 loin vertebrae. These sections are dependent upon each other. One cannot breed for longer neck vertebrae without also breeding for a longer thoracic region and loin region. The length of these vertebrae are proportional to each other. The shorter one section is, the shorter the next section will be.
For the rib cage to extend back enough to offer the dog the required protection, the angle of the ribs must be such that they reach back. A barrel ribbed dog, has a rib cage that does not angle backwards. A dog with ‘well sprung ribs’ also lacks backward reach of the ribs.
So in order to have a rib cage such as is asked for, we need to have the room for it! A short backed dog does not have the room.

The 7 vertebrae that form the loin are the longest of the vertebrae that form the spine. They start where the rib cage finishes and ends where the pelvis starts. The Lhasa Apso requires a loin of sufficient length to give it the flexibility of it’s spine that it requires for the terrain which is it’s natural habitat. A short loin takes that flexibility away. Altering the length of these vertebrae alters the length of ALL vertebrae: i.e. loin, neck, and thoracic. One cannot alter one set without altering the other two sets.

The Lhasa Apso should not have a short loin. next