Hamilton vs Sparky

It is in this breeder's opinion that Lhasas today are based on two basic "styles" of Lhasa Apsos, namely Hamilton and Sparky. Although the differences between the two types are subtle, they become a little more apparant as one becomes more acquainted with the breed.

"Hamilton" is the kennel name of one of the first breeders of Lhasa Apsos in the United States. Hamilton Farms was owned by Mr. and Mrs. C. Suydam Cutting of Gladstone, New Jersey. Mr. Cutting, while on an expedition to Tibet, was presented with several Lhasas by the 13th Dalai Lama and was later presented with a couple of Lhasas by the 14th Dalai Lama.

Dorothy Joan Kendall of Orlane Kennels is credited with the beginning of the "Sparky" line. Her Best in Show dog Champion Everglo Spark of Gold ROM**** (whelped 23, May, 1963), was the sire of forty-four AKC champions, many of which were Best in Show winners as well. As Dorothy and several others have noted, analyzing Sparky's pedigree would reveal that he might be considered to be about half Shih Tzu.

How can that be? The Lhasa Apso was first recognized by the American Kennel Club in 1935, but it wasn't until 1969 that the Shih Tzu was accepted into the AKC. Many Shih Tzus were imported to the US from the UK from the late 1930's until around 1950. These Shih Tzus were then registered as Lhasa Apsos so that they could be exhibited in AKC shows. Several kennels at that time interbred these English imports with the original Lhasas imported from Tibet by Mr. Cutting. Finally, AKC did put a stop to the registration of the English imports as Lhasa Apsos, but they were unable to do anything about the Lhasa-Shih Tzu mixes that had already been registered previously. This basically sums up the ancestry of Sparky.

What difference does it really make anyway? For one reason or another, from the middle of the 1600s to the beginning of the twentieth century, small furry dogs were passed back and forth from China and Tibet. From these animals came the Shih Tzus and the Lhasa Apsos, respectively. In short, the dogs imported to England from China became the Shih Tzu. The dogs imported to the US from Tibet became the Lhasa Apsos. Before the Shih Tzu-Pekingese cross took place in England in the1950s (that is another story) there was little difference between the English Shih Tzu and the American Lhasa Apso.

How pure is "pure"? That depends on how far back these ancestries are traced. Today, to quote an internationally noted Lhasa breeder, "There are very many lovely typey dogs that are not Hamilton, and plenty of very untypical Hamilton dogs." These differences are not as much a result of their origins but the ambiguity of the Lhasa Apso Standard and how breeders and judges choose to interpret the standard.