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Tibetan Terrier

The breeds · companion

AKC Non-Sporting · UKC Companion · FCI standard 209

Tibetan Terrier.

FCI 209: in spite of the name, not a terrier but a herding dog, doubling as a guard for traders as they journeyed to and from China; believed to be the original Holy Dog of Tibet; utilization Companion Dog, without working trial. UKC: not a terrier at all but an ancient Tibetan herding breed, believed progenitor of the Lhasa Apso, also a guard dog of the monasteries and a 'holy dog' thought to bring good luck. AKC standard: evolved over centuries in Tibet's extreme climate; a steadfast, devoted companion in all of his owner's endeavors. RKC: not a terrier; used as a herding dog for sheep. Wikipedia: kept as good luck charms, mascots, watchdogs, herding dogs and companions; also used to retrieve articles that fell down mountainsides..

Breed sets the odds. The parents set the dog. Every number here shows its source, its spread and how sure we are. Nothing on this page is a prediction about one dog.

13.8YRMedian lifespan13.5 to 14.2, measured on real dogs.
0INHeightall null. An ideal from the standard, not a range.
18–30LBWeight, all linesbreed 18 to 30 lb.
1HRSExercise, every dayRKC: up to 1 hour per day; small house; town or country; small or medium garden.. The constraint most homes get wrong.

The body

What the breed is built like. Registry standards give an ideal, not a range.

Height at the shoulder

14 to 17 in

Breed clubAKC breed standard

Center left blank: the standards print ranges, not an ideal. low/high is the AKC page and fault limits (14 to 17); UKC, FCI and Wikipedia sit inside it. Both-sex row; no source gives female numbers.

Weight

18 to 30 lb

Breed clubAKC breed standard

AKC, UKC and Wikipedia agree on 18 to 30 lb. Center blank: the AKC prints its average as a range (20 to 24).

Coat

AKC: double coat, soft woolly undercoat, profuse fine outer coat never silky or woolly, wavy or straight, long but not to the ground; any color or combination including white. UKC the same. FCI 209: white, golden, cream, grey or smoke, black, parti-colour and tricolours; chocolate, liver and merle unacceptable. Large, flat, round snowshoe feet heavily furnished with hair between the toes. Wikipedia repeats the snowshoe feet and notes the topcoat has the texture of human hair.

Breed clubAKC breed standard

Shedding

Shedding 3 of 5 (AKC breed page trait score)

Breed clubAKC

AKC breed page trait score, 1 to 5: a breed-club tendency, never a measurement.

Heat tolerance

2 of 5 · AKC standard: profuse double coat, soft woolly undercoat and fine long outer coat; a fall of hair covers the eyes and foreface. UKC and FCI 209 the same. FCI 209: a herding dog bred in Tibet's severe climate.

DerivedAKC breed standard

Derived from the standard's coat (profuse long double coat = 2) on an 18 to 30 lb dog. No measured data.

How long they live, and what they cost

Measured on real dogs, with the sample and the spread. Never a guess.

Median lifespan

13.8 years (13.5 to 14.2)

MeasuredMcMillan KM, 2024

McMillan et al. 2024 / Dogs Trust table. UK population; the median is across dogs that had died plus censored dogs per the paper's method. The AKC page 'Life Expectancy' band is a registry band and is not used here. Not in Teng et al. 2022.

The dog at home

What the breed asks of a day. The first thing most homes get wrong.

Exercise need

RKC: up to 1 hour per day; small house; town or country; small or medium garden.

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

RKC is a UK registry band, not a study; mapped by the library rule (up to 1 hour = 60).

Exercise need

AKC page energy level 4 of 5, mental stimulation needs 4 of 5, playfulness 3 of 5, barking level 3 of 5 (AKC bands). RKC: up to 1 hour per day. FCI 209: livelier than the other Tibetan breeds in Group 9. Wikipedia: energy level moderate to high; requires regular exercise; well suited to dog sports such as agility; deep bark and prone to excessive barking.

Breed clubAKC

AKC bands are not mapped to minutes; RKC supplies the minutes figure. FCI and Wikipedia lines are descriptive.

Energy

4 of 5

Breed clubAKC

AKC breed page trait score, 1 to 5: a breed-club tendency, never a measurement.

Grooming load

4 of 5 · RKC: grooming every day; long coat; does not shed. AKC page: coat grooming frequency 3 of 5, shedding 3 of 5 (AKC bands). AKC standard: sculpturing, scissoring, stripping or shaving are totally contrary to breed type and serious faults; coat long but should not hang to the ground. Wikipedia: long hair growth cycle; pets require occasional trimming; slough hair at a rate similar to humans.

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

RKC band mapped by the library rule (every day = 4). The AKC shedding band (3) and RKC 'does not shed' differ; both stand.

The work

What it was built to do in the field, and what a test or trial asks of it.

Role

FCI 209: in spite of the name, not a terrier but a herding dog, doubling as a guard for traders as they journeyed to and from China; believed to be the original Holy Dog of Tibet; utilization Companion Dog, without working trial. UKC: not a terrier at all but an ancient Tibetan herding breed, believed progenitor of the Lhasa Apso, also a guard dog of the monasteries and a 'holy dog' thought to bring good luck. AKC standard: evolved over centuries in Tibet's extreme climate; a steadfast, devoted companion in all of his owner's endeavors. RKC: not a terrier; used as a herding dog for sheep. Wikipedia: kept as good luck charms, mascots, watchdogs, herding dogs and companions; also used to retrieve articles that fell down mountainsides.

Breed clubFCI-Standard N° 209

FCI, UKC, RKC and Wikipedia all say it is not a terrier. UKC calls it the progenitor of the Lhasa Apso; FCI's Lhasa Apso standard says it is thought to have been behind the early Apsos; the Tibetan name Tsang Apso is Wikipedia.

Primary game

Livestock work rather than game: RKC says it was used as a herding dog for sheep; FCI 209 says herding and guarding for traders.

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

Not a game dog. Recorded so the library does not leave the work blank.

Also used on

Wikipedia: retrieving articles that fell down mountainsides; guarding for traders (FCI 209); monastery guard dog (UKC).

EditorialWikipedia

Single editorial source for the retrieving line.

Field trial standard

Wikipedia: competes in agility, obedience, rally obedience, showmanship, flyball and tracking; herding instincts and trainability can be measured at non-competitive herding tests and trained dogs can compete in herding trials. FCI 209: Group 9, Section 5, without working trial.

EditorialWikipedia

Wikipedia list was not checked against AKC herding eligibility. No test pass rate was read.

How common the problems are

Evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock; the numbers are still the best there are.

Hip dysplasia

5.6% · 4918 OFA hip evaluations, current all-data, accessed Oct 9 2026; 5.6% dysplastic (mild 3.1, moderate 2.0, severe 0.5; 93.9% normal). OFA rank 178 (ranks run from the highest dysplastic rate down).

MeasuredOrthopedic Foundation for Animals

OFA's own breed statistics. OFA-evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock (owners and breeders submit films, and poor results are less likely to be submitted), so this is not the rate across all dogs of the breed; the true population rate is not known. Ask any breeder for the sire and dam's own OFA or PennHIP results.

Elbow dysplasia

4.6% · 328 OFA elbow evaluations, current all-data, accessed Oct 9 2026; 4.6% abnormal (grade 1 2.7, grade 2 1.8, grade 3 0.0; 95.4% normal). OFA rank 87.

MeasuredOrthopedic Foundation for Animals

OFA's own breed statistics. OFA-evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock (owners and breeders submit films, and poor results are less likely to be submitted), so this is not the rate across all dogs of the breed; the true population rate is not known. Ask any breeder for the sire and dam's own OFA or PennHIP results.

Most common disorders

Wikipedia: canine neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (Batten disease; first sign night blindness; DNA test since the gene was identified in 2009; a German club study found about a third carriers and no affected dogs after testing) and primary lens luxation (ADAMTS17 mutation; one of the more commonly affected breeds). RKC Good Practice tests: NCL12, PLL, PRA (rcd4), pituitary dwarfism (DP-LXH3) and BVA/KC hip scoring; Best Practice: PRA3 DNA test and the eye scheme.

EditorialWikipedia

The disorder list is Wikipedia (editorial; its citations were not read). The RKC test list is registry and shows which conditions the UK Kennel Club treats as significant in the breed; it does not give prevalence.

More

akc bands

AKC breed page trait scores (1-5): Energy Level 4; Mental Stimulation Needs 4; Trainability Level 3; Barking Level 3; Watchdog/Protective Nature 4; Good With Young Children 3; Openness To Strangers 3; Good With Other Dogs 3; Shedding Level 3; Coat Grooming Frequency 3; Drooling Level 2; Affectionate With Family 5; Playfulness Level 3; Adaptability Level 4.

Breed clubAKC

Fourteen AKC bands in one row; the selector reads each by name. Breed-club ratings: a tendency, never a measurement.

How to read this page

Every value carries a label. Measured means peer-reviewed data on many dogs. Studied means peer-reviewed, smaller or indirect. Breed club means a club or registry states it. Editorial means expert opinion with no measurement behind it. Where two good sources disagree, both are shown and neither is averaged.

Published when the entry rests on the best information available from no fewer than three independent sources, checked by a second pass that did not write it. 7 sources on this page. Found something wrong? Tell us and the correction is logged with its date.

Also called
TT, Tsang Apso, Dokhi Apso

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