Feeding a Lhasa Apso

According to one source on canine nutrition, the original temple diet of the Lhasa Apso would have consisted mostly of “domesticated yak, mountain goat, bear, or lama” as well as “barley and rice crops”, “dried berries”, and of course… bones. Since the breed developed using these food stuffs, it would seem prudent to try to find similar ingredients with similar nutrient profiles – in other words, similar amino acid profiles combined with a somewhat higher carbohydrate level than for other dog breeds.

Since most of us do not live in the wild Tibetan mountains, we have to try to make do with what is available in the supermarket.

A good place to start is with meat. Lamb and beef are good suggestions, which many Lhasa owners supplement with sardines in oil. Berries, dried or fresh, are available in some form year round – dried berries being common in the “bulk” foods section of many supermarkets. Barley and rice are ingredients commonly found in premium dried dog food, or you can create your own “mush” using the packaged varieties of the grains.

Bones are important to all dogs, not only to satisfy their gnawing instinct, but to clean their teeth as well. Not all dogs do well with over-cooked bones, so if your dog does have teeth issues it might be a good idea to “soften” the bones either with soaking/simmering them in water or by not cooking them to begin with. Of course all dogs love bones that still has a bit of meat on them