Sunday, March 14, 2010

Rock Star


I found the following (and the pic above) posted on a website called Tibetan Life.

I AM a ROCK STAR!

Tibetan Terriers: Canine Equivalents of Rock Stars

The Tibetan Terrier Dog reminds me of a fashion model. Like the highest-paid models, the Tibetans have beautiful hair (fur?) that can be styled in various ways, thus presenting many different looks.

Some prefer to look like Soft-Coated Wheaten Terriers, but fellow Tibetans are not crazy about that look. Their guardians like it less, offended if people are not wise enough to know the difference.

Some prefer the terrier-sized sheepdog look (but in different colors). It might have worked in the 60s and 70s, but doesn’t work well today.

There are some modified military-style cuts for summer, and labradoodle look-alikes for walks in the park.

Mostly, though the Tibetan Terrier Dog is adorable no matter if they are having a good or bad hair day.

Tibetans are loyal, very happy, extremely loving dogs with minds of their own. That, combined with how cute they are, makes them irresistible. The surprising thing is that there are not more of them in the United States, although that’s probably the choice of the breeders. They’re not for everyone, but those of us who know them wouldn’t want to adopt anything else.

Tibetans like my friend Sherpa have great personalities too. He is very communicative with his bark, letting his guardians know if he’s being ignored, or if they’ve waited too long to let him out, or if he’s just bored. It sounds like “woo-woo-woo,” and he can hold those notes for a long time until he gets what he wants.

The first time I saw the Tibetan Terrier playing in the snow on a terrace in New York will stay with me forever. Expressions like “kid in a candy store” came to mind, as he frolicked, jumped, buried and unburied his toys and then came up with myriad of new hairdos as the snow stuck to his fur. He burrowed under the snow, leaped over snowbanks and rolled in it. His big front legs grew exponentially as more snow stuck to him, and he started to look like a hockey player wearing big gloves.

If Tibetans could talk, I’d ask them if they know how darn cute they are. I think they do. They pose and preen, and the camera loves them. You kind of feel sorry for all the other breeds and mixes. They pale in comparison.

That’s another thing Tibetan Terriers have in common with fashion models. They’re members of exclusive clubs of great looking characters, and that’s not a bad way to live