The strange occurrence of smooth coated puppies in a litter produced by two purebred Lhasa Apsos.

When my first bitch had her first litter, there was one puppy that looked kind of strange to me by the time she was about a month old. Her head looked different, she already had a complete set of teeth by the time she was four weeks old and could walk when she was four and a half weeks old. She had a funny nose and round eyes and also her coat looked quite different from the coat of the other puppies in the litter.

There was something about her but I could not figure out what it was, so I started phoning other breeders and asked them if they might know what the problem was. One told me: She might be a Prapso. I remembered reading a small article about Prapsos in one of our Club magazines so I searched for that issue and read it. There also was a photo of a Prapso published with it, but Dakota didn't look like that so much so I still did not know what she was.

 

 

 

 

 

Dakota

(Draya's Atlantic-Dianan x Sinja)

Pictured here at 6 months old

When she was about 6 months old I showed her to this breeder and she told me that Dakota for sure was no Prapso but she definitely looked different. She has hardly developed any coat since then and has an extremely long back. Her temperament is different from a Lhasa's, she's very wild and acts like she's still a baby.

A couple of years ago I asked a friend of mine to have a look at her pictured at 6 months old and he told me that if she hasn't coated up since then she might be what is called a percentage prapso (or a semi Prapso), this means that she is a Prapso but doesn't have the coat pattern like a Tibetan Spaniel to the full extent she might.

Now at least I know what she is, but I got extremely interested in this Prapso subject and tried to gather as much information as possible. This was a lot harder then I though it would be, nobody wants to talk about them and almost every breeder I asked for information said they could not help me as they had never had one.

This is the moment on which I decided to devote a page to them. Prapsos are living animals, but they look a bit different from what they were expected to look like. Don't feel ashamed if you ever had one, you can't help it and neither can the dog, he didn't ask to be born this way!!

 

 

Please read the following articles on Prapsos:
 
Smooth Coats In Lhasas  by Kathleen A. Walcott
 
Prapsos  by Sally-Ann Helf
 
"Prapsos" Perhaps an Apso? by Joan Beard
 
Something about CHART  by Joan Beard
 
Looking back in the past  by Joan Beard
 
Smooth Lhasa Apsos part 1 by Cassandra de la Rosa 
 
Smooth Lhasa Apsos part 2 by Cassandra de la Rosa 
 
The smooth factor in Lhasa Apsos  by Thelma E. Morgan 
 
What is a Prapso?  by Juliette Cunliffe
 
What Happened To His Coat?  by Kathi Mitchell
 
Prapso photos  Collection of Prapso pictures
 
Prapso puppy photos  Collection of Prapso puppy pictures
 
Tribute to Buddy, a Prapso

 

 

Articles on other breeds which produce smooth coated puppies:
 
Smooth Shih Tzu  The appearence of smooth coats in Shih Tzu
 
Prapsos and Shavenese  by Michelle Burke
 
Smooth Lowchen by Lillian Spender
 
 
 
 
If you want to share your story and/or the pictures of your Prapso, then please email me at monique@kyechu.nl

 

 

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Some Prapso photos:

Prapso puppy

 

Prapso puppies, littermates

 

Litter of four, a Prapso on the far right

 

A Prapso and his Lhasa Apso littermate

 

Prapso, one year old Prapso, 9 months old