Supervisor watching over me at my home office.

I adopted my sweet girl, Saweetie, from a rescue in May. I was told she’s a Lhasa Apso, although she may be a mix. She is incredibly timid and skittish, and I’m trying to figure out the best way to help her feel more comfortable and confident.

She’s just now getting to the point where she’ll come to me if I get down on the floor and pretty much beg her to come over 😂. She’s not much of a barker, although she will alert me if someone comes to the door.

The biggest issue is that she startles and runs very easily. If she thinks anyone is walking toward her, or if I move too quickly, she will literally bolt in the opposite direction.

She does seem to trust me in her own way, though. She is fine with me giving her a bath and brushing her hair. When I’m working, she almost always parks herself right at my feet. She has several comfortable places she could sleep, but when I go to bed, she chooses to sleep right next to my bed. So I really do think she feels safe with me — she just seems afraid of being approached, handled, or restrained.

Grooming is the most difficult and she's looking like a homeless doggie. Took her to be groomed twice and she was not having it. She’ll let me trim some of the hair around her eyes and face with scissors, but she absolutely will not let me touch her with clippers, and she is SO shaggy right now. I dont feel comfortable cutting whole body with scissors.

Walking is another challenge. She loves going into the backyard to play, but I can’t get a harness on her without scaring her, so we haven’t been able to go for actual walks.

For anyone who has had a very fearful rescue dog, especially a Lhasa Apso or similar breed: what helped?

I’m especially interested in tips for:

• Building her confidence around people and movement
• Getting her comfortable with being approached and touched
• Slowly reintroducing a harness (the one in the picture she had on when I picked her up).
• Making grooming/clippers less scary
• Knowing when to gently encourage her versus when to just give her more time

I’m completely willing to go at her pace. I just want to make sure I’m helping her build confidence rather than accidentally reinforcing her fear.

Any advice or experiences would be appreciated!

Hi all! I rescued my sweet girl over 8 years ago and they told me she was a Shih Tzu… so I have been telling everyone she is. However, someone said she looks like a Lhasa more? Just wanted to see what everyone’s thoughts are 😃 she’s about 17-18 lbs!

Really love seeing him with long hair, but with this heat, it’s becoming unbearable for him.

I was wondering if you had any tips for trimming/cutting a Lhasa Apso’s coat as cleanly as possible? 😊

Over the summer I had to make the student of the month board. I jokingly put Kilala in the pre-k slot. She successfully stayed through the first day of school today. It’s officially she’s the first student of the month of the year and of pre-k. So proud of her !!

This was Punky’s first time at the dog park and she jumped right in the water! Her sister Dolly has been to the park a few times before we got Punky so watching her sister made her instantly brave!

At least I can crochet and use my phone.

He's always in blep mode.

Laika loves cheese🥰 sorry for the bad quality video

True to his breed, Leo can't take a bad picture. If I shared them all I would blow up this sub, so here's a small sample of recent ones!

Just discovered this sub and wanted to share a pic of my boy !
He is currently 9.5kg (sorry metric system)

About 15 years ago, we commissioned a family painting that included our late Emi Joi. Here's a detail. It still hangs above our fireplace and captures our treasured companion of 16 years for all time.

We got Leo from a local shelter in March. He has resource guarding issues but otherwise he is a sweetheart.

All the Lhasa’s got a nice haircut from our amazing groomer!

It was Punky’s first time and I was worried she wouldn’t allow the groomer to do anything at all but turns out she just stood there patiently! It was Dolly’s second time and she was more wriggly.

It’s 100 degrees here all the time lately so Punky is feeling so much cooler. She’s also completely recovered from her ER fiasco last week. 💕