Tibetan Spaniels

My husband, Norb, decided that he was going to have one of these small dogs after seeing one when we went to pick up a Berner stud puppy. After visiting with the family for only a night, he thought that this was a dog for him. The Tibbie was small but had the temperament of a large dog. At this time and point the Tibbie was still not eligible to compete in regular classes at AKC shows, but Norb told the owner that whenever she had a litter of pups he wanted one. Needless to say, the owner remembered and when her first litter was born, she shipped a little tri-colored female to our home in 1982. She became Kee Lee and what an experience she was.

We had not had small dogs for a long time so had some learning to do. We certainly learned more after Kee Lee. We neglected to ever crate train her. That proved to be interesting when we later took her to be bred. The owners of the stud dog did not live far away but had said they would keep her for us. After one night, they changed their mind. When she was 12 years old, she was spayed. I knew I wouldn’t have to call the vets when it was time for her to come home because she would let them know and they definitely would call us to come and get her. If you haven’t heard a Tibbie when they are not happy, then you have really missed an experience.

When we first exercised her, we didn’t want her to go out with the big dogs, so we let her exercise in the front yard. The only problem was that there was no fencing there and she decided that we all needed exercise. She would stay in the yard but run circles around us as we all tried to catch her. We finally put up a little wiring around one of the trees in the front yard.

Yes, Kee Lee taught us a lot... She was a great introduction to the breed and lived a long healthy life here until she died at the age of 15 years. Most of the Tibbies that we have still go back to Kee Lee’s bloodlines.

Our daughters enjoyed showing the Tibbies in the breed ring. Since they have moved on to their own families, we have not been very active in the breed ring. We do breed occasionally as we really love the breed and would not like to be without a few in the house. They are really a great dog with a lot of love to give.