Fido Flies

[Mike G]

 

Tibetan Temple Dog hair started appearing in the catalogs of several fly tying suppliers.

 

Wikipedia semms to indicate the most likely identity for the breed:

 

"The Lhasa Apso is a non-sporting dog breed originating in Tibet. It was bred as an interior sentinel in the Buddhist monasteries, who alerted the monks to any intruders who entered."

 

It could also be Tibetan Terrier or Tibetan Mastiff. No matter what, I cannot get comfortable with putting a piece of dog hide in my kit. Hides that result from hunting or slaughtering are no problem. I have tied many Bambi hair and Bambi tail flies. Temple dog is too much.

[Rob G]

Mike,

any chance the dog just gets a shearing every now and then and is not harmed? In fact maybe they have those "We'll come to your hut" trailers in Tibet where they groom the dog right at your monastery.

[Guest rich mc]

last year there was a fly fishing outingby guidelines we assisted with they gave lessons on two handed casting. one of their guides from michigan demoed tying some tube fliesusing the temple doghair. theydidnt know where it came from just that it great material for tying. i googled it last year and being a dog breeder i couldnt buy any and sleep at night . those guideline people were awesome by the way. rich

[Mike G]

last year there was a fly fishing outingby guidelines we assisted with they gave lessons on two handed casting. one of their guides from michigan demoed tying some tube fliesusing the temple doghair. theydidnt know where it came from just that it great material for tying. i googled it last year and being a dog breeder i couldnt buy any and sleep at night . those guideline people were awesome by the way. rich

 

rich,

 

You saw it in person. Was the hair loose or were they clipping it off of a strip of hide?

 

BTW, since I do not want to impose my tastes on everyone, it is the tyer's choice whether to use this stuff or not. I am on the not side.

[Guest rich mc]

i actually do not remember. i got to the table when he was half way thru and he already had his material out. rich mc

[Guest rich mc]

i just checked the canadian tube fly company they show it on the skin patch and say they found a source of etically harvested fur whatever that means i will check with our dog groomer about lapso apso hair . rich mc