Many times when you’re buying a gift for someone who owns a purebred dog, the logical thought would be to find something breed specific. After all, if the person owns that breed, surely they would enjoy a gift that focuses on that particular breed.
While that truly might be the case, it isn’t always. Breed-specific images and designs are usually very cookie cutter and are based on the AKC look. For many breeds that’s not a problem, but for others there might be little resemblance to the breed gift you can buy.
I have a Lhasa Apso which is a dog with a good bit of fur (or hair) that requires a lot of grooming and brushing. For most people, the amount of work required to keep this breed looking like a show dog is just not something they are prepared to commit to … and so they opt for a short cut that requires little upkeep.
Because of this short cut, my Lhasa looks nothing like the ones you find on calendars or as figurines or even silhouetted on t-shirts. In thirteen years of owning this breed, I think I have seen one gift-type item that actually featured the short cut and all others have had the long, labor-intensive look.
Personally, I wouldn’t get excited about a figurine of a Lhasa Apso that didn’t have the short cut like mine does. So before you buy a breed-specific gift for someone, think about whether their dog actually looks like that. If not, it might be better to find something else.