About LhasaLife
One breed. One very opinionated dog. And a website built on ten years of real Lhasa life.
How it all started
Every great website starts with a dog. Ours started with a very small, very opinionated Lhasa Apso called Poppy, a Christmas Eve puppy who arrived in 2015 and promptly took over everything: the sofa, the bed, the daily schedule, and eventually an entire internet presence that nobody saw coming.
LhasaLife launched in 2016 because we wanted a UK resource that truly got what it’s like to live with a Lhasa Apso. There was plenty of generic dog advice out there, but we wanted something written by people who’d survived the stubbornness, the grooming marathons, the dramatic hunger performances, and the deeply personal betrayal of trying to clip a Lhasa’s nails. So we built one.
What we actually do
We write about Lhasa Apsos. That’s it. No golden retrievers, no poodle mixes, no “10 breeds that are perfect for first-time owners” listicles. Just Lhasas, all the time, with the kind of breed-specific detail you won’t find anywhere else.
Our content covers everything from grooming and training to health, behaviour, and the sort of everyday chaos that comes with owning a dog who genuinely believes they’re in charge. We write with honesty, a bit of humour, and zero tolerance for waffle. If we don’t know something, we’ll say so. If something needs a vet, we’ll tell you to see one.
Meet the boss
This is Poppy. Born Christmas Eve 2015, she’s been running LhasaLife since before the domain was even registered. She’s a Lhasa Apso, which means she’s beautiful, stubborn, ridiculously loyal, and absolutely convinced that the entire household revolves around her. She’s not wrong.
Poppy is the reason this site exists. Every article, every tip, every “please don’t eat that” moment comes from real life with her. She’s built a community of over 10,000 followers on social media, been our test subject for grooming techniques, our inspiration for training articles, and the star of her own story series (Poppy’s Tails), where she narrates life from the perspective of a dog who thinks she deserves a lot more treats than she currently receives.
Meet the human
Behind every opinionated Lhasa Apso, there’s a slightly exhausted human. That human is Eric Armstrong, Poppy’s dad and the original reason any of these words got written down in the first place.
Eric has been Poppy’s person since she arrived on Christmas Eve 2015, and the two of them are very much the heart of everything you’ll read on LhasaLife. He brings the real-world experience of over a decade of living with a Lhasa who genuinely thinks she’s in charge (she is), and he’s not shy about sharing the ridiculous, the messy, and the unexpectedly touching bits of dog parenthood.
More recently, Eric turned his hand to fiction. His debut novel, A Dangerous Time for Dogs: The Long Journey Home, is a story inspired by the bond between dogs and their people. It’s available as a digital download right here on LhasaLife, and if you know what it’s like to love a dog beyond all reason, you’ll feel right at home in its pages.
Why we’re different
Most dog blogs try to cover every breed under the sun. We don’t. We picked one breed and went all in. That means every article, every guide, every slightly unhinged story is written specifically for people who live with Lhasa Apsos or are thinking about getting one.
We’re based in the UK, we write from real experience, and we don’t pretend to be vets. When something needs professional advice, we’ll say so. When something just needs a laugh and a bit of solidarity, we’ve got that covered too.
Come say hello
We’re on Facebook and Instagram, where Poppy holds court and occasionally allows us to post on her behalf. If you’ve got a Lhasa Apso, you’re one of us. Pull up a chair, dodge the dog hair, and make yourself at home.