JOAN
BEARD
LHASA
APSO BREED PIONEER
Kerrie
Mansell
“Well.
I’ve been rich, desperately poor,
comfortable and back to poor,” is
how Joan Beard began her autobiography in
“Memoirs Of A Gadabout” (2006);
a life story which began in Hamstead,
London on February 8th,
1919.
Joan
has been credited with introducing the
Lhasa Apso to Australia. She is also well
known as an author of a number of travel
books as well as the entertaining Into
Bed Fred (about her beloved Ch Tasam Nak
Po) and the equally interesting Lhasas
And Lamas).She has also made a
contribution to the understanding of
prapsos in the breed through written
articles both on this genetic phenomena
and her work with the gene study group,
CHART. Joan was a licensed judge of Lhasa
Apsos and Shih Tzus and although retired
many years ago, from an active
involvement with the breed, has always
retained a keen interest.
Joan
Beard and R Da Norbu
(Taken early 1960s)
The
following is a personal history as told
to me by Joan Beard some time ago. I have
been fortunate to have known this
charming and witty woman for more than
two decades.
Joan
Tells Her Story
I
was born in Hampstead , London and
educated at St George’s School,
Ascot. Although we lived in London, our
house was always full of animals. I was
given my first puppy when I was two; a
Pekingese called Chang. He lived for
sixteen years.
My
mother was animal mad. She belonged to
various animal protection organisations.
She could train an animal to do anything
she wanted, simply by talking to it.
Unfortunately, my mother died when I was
thirteen.
In
spite of the fact that we lived in
London, we had a large garden. I remember
in winter, one Golden Retriever, two
Pekingese, one Wire Haired Fox Terrier, a
Persian cat, Angora rabbit and two white
mice all huddled together in front of the
fire. They were all house trained and
never attempted to fight. My father had
horses but they were kept in stables.
My
father wanted to get married again so he
married me off to a landowner which was
disastrous. The war came and everything
stopped so I ran away from home and
joined the navy. I was stationed in Bath
then London, where I met and married
Arthur Beard RAAF, an Australian swimming
champion. I arrived in Australia in 1946.
When
the children we had were old enough, I
decided to show and breed Pekingese. We
did this quite successfully and my
daughter, Lesley, became a good handler.
In
1960, we visited England and decided to
try and find a breed that was not yet in
Australia. Looking through books, we
rather fancied the Tibetan Spaniels.
Upon
arriving, we started visiting kennels.
Neither of us saw a dog that grabbed us.
Our last call was to Florence
Dudman’s Ramblersholt Kennels. Here
we looked at the Tibbies for a
considerable time. Suddenly a dog jumped
over the fence and came running to us. It
was at that moment that Mrs Dudman asked
if we were interested in any of the dogs.
Pointing to the newcomer, I replied,
‘That
one. It’s the most beautiful dog
I’ve ever seen’.
‘Do
you know what he is?’ Mrs Dudman
asked.
‘No
but I’ve got to have him’
‘He’s
a Tibetan Apso but he’s not for
sale. He’s my leading stud and has
just won BOB at Burmingham. I call him
Lion. I’ll show you the
others.’
She
brought out several dogs. I explained
that I needed a male, a proven bitch and
a puppy bitch as unrelated as possible.
None of them had quite the personality of
Ramblersholt Sing Gi, known as Lion. But
they were lovely dogs.
I
finally bought Ramblersholt Trag-Pon
(Trag), a black and white, as my stud
dog. He was 10in high, compact and well
balanced with an enormous coat but he
lacked the personality of Lion. His sire
was Ramblersholt Chumba, a tan and white
parti, and his dam was Kikuli of
Furzyhurst, also tan and white.
As a
mate I bought Ramblersholt Da-Norbu
(Nobbie) , an older proven grey and white
bitch. Her sire was Gay Time of Lamleh
and her dam Brackenbury Nuptse. On her
dam’s side she only had a two
generation pedigree, her grandparents
Dzongpen and Minzong of Madamswood having
been imported by Colonel Irwin with
pedigree unknown. She was, however, one
of the nicest animals you could hope to
live with.
The
third purchase was a puppy bitch which
Mrs Dudman had wanted to keep herself,
Ramblersholt Dzom Tru (Zommie). She was
white with gold ears and the prettiest
thing imaginable but lacked the
intelligence of the others. Her sire was
Ramblersholt Chumba and her dam
Ramblersholt Metok who was also white
with gold ears.
They
were transferred to me on May 28th,
1961 and duly arrived in Australia.
The
dogs duly arrived and settled in although
at first they grew their coats in our
summer and lost them in winter. This was
rectified later.
By
now we were convinced this was the breed
for us. I wrote to Mrs Dudman and asked
her for a male puppy suitable to mate to
my puppies. I didn’t get a reply and
the months were dragging on. One day a
cable arrived to say it had taken her a
while to make up her mind but Lion was
already on the boat. I was elated. My
first love was actually coming to join
us.
Apsos
were called Tibetan Apsos for a few years
and shown in the Toy Group. When the name
changed to Lhasa Apsos, they moved to Non
Sporting. It was a long hard struggle to
get judges to see their potential.
Finally the late Harry Spira gave Best In
Group to Ch Rambersholt Sing-Gi (Imp UK).
Then a bitch I bred, Ch Soemirah
Pon-Dzara won Best of Breed in every
class. She eventually went to New
Zealand, in whelp, along with one of the
three imports, Ch Ramblersholt Trag-Pon,
to start the breed there.
After
I lost Lion, the Houdini, who escaped
from a maximum security kennel and
somehow managed to squeeze out through
the drain, I was heartbroken. I vowed
never to own another male dog. But in
1969, a friend needed a home for a
beautiful puppy. At first I refused and
told her if he’d been a bitch I
would have bought him then and there.
Finally she persuaded me to help her out
and take him. This was the famous Fred,
Ch Tasam Nak-Po. Fred was the worst puppy
I have ever tried to lead train. He had a
mind of his own. Fred used to write an
article a month for Lhasa Tales ,USA, for
13 years and had Into Bed Fred published;
the life of a dog from a dog’s point
of view.
Fred
and I were devoted . At the age of
eighteen and a half, he had a stroke. It
looked as if he might get over it when he
must have decided life was too difficult.
I missed him so much I couldn’t even
bring myself to pat a dog. The vet gave
me a cat to help bridge the gap.
She’s not Fred but I love her.
*****
Since
the time of recording this little
interview with Joan, Dinah the cat had
passed on and I was sorry to hear in the
latter part of 2012 that Joan’s
health was not too good. I remember
seeing her on TV when I switched on the
news some years back; protesting about
the conditions for pensioners. She has
always been an amazing and articulate
woman to be admired not just for
introducing the Lhasa Apso to this
country but her genuine capacity to see
life as an adventure worth embracing.
‘After
word” to the article.
On
March 18, 2013, Joan Beard passed away in
Sydney, Australia. She was 94 years of
age.
In
2006, she documented her interesting life
in “Memoirs Of A Gadabout”; an
autobiography and travelogue of her
adventures across the globe.
Rest
in peace my dear friend
Fred’s
Story
An
extract from
INTO
BED FREDÓ
Chapter
One-The Start Of A Tail!
I was born
with the cards stacked against me. There
was no doubt in anyone’s mind at the
time of my birth, that I was doomed to be
a nonentity, frowned on and generally
discarded. I was born black. Prejudice
was high at the time of my entry into the
world, thanks to a few people who could
not see further than their noses. My
father was black and he did not do so
badly; so I decided , as soon as I was
old enough to think for myself, that I
would make them realise that not only
myself but many others of my race had
something worthwhile to contribute to the
breed.
My mum and
dad came all the way from England to show
people in Australia that we had a great
deal to offer. My dad was from a long
line of champions who had many great
names for themselves overseas, and my mum
had children who were internationally
famous. Unfortunately I was their only
child , which, of course, involved me in
a great deal of responsibility. I was
left to carry on the great name of those
who came before me.
Naturally,
none of this concerned me for the first
few weeks of life. I was content to
cuddle up to my mum, whose fur kept me
warm, and I could front up to the milk
bar any time my tummy told me it was
empty. It did not seem very long before I
was put in a box for most of the day,
with a pen around it. This did not really
appeal to me but at the same time, having
an inferiority complex, I did as I was
told. After all, I was fed and watered so
what more did a young chap need?
This life
continued for a short time and then I had
my first adventure. I was put in a car,
still in a box, and taken for a long ride
to a place called Sydney. Here we stayed
with a nice lady who was very kind to me,
but when we went visiting that was the
end. Numerous people would feel me and
make very rude remarks. They called me
all sorts of names , rubbed it in about
my colour, until finally my owner told
them they had ‘bats in the
belfry’ and took me back to
Melbourne.
Utility
Dog -Jan TaylorÓ
Life
returned to its normal peaceful self and
I had decided that this was to be my lot,
when the lady from the place we had
stayed at in Sydney turned up. She
obviously thought a great deal of me and
gave me lots of cuddles, but I decided
that I wanted to stay with my mum and dad
and no one was going to take me away. I
heard some very funny conversations. My
owner was telling the lady that although
she did not want to part with me, I had
to go. The lady kept saying she did not
want a boy. My owner became more and more
persuasive and even went to extremes by
telling the lady she was the only one she
would send me to. I did not like this
conversation and tried to listen in as
much as possible. Everything I heard was
bad.
I gave a
sigh of relief when the lady left for
Sydney and I was still in my own
surroundings. It was a fool’s
paradise. A few days later I was put in a
large cage and into a great big machine
like a huge bird and borne into the sky.
I was frightened, especially as it made a
loud noise. It was not for too long: soon
we were coming back to earth. My cage was
put on a truck , I was wheeled into a big
room and there was the lady from Sydney
waiting to take me home.
Life in
Sydney was nothing like it had been
before. I was subjected to all kinds of
things which I did not like. I was told I
had to be a show dog (whatever that
meant), but I firmly resisted all
attempts to make me into something in
which I did not believe. Although I
admitted to myself that the beds were
comfortable and the tucker good, nothing
was going to make me show any kind of
feeling to my new owner.
Of course,
there were many visitors to the house,
and they all asked what my name was and
if I had a pet name. You should have
heard the rude remarks when they
discovered that officially I was Tasam
Nak-Po, which means black in Tibetan.
‘You
can’t call him that’, was the
usual answer.
‘We’ll
think of a nickname.’
You should
havee heard some of the suggestions. Try
shortening Nak or Po and see what you
get! It finally boiled down to Rasputin
or Chou En Li. Apparently I bore some
resemblance to those infamous men. Of
course, while all this naming was going
on, my new owner had to call me
something. Every night she would say
‘Into bed Fred’, and Fred I
have been ever since.
At this
stage I will merely summarise the events
which followed. First I discovered that
there was some agreement with my ex-mum
and my new owner, who had to take me to
shows. I hated them, but when my mum
makes a promise she keeps it.
Fortunately, after a short spell I became
a champion, although I was still being
dragged around for what seemed like an
eternity. This was not the life for me. I
knew I had to get another interest, other
than sex, which is a bit hard to come by
at times.
International
Dog Union
Jan
TaylorÓ
None of
this happened overnight, and before any
of this could take place I had to give in
to my new owner, whom I realised was
‘a bit alright’. One night when
she said the proverbial, ‘Into bed
Fred’, I replied ‘OK Mum’.
From that day on she has always been
known as my mum. The articles I have
written over the years virtually tell my
life story, so I will relate my tale as
it comes to mind.
Perhaps I
had better be fair and explain that I am
a Lhasa Apso, a rare and very old , pure
breed of dog,. We originate from Tibet,
where we were kept as watch dogs in the
homes of the mighty. The Dalai Lamas used
to give us to high dignitaries, much as
the Queen of England gave a knighthood.
However, it is much easier to be knighted
than to be given an Apso. The present
Dalai Lama still keeps quite a few of us
around him. We are supposed to bring good
luck when given, but so many of us are
sold that maybe the spell is broken.
We are, of
course, extremely intelligent and very
acute of hearing. We are extremely
independent and no home is ever the same
after one of us has moved in. We like to
be one of the family and even if we think
the humans we live with are a little mad,
we still humour them by joining in
whatever strange hobbies they may have.
We also make it very plain that if they
do something we do not like, we pay them
back.
Naturally
we are incarnations of Lamas, so our
characters vary. My mum says I must be
the re-incarnation of a sex maniac, but
we try to keep that to ourselves. No
doubt our personalities are moulded, to a
certain degree, by the people with whom
we live, but the basics are predestined.
My Lama must have been quite a
character-someone special-but thank
goodness he had a sense of humour.
And so
began Fred’s life with Joan; a life
that they shared for more than eighteen
years.
Ch
Tasam Nak Po - Fred
Into Bed
Fred ISBN 0 7223 1819-7 was published by
Arthur H Stockwell Ltd, Great Britain in
1984. The text consists of 80 pages of
the delightful antics of Fred and an
appendix outlining The Official Standard
For Lhasa Apsos. It also has many black
and white line drawings by Sydney artist
Jan Taylor.
Jan
Taylor’s original paintings and
drawings have appeared on scarves,
brooches and cards. She works from photos
or composes original designs. She can be
contacted at;
Jan
Taylor
7 George Street
HAZELBROOK
New South Wales
Australia 2779
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