According to people who study this stuff, the shape and size of one’s foot can describe ancestry and personality types. We make a bold claim: The nature of the Tibetan Terrier’s foot also says a little something about this breed.

They’re round and they’re big because they needed to be given where the breed is from. The compact size, a lack of discernable arch, and a unique structure enable the TTs to move over extreme snow-covered covered terrain often inaccessible to man, and they can do it with elasticity, drive, and traction. This is called a “snowshoe effect,” and it’s so important that it’s included in the AKC’s breed standard.

Modern snowshoes come in different shapes, but the people who work or play while wearing them have learned a thing or two: Round snowshoes give the wearer maximum flotation and stability. With more surface area, the wearer (or, in this case, the Tibetan Terrier) is kept “on top of the snow. Put another way, walking in a TT’s foot is like wearing a flotation device in deep snow.

Image of Tibetan Terrier by Patricia Peters of CanineCutUps is created from 10 to 20 individually hand cut pieces of paper, layered and mounted on color stock so that no two are the same: https://www.etsy.com/shop/CanineCutUps