Before we introduce you to the secrets of this lovely dog, here’s Luna telling you a little something about the Shih Tzu’s:
Hi there, I’m Luna! We, Shih Tzus, come in all colors, but our hearts are the same… Big enough to fit all the love in the Universe! We love treats and squishy toys and playing around all day long!
🐕 Luna, the Shih Tzu
Stay tuned for more secrets and quirks for this cute dog.
Temperament & Personality
The Shih Tzu is renowned for its perky, yet lively and friendly temperament. It loves social interactions and can easily get along with new people and environments.
Toward its family, the Shih Tzu displays enormous loyalty, affection, and love. It can sometimes be mistaken for a cat: it can cuddle for hours on end, into your lap. However, its warm-hearted nature makes it needy and constantly searching for affection from its family members.
Compatibility with Kids & Other Pets
Due to its tolerant, playful, and affectionate nature, the Shih Tzu makes a great dog for families with small children.
The Shih Tzu enjoys engaging in games and activities with the small family members but needs to be treated with care. Harsh games must be avoided, because this dog is rather sensible to sudden moves, knocking, and shoving.
The Shih Tzu often forms strong, lifetime bonds with kids, displaying nurturing and protective behavior towards them.
Physical Characteristics
The Shih Tzu is a small, compact, noble dog, with a highly valued Chinese ancestry. Mature dogs weigh between 9 and 16 pounds (4.1-7.3 kg) and don’t exceed 11 inches (28 cm) in height.
Its round, domed head with prominent eyes and short, flat muzzle, represents a distinctive feature of this breed, along with its long, double-flowing coat.
This coat comes in all colors, such as black, white, brindle, gold, silver, red, fawn, liver, and combinations between these and plain white.
The breed standard allows black, tan, and white markings and black masks.
Obedience, Trainability & Intelligence
When it comes to obedience training, the Shih Tzu can be quite a headache. Although it responds well to praise and treats, it tends to do whatever it wants, whenever it wants.
Don’t be surprised if, during your training session, the little fellow’ starts wandering around on its own, ignoring you and your commands. You’ll need lots of patience, routine, and treats to succeed in training a Shih Tzu.
The Shih Tzu ranks 70th place on the intelligence ranking. Its unique emotional intelligence allows it to be empathic and pay special attention to human emotions, thus being a great human companion.
Because of this reason, the Shih Tzu is successfully used as a therapy dog.
Energy Level & Exercise Needs
The Shih Tzu needs moderate exercise, to stay healthy and fit, such as regular morning and evening 20-minute walks, paired with indoor playtime. And because it isn’t a big barker, it makes a great apartment dog.
Although the Shih Tzu may act like a couch potato, it enjoys chasing and ball games that stimulate its instincts. All exercise regimes must be followed by a resting, hydrating, and cooling period, especially in the hot season.
Its jaw shape means it cannot play with any toy and prefers those that it can grip easily: rope toys, rubber bones, plushes, and squeaky toys.
Beware of small toys and balls. A simple game can turn into a life-threatening situation because small balls can get trapped in its mouth and throat.
Shih Tzu Puppies
Cuteness overload! Shih Tzu puppies are lovely bundles of joy and fur, that may trick you when it comes to proper education. Stubborn and cuteness don’t go well together, and many owners make mistakes when training their Shih Tzu puppy.
Its small stature can sometimes mislead the owners into thinking this pup will always be handled easily, thus neglecting or entirely forgetting obedience training. This is how a miseducated adult Shih Tzu is born.
These pups will do great on a daily ritual and schedule. House training starts around 8 weeks old when the puppy is old enough to observe and understand its surroundings. At this age, it can learn where it should use “the potty”, and where its bed, water, and food bowls are located.
At 12-14 weeks old, the puppy may start basic command and leash training. At this age, many puppies are fully vaccinated and can go outside. Things do get easier with lots of praise and treats.
Around the age of 7-8 months old, all Shih Tzus undergo the adolescence period. They tend to ignore their previous training, acting independently during this time.
This is considered the worst period in a Shih Tzu’s lifetime: in both sexes, reproductive behavior will be displayed, and stubbornness, completed with independence and even aggression bursts will make any owner’s life a living hell.
Depending on each individual, this period can last up to a few months. Females in heat will become calmer after 21-23 days when the heat period ends, males will continue displaying signs of hormone abundance, such as urinating around the house, aggressiveness, or misbehaving.
When considering buying a Shih Tzu puppy, look for renowned kennels and breeders, which can provide papers for their litter. This is a way to ensure they have good breeding practices and don’t sell sick or genetically challenged puppies.
In terms of nutrition, Shih Tzu puppies need three meals a day, using specially designed kibbles for brachycephalic dogs. These are easier to grip and encourage the puppy to eat by itself.
Lifespan, Health Issues & Nutrition
The Shih Tzu is a long-living dog, with a lifespan of 14-16 years. There are a few health concerns when it comes to this dog, though.
Dental issues are one of the most common health problems, because of their small, short muzzle. The Shih Tzu has short jaws and, many times, the teeth are crooked and cramped. Food gets stuck easily between such teeth, making them prone to tartar deposits and halitosis, gum problems, and foul breathing.
The Shih Tzu needs a regular dental cleanup and special care. Many Shih Tzu puppies have retained teeth that the owners have no idea about. These are usually found during routine vet check-ups.
Because of the shape of its head and globular eyes, the Shih Tzu is predisposed to traumatic eye lesions. “Cherry eye”, or the prolapsed nictitating membrane gland, is another condition usually found in Shih Tzus, also related to its eye positioning and shape of the head.
The Shih Tzu is predisposed to joint problems, like hip dysplasia and arthritis. Its short airway makes it have breathing issues or even tracheal prolapse.
Skin conditions are often found in this dog breed, as well. Many develop food sensitivity and consecutive moist dermatitis or other skin lesions.
Avoiding dog food and treats containing colorants and additives is very important because Shih Tzus can become allergic to these and develop skin conditions.
This means the Shih Tzu needs special care when it comes to food. Good quality ingredients will ensure good health for your dog. Adult dogs need two meals a day, and if it’s into treats, always provide the best quality treats. (aici as vrea sa punem link cu treats spre noi)
Grooming Needs
The Shih Tzu has a dense, rich coat, which needs special care. Many owners prefer to trim their Shih Tzu’s coats but brushing and detangling are very important in the wintertime. These prevent matting and skin lesions, which may appear under the hair buns.
The Shih Tzu’s coat grows continuously; this means it needs regular trimming 3-4 times a year.
For dog competitions, in which the dog must preserve its long hair, the Shih Tzu needs regular professional grooming and products.
The Shih Tzu needs special care for the eye and muzzle area. Because its globular eyes secrete tears all the time, the muzzle hair may become tangled, and skin lesions may appear. Not to mention the foul smell this area provides.
The hair must be trimmed and cleaned regularly, with a special care solution or specially designed eye-cleaning wipes.
Nails must be trimmed monthly, to prevent ingrown nails or lesions.
When it comes to Shih Tzu ears, things get a little complicated. This dog has hair growing inside its ear so, besides ear cleaning, this hair needs to be pulled regularly, to keep the ears dry and lesion-free. If you cannot perform this process at home, we recommend going to a groomer or veterinarian.
Adoption & Rescue Options
To ensure your place in Heaven, adopt an abandoned or neglected Shih Tzu. Many organizations, such as Shihtzu Rescue or Shihtzu.org find families for these dogs and mediate the adoption process.
The dogs are castrated, vaccinated, and microchipped. Many are trained for better accommodation with their new families.
You can also try local or online shelters, that match dogs with the best families for them.
Cost of Ownership
Becoming a Shih Tzu owner comes with great financial consideration. Depending on breeder and lineage, a purebred puppy costs between $1000 and $2500. Teacup Shih Tzus are rarer and more expensive, with a puppy costing roughly $3000-$4500.
Adopted Shih Tzus can cost $200-$600, depending on the dog’s age and the shelter’s policy. These organizations accept money as donations to perpetuate their work in rescuing and rehoming dogs, to cover the costs of vaccinating, neutering, and microchipping the dogs. Older dogs come with a lower price but are less adoptable.
One-time costs are neutering, if you adopt a puppy, and microchipping. $150-$200 for the neutering and $55-$60 for the microchip.
Your Shih Tzu will require a bed and a crate, if it’s an untrained puppy, toys, leashes, and other accessories, which can cost between $50-$250, depending on your budget and personal preferences.
Monthly costs, such as food and parasite control solutions, can cost $50-$150.
Routine vet visits can cost $50-$300, depending on the dog’s necessities. For example, blood tests cost around $80-$150, while parasite control and deworming cost $40-$85.
You may consider pet insurance to cover further unexpected costs, which can cost around $20-$25 per month.
Interesting Facts & Quirks
The Shih Tzu has its origins in the royal Chinese history. This dog appears in Chinese tapestries dating over 2000 years.
The Teacup Shih Tzu is a miniature version of the Shih Tzu. Very much like the bigger version and gifted with a big personality in a small body, this adorable pooch will instantly steal your heart. It is a result of selective breeding to create a smaller version of the Shih Tzu.
The Shih Tzu is also known as the “lion dog” and it truly deserves this name. Its facial traits were revered in imperial Chinese courts and, in traditional Chinese, this dog was called Shih-tzu Kou, meaning “lion dog”. Apparently, this happened because Buddha was said to have ridden on earth on the back of a lion.
All Shih Tzus were killed during the Chinese Communist Revolution in 1949 because they were associated with wealth. Modern Shih Tzus descended from thirteen dogs that were imported to England and Norway between 1928 and 1952.
The world’s oldest Shih Tzu (named Smokey) lived for 23 years.
Shih Tzu Names
A sweet and affectionate dog like the Shih Tzu deserves a great name.
A female can be named Daisy, Dona, Abby, Dolly, Bella or Molly. If you’re into Chinese inspiration names, try Ai for “loving”, Bao for “jewel” or Sying for “star”.
Male Chinese inspirational names are Huan for “happiness”, ZhenZhen for “precious”, Hui for “kind” or Chen for “great”.
A male can be named Charlie, Teddy, Gizmo, Benji, Milo, Sammy, or Rocky.
Breed History & Origin
The Shih Tzu was a very revered dog in Ancient China. It was very prized during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 A.D.). Raised by the palace’s eunuchs and considered the exclusive property of the royal courts.
Anyone who owned a Shih Tzu outside the palace was sentenced to death. The Chinese royalties refused to trade, give away, or sell any dog.
It is believed that the Lhasa Apso, Pekingese, and Pug dogs, were used by Tibetan monks to develop the Shih Tzu as we know it now.
The first dogs were introduced to Europe in the 1920s and 1930s. The first Shih Tzu’s that arrived in England in 1928 were categorized as “Apsos” by The Kennel Club. The first standard for the breed appeared in 1935 in England, written by the Shih Tzu Club. It arrived in the United States after WWII, brought by soldiers returning from Europe and Asia in the mid-1950s.
The American Kennel Club recognized the breed officially in 1969, as a toy dog.
