Shih Tzu

History/Origin
Shih Tzu is alternatively named as Lion Dog and Chrysanthemum Dog and originally came from Tibet. The name Shih Tzu means ‘lion dog’, which mirrors its lion like appearance. It is also commonly called 'Xi Shi Quan' from the name of the most beautiful girl in the ancient China whose name is Xi Shi. It has been said that the Shih Tzu came from a cross breed of Bei-jing gou, popularly renowned as the Pekingese, and another dog breed in Tibet called the Lhasa Apso. Results of a DNA analysis recently conducted revealed that the Shih Tzu is one of the earliest dog breeds.

Description
The Shih Tzu belongs to the group of toy dogs. It is very friendly and alert. This breed is characterized by its long double coats that may come in a myriad colors and combinations of black, white, brown, gold, tan, and gray.

The Shih Tzu's hair can be styled in many different cuts. It can range from very short puppy-cut and summer cuts during warm weathers to a stylistic long hair normally exhibited in shows. Shih Tzus has apparent big eyes and relatively shorter snout.

A full grown Shih Tzu adult should stand a height of approximately 11 inches and a minimum of 8 inches, while its ideal weight is 16 pounds. The best Shih Tzu appears to have neither very long legs, which interrupts the balance between it body length and width, nor very short legs that make it so low.

Temperament
The Shih Tzu is very gentle, making it an ideal toy dog. It is very calm and has the tendency to be very playful at times. It gets along well with children and always have the tendency to be a bit silly especially in the grooming section. However, because it can be very jealous with small kids, the Shih Tzu may not be an ideal choice for the household for dangers of harming the toddlers if bothered. It is also very alert and intelligent, thus it prefers dog trainings, specially the obedience drills.

However, like most of spoiled dog breeds, Shih Tzu can also be stubborn and hard-headed. In this regard, patience and persistence is needed especially when training this dog. However, during stubborn times, punishments should be avoided as these can easily slow down the Shih Tzu although encouragements and motivations are of great help.