Shih Tzu.. Pros, Cons? Information!

[STLDisney_Freak]

Hi Everyone!

I'm sure some of you must have owned a Shih Tzu before...Our family is looking at making a possible purchase of one, but before we do that I'm in the process of research.

Could you all tell me about your Shih Tzu's? Temperament? Grooming? Potty Training? Do they get along with our dogs and cats? Kids?

 

[nmmom95]

We have a black & white shih tzu named Oreo. Grooming is easy as we keep him pretty short. Even when his fur is longer, he never sheds. He has a very sweet personality. He isn't really around other pets, but he's great with kids. He likes to be near us all the time. He's very snugly. On the down side, he's not the brightest bulb in the pack, but we love him anyway.

 

[taylor3297]

I love my little Shih Tzu, her name is Zoe. We got her when she was 8 weeks old. Shih Tzu are sweet dogs, and ours gets along well with our cat and most other dogs. Now they are hard to potty train and Shih Tzu are not the smartest dogs in the world. If you look on the list of the top 100 dogs train Shih Tzu's come in somewhere in the 90's. I do get her groomed every 8 weeks or so, and get the puppy cut. It is so much easier to manage that way.

I can take Zoe outside in the yard without a leash and she will not run off. She is more than content to stay with me. Even if she sees a squirrel or a rabbit, she will stay by myside.

Zoe tolerates my kids. I think this is more because I had the dog first then the kids. If she was raised with kids it would have been a better situation.

I have not regretted getting my Zoe. She is very sweet.

 

[Piecey]

I love my Shih-Tzu, but he has attitude!!!

He is king. If he doesn't get his way, he does something he knows he shouldn't do.
(example: DH and I decided to eat dinner in the living room Saturday night. I brought some of the food in and put it on the ottoman, closed our pocket door to keep him from getting in there. He peed in front of it. Gr.)

He's loyal, sweet, loves to play... but he's full of attitude. He's been very difficult to potty train and like I said above, if something doesn't go his way he tends to potty in the house to let us know his displeasure with the situation.

I love him, though. He just probably wasn't the best dog for me to get- he needs more time than I can give him.

He LOVES to play outside and get dirty.

Here he is:

 

[cc1013]

We have an almost 5 year old shih tzu name Buster. Neither my husband or I grew up with pets, so deciding to get a dog was a big deal for us. Honestly, it was the best decision we could have made. We love him so much and he has an amazing personality (super lovable and sweet).

Here are a few things I can think of:

-We crate trained him as a puppy and that seemed to work well. He still loves his crate and has no problem hanging out in there.

-Buster has had some minor medical issues (cherry eye once, anal glands have to be expressed (yuck!) about every 6 weeks) but nothing really major

-He loves loves loves kids. We don't have kids yet, but whenever our neices and nephews come over, Buster is ecstatic.

-Shih tzus do not need a ton of exercise. We live in the midwest and with the cold winters, he doesn't like going outside other than to do his 'business.' In order to get him exercise during that time, we just play with him even more in the house and run up and down the stairs a few times. That seems to tire him out.

-After getting Buster, my entire family fell in love with him. So much so that my mom ended up getting a shih tzu (Gizmo) and now my aunt and uncle are also considering adding one to their family. Buster and Gizmo get along very well. If you get one, I would suggest taking your puppy to a puppy training class. We did a very inexpensive one at PetSmart and I think that Buster really benefited from being around other dogs.

-We keep Buster's coat short and have his groomed about every six weeks. The no shedding feature is great! My mom has bad allergies, but absolutely no issues with shih tzus.

Overall, after having a shih tzu, I can't imagine not having one.

Good luck!!!

 

[ncmickeyluvr]

I have 2 shih tzus and they're dumb as stumps My female is sort of smart but she's a mix so I'm guessing that the other breed was the brains. They're very sweet, though. Grooming can get expensive. I keep them short but they grow quickly. Also, the hair will matt quite easily if you don't keep it brushed. I know they're not sopposed to but mine shed. Apparently they haven't heard that shih tzus don't shed. They're both mostly white and we're constantly fighting a battle against it.

 

[applelollipop]

We got our shih tzu Popcorn about a year ago when he was about 15 months old...When we first got him we had some issue adopted from a rescue group so not sure about his past....He is a bit afraid of other dogs we think he may have been attacked as his tail is shorter than it should be but he spent a weekend by my sisters with 2 other dogs and did okay. As for the kids he loves them they are 5 & 8 and whoever had him before also had kids but they must have done some training because he is good with simple sit stay commands. He is pretty smart he will tell us when he wants something stands by door and barks to go out stands by water bowl and barks when it's empty. He likes to snuggle on everyone's lap. When we first got him I was not so sure as I've always had big dogs but we all love him and are glad we got him. They are very lovable dogs.. Good luck

 

[MnMomtoboys]

I still miss our Gimmie and its been 15 years. He was sso good with the kids. They would fight over him, and he would often get rolled on when the boys were wrestling and he just had to be a part of it. The girls would dress him up in all sorts of things and Gimmie didn't mind a bit. The only time he would get upset with the kids is when they would step on his tail when he was sleeping. We just learned to tuck his tail in.

And he was the dumbest dog. When my sister first got him they also got a pit bull. They named the pit bull Barney Fife cause anytime you scared him he would just shake. Anyway Barney was Gimmie's slave which made us think Gimmie thought he was huge. I didn't know that stupidness was a trait of the breed. Gimmie was king in that department.

Not to freak you out but Shih tzu's eyes can pop out. In fact any breed that has the(for lack of a better word) bug eyes this can happen to them. Happened to Gimmie when he was about 8. It happened overnight and by the time he was found and taken to the vet it was too late to save it. It never seemed to bother him and we would just make sure his hair would hang over that eye. Looked kind of punk I think.

You won't regret having one they are terrific dogs.

 

[fluffycow333]

My grandmother has one. He is very cute but he always smells funny even though he is bathed and groomed often.

 

[Aimeedyan]

Harley (in my sig) is a Shih Tzu.

Rule #1 - find a REPUTABLE breeder! We had major health issues with him in the first year or two of his life and spent a small fortune on keeping the little guy alive. They also have notorious breed health issues that a good breeder will be avoiding. He was our first dog and we made the mistake of supporting a local breeder who wasn't reputable.

He is my "heart" dog and I adore him but he's not without flaws. As some of the previous posters mentioned, they are not smart dogs... he's actually as dumb as rocks, I'm convinced. Makes him lovable but also very hard to train. The ONLY thing that got the boy potty trained was getting another dog (puppy from the shelter) who trained the Shih Tzu for us. Even then, Harley has regular accidents in our house. He's 100x better than before but will never be 100% trustable. He completely ruined the carpet in the previous house we were in.

We crated him to help with potty training; he was never real destructive like my other dogs when left alone. The only command I can get him to do is "sit" and that took years

Health wise, now that he's older he's better. He had a rough start. We haven't had any major issues, he's almost 6 now.

The grooming can get pricey - I have to get him groomed twice as often as my Miniature Schnauzer - but the lack of shedding has been great for my allergies and my house.

Harley sleeps between us and is quite the pampered pooch. He does not think of himself as a dog. He doesn't appreciate dog parks or dog play dates. He tolerates my other 2 dogs but he was here first and lets them know it. He is small, so if you have small children be sure you can supervise any and all time together. Esp as a puppy, they can be easily injured. He was more hyper as a puppy but now is content to do what he was originally bred for - to lay on a pillow and look pretty. And that's okay with us.

Good luck in your search!

 

[christiane]

Shih Tzus are great dogs! We have a female who is a well loved member of our family.

I`m suprised so many people feel their Shih Tzus aren`t smart because our girl is very smart. She is loving, gentle and goofy all at once. Loves to play. Loves to cuddle. She is a mother to all the other pets. Probably a bit bossy in that respect, too.

They need a lot of grooming. A few hundred dollars a year for professional services. Also a lot of dental care. They are generally healthy though, with expected life spans up to about 15 years.

Please look into adopting. Shih Tzus are very popular and as a result many are homeless. Please check out www.petfinder.org. Put in your zip code and breed choice etc and I am sure you will find many Shih Tzus just waiting for a loving home.

Good Luck!

 

[MickeySP]

I just lost my Reggie, we called him Reginator. He was by far the sweetest dog I ever had. I still miss him.

I highly recommend the breed, they are loyal patient, loving & yep dumb as stumps. I swear Reggie knew when I needed cheering up or comforting. He was the only dog I ever
let sleep on our bed, which btw he thought was his. Yep he would crawl up and put his head on the pillow LOL.

We kept him short haired, since we worked and if you let them have long hair you really need to do maintenance. They don't shed. You do need to watch food intake they will overeat & bulk up.

I do know that if I ever get another dog it will definitely be a Shih-Tzu

 

[FormrCastMbr]

I have a soon to be 3, Shih Tzu, named Riley. He is an awesome little doggie and I love him to death...ok, I went a little overboard with that last statement but he is my snuggle buddy.

Shih Tzu's are known to have some eye issues. I thought Riley's eyes were fine since the vet never said anything. Their eye lashes have a tendancy to grow inward causing scratching of the cornea.

I was on vacation in WDW and my MIL was watching the kids and Riley and called me the morning I was coming home and said she believes Riley has a cold in his eye. I told her to keep an eye on him and clean it if she could. He was not eating and hiding, which he never does.

I got home and instantly freaked. It did not look like a cold so I went to the Ani-merge...yup, his cornea was ruptured and they had me drive to another vet, where he could be seen in the AM but the Opthamologist. The 2 vets I saw at night, said he would lose his eye! I was devastated thinking if I was home, I would have known something was wrong.

Well, the Opthamologist called me the next morning and said that the eye had stopped draining and may be able to be saved. So, I took him home with some strong meds and his E-collar...His eye was able to be saved but he has scarring on that eye and is partially blind.

After the eye healed, I had his eye lashed removed and he is back to normal. Aside from the white scar on his eye, you would really never know he is partially blind.

So, just a word of caution, make sure you have his eyes checked thoroughly...

Another thing, he is not great at letting me know when he needs to go out...so if he is not on his regular schedule, he has accidents once in a blue moon.

Here's my little man:

 

[FormrCastMbr]

I wanted to add...Riley likes to "play bite" when he plays and also is a humper (he is fixed too) so he is a terror to our cats. He is good with the baby but I never leave them alone (since the play biting and just because I am a firm believer in animals should never be alone with kids).

 

[NEVERENOUGHWDW]

We have a Shih tzu & she is amazing. Very cuddly, prefers people to other dogs & loves kids.
No shedding, no barking & was house trained in about 6 weeks.

She is very smart......she is our second Shih tzu & made 3 of my friends fall in love with here & they have gone on & purchased there own.
We keep her short but groom her often. Our last Shih tzu was more of a lady & required more grooming because she had a top knot & her coat was to the floor.

 

[honugirl]

My grandma and my aunt had shih tzus. They were all dumb as a box of rocks. All hard to train. But they were fairly cuddly. They were originally bred as lap dogs for the Asian elite and that's about all they're good at.

My grandma's last dog before she died was a retired show dog. The original owner did not potty train it so it had frequent accidents in the house and was never really fully potty trained. Would also run off if not tethered on one of those gigantic leashes, even to potty.

Teeth are among the biggest problems from what I heard. My aunt's shih tzu had the worst ones! That dog seriously needed braces. It was horrible.

Lots of grooming necessary unless you get the puppy cut at the groomer which only lasts a few weeks.

Would I get one? No, but my grandma loved hers and he brought her a lot of love and companionship so for that, I'll always be grateful.

Like any breed, do your homework and make sure this is the right type of dog for you.

 

[endy]

We have a shih tzu/bichon cross. He is the sweetest little teddy bear. I trim him myself with I guess a puppy cut. Not that he likes it much, he can't stand me touching his paws or his face. So his nails are long tho they wear down on the sidewalk. His face hair is longer than I like but I try to sneak in a few clips off it now & then.
He is my first pet other than fish.
I thought he was very easy to potty train and only took a few weeks. He rings the bell hanging on the door knob to go out & wakes me in the middle of the night for emergency trips outside.

I've never heard of them being not so smart. Max is 2 1/2, sits, lays down, I can walk him off lease once we get to the park. Actually I think he is quite smart.

Max is a very picky eater tho. We've likely gone thru every dog food out there. Only thing he'll willingly eat is Ceasers wet & dry food. He doesn't get the wet one more than every 7-10 days. More interested in our food & beef doesn't agree with him too much.

I'd have no hestitations getting another one.

 

[DisneyTeacher]

I grew up with a Shih Tzu and got my own when I was in high school. My girl lived 18 years but she did have some health issues. She had the eye issues that were mentioned above and ended up totally blind for her last two years. I kept her hair long, she looked great but it was a lot of work. I ran a brush through her almost daily and combed her face and kept her hair pulled up out of her face. If I missed more than a few days of brushing she would quickly become matted and required a lot of work to get her back in shape.

My parents have had four Shih Tzu over the last 40 years and wouldn't dream of getting another type of dog. They are great dogs, very good family dogs.

 

[Donnainnj]

Our Mimi will be 4 in June. She is a wonderful, easy going pet. She gets a little crazy excited for a few minutes when we have company come to the house. She is good with the kids. I think she is pretty smart but a squirrel will cause her to go crazy and she would probably run after it in the street if we let her. When we had a cat she was fine with her. She trained really easy. Barks at the door to go out. We crate her at night not because we need to, but because my sister watches her when we go away, and she would end up on her bed with BIL and their 2 non-crated dogs. Grooming can be hard to keep up with sometimes, esp with all the snow and rain we have had recently but my sister or husband does the hair cutting. She does have a funny little habit of fake sneezing to get what she wants. My sister also has one that does that.
Donna

 

[Tuffcookie]

My Dudley was a stray I took in 6 years ago. The vet said he had a lot of Shih Tzu in him. I'm not sure if he's 100% Shih Tzu but he has a lot of the characteristics of a Shih Tzu. Our Lab was about 3 when we adopted Dudley.

Shih Tzus are the most loyal, lovable dogs! Whenever I am home sick, Dudley will not leave my bedside. I have to literally pick him up, off the bed, and take him to the door and make him go out and also have to take him to the kitchen for feedings. He would starve just to stay by my side.

He is also very possessive of me! If I am asleep or lying down and someone gets too close to me, he can turn into the Tasmanian Devil! For such a little dog he can be quite scary! I have noticed he seems to prefer girls/women over men.

I try to put both dogs out at the same time. Hunter, the Lab, will bark for both of them when they're ready to come back in. If I put Dudley outside alone, and got busy with something and forgot about him, he would be standing at the door waiting to be let back in. It would take a long while for Dudley to actually bark!

My 90 lb Lab, Hunter, lets Dudley rule the roost! No one ever told Dudley he is a little dog!

Dudley is pictured in my signature, below, with the Christmas lights.

I love my Shih Tzu dearly!

TC