Shih Tzu - A Complete Pet Owner's Manual

 

 

 

This is a Complete Shih Tzu Pet Owner's Manual by Jaime J. Sucher which my husband bought several days after our pet dog Mio arrived at home. It talks about everything from deciding to purchase a Shih Tzu dog, taking care of it, the kind of food and important nutrition it needs, the kind of training it requires, and certain explanations about its behavior. As soon as we had such book at home, I spend the following days reading and understanding every topic discussed and I've learned so much from it.

 

Let me share with you some topics I've read from Sucher's book. From time to time I will be posting important topics here on my blog regarding the things I've read from the said book.

 

 

What is a Shih Tzu?

 

 

Origins and Early History

 

The exact origins of the Shih Tzu (Sheed-zoo) are really unknown, but there is enough evidence available to create a theory that most experts think is accurate. There are documents, paintings, and other art objects of Chinese origin that contain references to images of a form of dog believed to be the original ancestors of the modern Shih Tzu. The oldest document dates back to the Tang dynasty, in the year A.D. 624. It says that a pair of these dogs was given to the royal court by a Chinese nobleman. It is believed that the nobleman obtained the dogs from the ancient empire of Byzantium. Unfortunately there is little further documentation for the 370 years that followed. The next mention of these dogs (or a breed that was very similar) comes in the years A.D. 990-994 when the people of the Ho Chou province gave a pair to the Imperial Court as a tribute. It is believed that the dogs were later bred in the Forbidden City of Peking for several countries.

 

Later records written during the Manchu dynasty of the mid-seventeenth century claimed that early relatives of the Lhasa Apso were brought from Tibet to the Forbidden City. The highly prized Apsos were sometimes given as gifts by the Dalai Lama of Tibet, or may have been taken by Manchu generals as spoils of war. Such dog were placed at the feet of the emperor as a sign of fealty, or as a symbol of conquest. It is believed that these Tibetan Apsos were bred with the native dogs of the Chinese royal palace.

 

The original ancestors may have been a relative of the Chinese Pekingese, or at least, at one point in time, there were some crosses with this breed. It is also believed that in the Imperial Palace there were some crossed with a smooth-coated breed that was the ancestor of the modern Pug. Whether these crosses were intentional or not, they definitely played an important part in the origins of our modern Shih Tzu.

 

 

"Shih Tzu brother and sister Tian Mi's Over The Top aka John J and AM CH Tian Mi's Isadorable aka Izzy. John J and Izzy are typical Shih Tzus who do not meet a stranger. They enjoy dog shows or just being couch potatoes."

 

Source: http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/shihtzu.htm

 

 

There are several pictures of a small, lion-faced (i.e., the lion as depicted in traditional Asian art) dog the appear in the Imperial Dog Book of the Manchu Dynasty, and there are records indicating that these special dogs were selected with great care for court breeding. From these came the Shih Tzu that we know today. Although the word Shih Tzu is Chinese of "lion dog", they were often referred to as a chrysanthemum-faced dog. One look at a Shih Tzu groomed in the traditional Chinese manner will tell you why. This method consists of combing out the dog's mustache and beard away from the face, and roughing up the hair behind the head and on the shoulders to form a large, puffed-up head of fur that resembles the aforementioned flower.

 

The writings in the Imperial Dog Book will tell of how these small, intelligent, and docile dogs were bred by court eunuchs. They would compete with each other to produce specimens for the emperor. If a dog caught the emperor's eye, a picture of it would be placed in the court record book, which was considered a very great honor.

 

It is known that the Shih Tzu was a highly favored house pet of the royal family for well over 200 years. Unfortunately many dogs were destroyed during the Revolution because they were viewed as a symbol or imperial rule. Only a few of the royal dogs escaped.

 

In the 1930, Lady Brownrigg, an Englishwoman living in China, was able to save a pair of Shih Tzu and import them to England. Their names were Hibou (the male) and Shu-Ssa. Shortly afterward, another male, named Lung-Fu-Ssu, was imported into Ireland. later in the 1930s a few more Shih Tzu were saved by an English officer on duty in China. All of the Shih Tzu we know of today are descendants of these dogs. In 1934, the Shih Tzu Club of England was formed, and the first championship awards were given in 1940.