The Interesting
History and Origin of the Shih Tzu
The Shih Tzu, an imperial breed of dogs was initially bred and
kept by emperors in their palaces. The origin of these dogs is
from Tibet, where the Buddhist monks bred them initially. These
same monks brought these dogs as gifts for the Chinese emperors
of the Manchu dynasty in 1850s, who named them as Tibetan lions
because of their hair and their proud demeanor. Shih Tzu means
‘small lion’ in Chinese
For a long time, these dogs were bred and maintained only in
the palaces of the emperors of China. For almost a century, the
Shih Tzu dogs were only found in China, owing to the patronage
of the royalty. Around 1930, Lady Browning from England stumbled
upon these species of dogs in Peking and instantly fell in love
with them. She brought them with her to England where this dog
was received with great enthusiasm. Owing to their petite size,
proud demeanor and child like attitude they made excellent choice
for the British people.
Coming to America
In 1935, American soldiers who had come to England during World
War II, discovered them and as the others before them, were captivated
by their spunk, personality and looks. They carried the Shih Tzu
dogs back with them for their families and hence established this
breed in the US. It took this breed however, more than three decades
of existence to get registered in the American Kennel Club, which
officially recognized the breed only in 1969.
From then on, this breed has grown from strength to strength
and now is available in every corner of the world. The fact that
it is an extremely friendly dog that can live in any type of dwelling,
needs almost no exercise, and behaves like a spoilt child makes
this dog a hot favorite with the majority of the families. Members
of the Shih Tzu breed are avid attention seekers and thrive of
petting and praises. They are patient and sweet tempered and are
known to stay still for hours for grooming without any complaint.
They are touchy about very young children, maybe because they
hate manhandling or any type of abuse.
These dogs are the happiest when they have one master though
they can make friends easily and are very adaptable in their behavior
and needs. They hate to be alone and if left by themselves for
a long time their temperament suffers greatly. They have a stubborn
streak, which can totally baffle you at times. This dog is definitely
not a pushover – in spite of its size and one can safely say that
the Shih
Tzu temperament is jovial and very docile.
Attention: To discover how
YOU can have the Happiest, Healthiest and Best Behaved Shih Tzu,
get a copy of this Shih Tzu Guide
NOW!
