SHIH TZU - The Misunderstood Devoted SHORT HAIR (Yes that's right) (Shih Tzu)

Member Name: Loz6DN

Product:	Shih Tzu
Date:	24/05/03 (4416 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Faithful, Playful, Good tempermant

Disadvantages: Unresistable eyes

This review will take you away from the conception that Shih Tzus (Pronounced SHIT-ZOO) prance around with their long hair, bows on their head looking down from their tall pile of silk cushions!

FAR FROM IT!

So where to begin? How about the origin...

Shih Tzus are thought to originate from Tibet where they were given as presents to guard the Emperors. That's right! So this is the first misconception to correct. Shih Tzus can become very viscous if their loved ones are in danger or if they have a tasty bone that you are trying to take away! This is why young children must be watched with them if they (the Shih Tzu) are playing with their favourite toy! I often play fight with my family and my loving Shih Tzu always comes to my rescue barking like an Alsatian and pulling the "pretend" attacker away from me (who he doesn't harm as he also loves). So just imagine if that was a real attacker!

So they are vicious?

Far from it! They are the most loving dogs I have ever met. One look into their puppy dog eyes will melt the strongest of hearts. They are devoted pets who will follow you like a shadow around the house and always welcome you by sitting on their back and waving their paws (a sight to make anyone laugh)!

But what about that long hair that needs to be maintained?

Rubbish! If you want a Shih Tzu as a show dog and to have sitting around the house then yes you could let the hair grow if you want to brush it daily! I personally think that they are much cuter with fur cut to about 2mm or so which brings out their colour beautifully! This allows them to explore their playful side and chase their tail (which is very long and the fur on it can be kept long as well as the ears)

What is the point in having the fur cut off if it's just going to sit around the house?

HA! I have taken my Shih Tzu up Snowdon, Moel Siabod and on various other walks that have lasted the day a


nd he barely flags! He does twice the distance as he is eager to chase birds (known to him as chickens) or go off smelling the tall grass.

So he likes to run off?

Yes, but will regularly look back to see if you are okay. They are very easy dogs to train and with their devotedness and intelligence will impress everyone you know! Except of course when they beg for treats as you have never been able to break that habit!

So what else?

Well the name translates to "lion dog." Very aptly named as when lying down with back legs stretched out (Frog position!) the sit very proud just like a lion!

So where is your Shih Tzu now?

Playing in the garden with the neighbourhood cat! Shih Tzus have a loving temperament with all members of the animal kingdom. They will watch budgies with fascination and nudge the smallest hamster along it's way and protect it from the watching eyes of the cat!

Any health problems?

As they are very large the Shih Tzu's eyes will need to be cleaned regularly and sometimes they may need check ups for their anal glands and prostates. Overall though, a health dog that can live for up to 18 years.

This is the perfect dog that can adapt to any lifestyle! Enjoy his faithful company for many years to come...

NOTE: THE EXERCISE REQUIREMENTS SHOWN CAN BE LOWER THAN THIS AS THE SHIH TZU ADAPTS TO ANY ENVIRONMENT

UPDATE: Sorry I only put in the section about it being vicious just to let people know they have a wide personality. They are only vicious if provoked, and this never happens that often with those that they love, and even if they give the odd growl they'll lick you afterwards to say sorry!



2ND REVIEW (THIS IS DIFFERENT BUT THEY ONLY LET YOU DO ONE)
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Dating from the times when Emperors ruled Tibet, the Shih Tzu is considered a utility dog. T
hese brave yet often tiny dogs were given as gifts to the emperors to protect them and hunt for rats. Presently though they are becoming considered more of a lap dog that prances around with long fur, begging for a trophy at dog shoes.

After taking my Shih Tzu Gizmo, appropriately named after the Gremlin (the cute version), up Moel Siabod and seeing him run up and down, doing well over double the distance of me, I realised that this was a dog that showed the true characteristics of a Tibetan Shih Tzu, although perhaps ever so slightly less glamorous, being born in Anglesey rather than the Far East! His father having a brown and white fur and his mother being black and white produced this mixture of black, brown and white, which lets face it, attracts any attention away from what I?m wearing and earns him many affection praises and strokes.

With a dislike for the poodle parlour but a partiality for the vet, you can understand how especially different Gizmo is. With ancestors who protected the grand and important Emperors of Tibet it is unsurprising that this small fluffy dog protects me as much as he does a new toy that he?s just been given and averse to part with. Many a times has he barked out with all his energy at his other owners pretending to play fight just to see how protective and loving he really is.

Perhaps this is why I am extra protective of him, or perhaps it is because being almost double the size of an average Shih Tzu he still can?t protect himself from much larger dogs on beaches who are determined to pick a fight. There have been the odd few times where larger dogs come running over to him, sinking their teeth into his fur. Although he may be shaking with shock, he always returns bounding with joy that he can return with his ever loving owners, knowing that he always has a place at home unaware of the countless dogs that are still being mistreated and abused by humans, because of this they could never hope to achieve th
e undeniably virtuous reputation of the dog. Perhaps there is some level of dog jealousy where attacks on him are instigated by his happiness at being doted on by three owners who ensure that he would never be treated in the way of some of these malevolent people we must chare the same label (human) with. But it?s not just his owners that adore him, how I wish I?d seen the sight of my Great Auntie Mair swinging Gizmo?s lead around her head to fend off seagulls wanting to take a lunge at him.

I?m not too fond though of using the words ?pet? and ?owner? for something that has changed my family?s and my life so much. It can never be understood how something so far from are own ancestry can change a persons life unless they have experienced the unquestionable love of their own dog. How many people without dogs can say that their reception when they arrive home after leaving for even just ten minutes is that of mad jumping up and down and running around the house, or that every night they have something looking at them with loving eyes or ready to nuzzle up to them no matter what has happened to them or whatever they have done that day. Most of all though, how many of these people have someone that trusts them 110% with the running of their life and the outcome of their future.

After having an operation to ensure he wouldn?t be upset by the smells of female dogs causing his painful colitis, I remember him lying on the bed crying with pain and melting under the hand that would stroke him lovingly or easing half a painkiller into his mouth while he is trying to lick you with gratitude.

After the operation there was also the matter of another batch of colitis that had to be dealt with. After a strict telling off from the vet about Gizmo?s diet, the hardest part was having to look into his eyes just begging for a titbit of sausage or ?god forbid? liver, and often having to overcome the debate inside my head, one side that loves my dog so much to no
t let him suffer in pain of more colitis, the other that loves my dog so much that I could never refuse him anything.

There are of course many happier memories though, mainly involving all of his little quirky traits. Training as a puppy became more of an event to help him develop tricks that would earn him more affection in the future than something to turn him into a placid and obedient ?pet?. This ?training? involved the obvious shaking paws with humans, sitting on his hind legs and waving his paws for appraisal or for the odd chocolate drop or even lying down and rolling over with ears flapped back and mouth grinning with submission and pleasure at remembering my favourite trick.

So what makes this small dog greater than other larger dogs that have saved babies lives, given disabled people an easier life or have even been better behaved and could do all this and more? The plain and simple answer is that Gizmo represents any dog loved by his owner, he shows unconditional love for those that play with him, walk him and care for him. He has all of the traits and emotions of a human without any of the obnoxious attitudes, pride, resentment or greed for the things they want and do not have. The short of it is that Gizmo is a dog that is more well behaved than most human beings, more loving, kind and trustworthy than most people I will ever meet and has a happiness brought about from the simple pleasures in life such as sniffing lampposts, trees and the occasional strangers hand lowering to stroke that head in which his round eyes and mischievous yet secret knowledgeable Mona Lisa smile is set.

And here he returns to my side, oblivious to the fact that I have just written a piece all about him but still treating me with affection and admiration. Now would any human do that if I?d just written about most aspects of their life if the main activities of their life involved sleeping, playing, walking and the occasional spot of dog sniffing? r>