Shih Tzu Dogs

Hiya To All.
I am wondering does anyone know if shih tzu’s are good around children, 2 and 3 years old, i am buying the puppies from babies themselves so it should be ok shouldn’t it?
My children are really gentle with pets anyway as i have a 5 year old cat and an 8 week old kitten.
Thanks for taking time to read this. Any answers would be greatly appreciated.

Most dogs are suitable with children although l would hesitate with some of the bigger variety not because they are vicious but they require Obedience training and long long walks.The breed you are interested in if brought up with children will have no issues except perhaps a little jealousy for attention but you can stop this by sharing your affection all round.Remember this breed requires grooming on a daily basis so hopefully you will have time to do this,raise little ones plus 2 cats of which one is a kitten.If you are diligent and watch the pup with your kids you will have no issues it is when they are left unattended and a little hair pulling and rough treatment that you may face a nip or two but l am sure you will do the right thing.A little advice get the puppy from a reputable registered breeder and you usually have a return policy if it does not work out plus you will get a health certificate plus ‘clear’ ete and other hereditary certificate,inoculation etc so do not fall in the trap of pet shops or puppy mills as they cannot guarantee temperament and not only that the rearing will be non existent as will socialization,its like a battery hen establishment.Good luck

In part II of this series of articles we started discussion about the Shih Tzu topknot. Follow the steps below to create a Shih Tzu topknot:

1. Take the hair for the topknot from above the nose and eye. Be careful to not draw up any beyond the outer corner of each eye or back of the ears. If the Shih Tzu’s head is small, take up less and make a narrow topknot. When you place a band be careful to not place it too tight. The skin can become sore and the Shih Tzu will most likely attempt to scratch it all out.

2. If the Shih Tzu is very heavily coated you may need to use more than one band to hold up the topknot.

After grooming your Shih Tzu sit back and enjoy the sight. The Shih Tzu is stunningly beautiful and gorgeous and wonderful right after a groom. Take your pictures quickly.

If you are careful about how you introduce grooming as well as how pleasant you make subsequent grooms your Shih Tzu will come to enjoy the attention.

And what about stain…..well I do believe I have a method here that will help you tremendously in removing the yellowish stains from your Shih Tzu’s face. Follow the steps below and see if they work for you and your particular Shih Tzu:

1. Mix two cups corn starch with one cup boric acid.

2. Store the mixture in a container.

3. Use this mixture on the facial hair twice a day after washing and drying it.

4. Tie the facial hair into “ponytail” like sections with groomer bands.

5. Use a small cosmetic brush to brush on the mixture.

6. Bath your Shih Tzu every three days. Fifteen minutes before bathing, wet the face and put two tablespoons of #1 All Systems White Lightening on the facial hair. Work it in thoroughly. Do not get it into the eyes.

7. Allow the #1 All Systems White Lightening to remain on the facial hair for 15 minutes. Rinse very thoroughly.

8. Start bathing the Shih Tzu. Before shampooing the Shih Tzu’s body, shampoo the face with Biogroom or Ring 5 Whitening Shampoo. These two brands are tearless. The better choice is the #1 All Systems Professional Whitening Shampoo, but this shampoo is not tearless. If you think you might get the shampoo into your Shih Tzu’s eyes, use the tearless brands.

9. After one month or more the face should become very white.

Enjoy, enjoy, and enjoy, that wonderful white face on your Shih Tzu!

Bathing

Show dog Shih Tzu are bathed more frequently than one might think. Not only are most of them bathed weekly, whether they need it or not, show dogs are bathed before every show. So much washing surely takes out most of the natural oils from a Shih Tzu’s coat. They require much more use of conditioning products as well. The pet Shih Tzu needs to bath weekly if this is tolerable for his particular coat texture, but more preferably, bi-weekly would be a better schedule. Too much bathing will definitely dry out the skin. And of course you will want to bath your Shih Tzu in times of emergency like getting out in the rain and mud or snow, etc.

And so this concludes the series of Life with the Shih Tzu, which does require faithful brushing and grooming. Of course, life with the Shih Tzu has many more advantages and positive experiences. I just wanted to emphasize in this series of articles that grooming is of utmost importance in Life with the Shih Tzu.

Are they playful?

Shih-tzus are the best! They are such wonderful dogs!

Yes, they are playful. They like to be loved and will follow you around and lay at your feet. They will sleep with you at night and just be your best buddy!

They are super cute and smart too (of course not as smart as other breeds like a poodle for instance). If you want a super smart dog you may want to consider a mix – a Shih-poo – 1/2 poodle and 1/2 shih-tzu. I have one. They breed them together to get the look of a shih-tzu, but the brains of a poodle.

I have had different dog breeds in the past – mini schnauzer, boxer, pug and several mixes and Shih-tzus by far are my favorite.

They get along well with other dogs, cats and children.

Of course each dog is different, but overall the shih-tzu is a wonderful breed. And they don’t leave hair all over the place – I REALLY like that!

The Shih Tzu’s coat for the show rings requires extra care. Some show people actually keep their Shih Tzu confined and caged to preserve the coat, or they wrap the coat or oil it. Those who do keep their show Shih Tzu confined and caged pay a price in loss of muscle tone in their dogs. Not all show people practice these methods for preserving their Shih Tzu’s long show dog coats. It is also a myth that all show people do not allow their show Shih Tzu to go for long walks, to play and just in general to lead a normal life. For those who do allow their show Shih Tzu do lead a normal life keeping the coat glamorous requires a lot of extra effort, and much more grooming than for the pet Shih Tzu.

Coconut oil is considered helpful as a means of preserving the coat of a show dog Shih Tzu. If you do oil the show dog Shih Tzu coat you must remove the oil completely before each show. If you do not remove all the oil the coat appear limp and feel wrong. It can also be uncomfortable to be around a Shih Tzu that has been oiled. There are good oils on the market, however, that do not have this effect on the coat and it may be worth trying them if the Shih Tzu’s coat seems to need it. Wrapping the coat in tissue paper protects the Shih Tzu’s coat, but you lose some of the pleasure of seeing your dog in full coat with his hair flowing as he moves. I do think this is a beautiful, beautiful sight of the show dog Shih Tzu. The tissue wrapping sort of reminds me of the days when women ran around the house for house with their hair in curlers.

Probably the best thing to do if you are just starting out taking care of your Shih Tzu show dog’s coat is to experiment with different methods of preserving the coat until you find what works best for your dog. Much the same type of procedures a pet owner must go through, although a lot more intense and time consuming as the Shih Tzu show do requires so much more in the way of grooming.

One thing is for certain if you start out with “bad hair” it is virtually impossible to make it good enough for the show ring. When purchasing your show potential Shih Tzu it is wise to study the lines to find out which have good hair in their genes. This way you can just continue to keep it looking good.

The topknot and whiskers also need very special attention on the show dog Shih Tzu. The white whiskers on a parti-coloured Shih Tzu must be really, really white to look good. It seems this is especially true for the black and white Shih Tzu.

Some older methods of keeping the whiskers white was to wash them at least once a day with a solution of boracic powder, a teaspoon to a pint of water. This mixture is wiped into the whiskers, being careful to get none in the eyes and then rinsed away. One of the keys to keeping whiskers white is above all to dry them immediately and keep them dry. An older method of drying them was to work in some fuller’s earth or talcum powder, brushing this out and repeating until the hair was absolutely dry. If you allow the Shih Tzu to dry his own whiskers he will rub and rub until dry doing nothing but harm to the length of the coat. Another problem you run into with all this washing is that the hair becomes dry and brittle. You will need to dress the whiskers with a little coat conditioner from time to time.

A method of preserving the hair of the topknot is to use several bands along the length of the hair to hold it to the back of the head. You can also plait the hair to achieve the same purpose. Use neither of these methods just before a show as both methods will cause kinks in the coat of which you do not want.

It is always wise to review the rules of the American Kennel Club about the use of oils and conditioners on the coat of a show dog. Any substance used to alter the natural color, texture or body of the coat is usually prohibited.

Duration :

(more…)

Hi. I haven't gotten a dog yet. Just curious to know if male dogs still maintain that trait after being spayed. Cos if I were to get a male, I'm hoping that I will not have to worry about this issue. Hope you can help. Thanks

Males aren't Spayed, they are Neutered.

Marking indoors is a training thing done on your part.