Shih Tzu
region Tibet - Great Britain
cut less than 27 cm.
weight sturdy, longer than tall, 4.5 to 8.1 kg.
hair long, dense, not curly.
dress all colors.
head wide, round, marked stop, black or dark brown nose.
eyes tall, dark, set well apart.
ear large, long pavilion.
tail profuse plume, set high.
behaviour active, friendly, independent.
federation FCI nomenclature group 9 section 5 no 208
introduction
Utility: Good family dog. Life expectancy: 13 to 14 years
origins
It would seem that the ancestors of this breed were small Tibetan dogs offered (in 1650) by the Dalai Lama of the time to his overlord the Emperor of China. Empress Tseu Hi, breeder of Pekingese, was very fond of them and it has been reported that she took care that the two breeds were not mixed. According to a British breeder of great reputation, the current dogs would descend from thirteen basic lines: twelve imported from China between 1930 and 1950 and a cross with a Pekingese introduced into the English herd in 1952. In France the pioneers were, in 1967, Mrs. Fontana and then Mrs. Bosquillon de Genlis.