Shih Tzu Development In England

Following the political upheaval in China and the burning of the
Imperial Palace, several Shih Tzu were found alive by British
embassy staff and taken to England. The first Shih Tzu
introduced in England were brought from Peking by General Sir
Douglass and Lady Brownrigg in 1930. A Shih Tzu dog named Hibou
and a Shih Tzu bitch named Shu-ssa. About this same time, Miss
Madelaine Hutchins imported a Shih Tzu named Lung-Fu-Ssu into
Ireland. These three Shih Tzu became the foundation stock for
the well-known Taishan Shih Tzu.

Shih Tzu was introduced to Scandinavia by Mme. Henrik Kauffman.
Another Shih Tzu, Tashi of Chouette, was brought to England by
the Earl of Essex in 1938 and was bred successfully. Three Shih
Tzu bitches were imported by General Telfer-Smollett.

The English Kennel Club recognized the Shih Tzu breed in 1934.
The Irish Kennel Club recognized the ShihTzu that same year.

Within a few years, Shih Tzu from English kennels were being
shipped to America, Canada, Australia, and European countries.

In England there have been four kennels that produced
outstanding Shih Tzu that are now found in pedigree in all
countries where Shih Tzu are bred and exhibited. The four
kennels are Lhakang Elfann, Telota and Greenmoss.

Gay Widdrington’s love affair with the Shih Tzu began when she
bought a black and white bitch from Lady Brownrigg. The Shih Tzu
breed was very rare at that time. The Shih Tzu puppy Gay
Widdrington acquired was only the second generation from the
first three Shih Tzu imported into the British Isles from China
in 1930. The Shih Tzu puppy was named Mee Na and was quite
captivating. She was described as looking like a “fluffy baby
owl.”

At this time, Shih Tzu breeding stock was very low and already
very “inbred.” When new imported Shih Tzu lines became
available, the Lhakang Kennel carried out careful selective Shih
Tzu breeding over a period of many years to help introduce and
stabilize these new Shih Tzu lines so that the breed could be
established on a broader basis. It is largely due to Gay’s
efforts that the Shih Tzu breed is one of the few in the British
Isles free of serious hereditary problems.

In the late forties Gay and her mother decided to establish a
Shih Tzu true-breeding rich gold strain through the line of the
Shih Tzu Ishuh Tzu, who had been imported from Shanghai. That
Shih Tzu line produced the color and flourished for four decades.

Elfann Kennel owned by Elfreda Evans came into the Shih Tzu
breed in 1951. She decided she would do something drastic to
improve the Shih Tzu breed. She mated a black Shih Tzu bitch to
a black and white Pekingese dog, who had unusually straight
front legs for a Pekingese.

Freda had an excellent eye for beauty as well as quality. She
felt the Shih Tzu she had seen were too big, leggy, rangy, plain
in the face and often wild in temperament. These Shih Tzu
certainly would not have pleased the Dowager Empress was the
thoughts of Freda. Since she had heard in China the shaggy Lion
Dogs (Shih Tzu) had been crossed with Pekingese every few
generations. She decided to do likewise to keep the Shih Tzu
breed on the right lines. It was not very well taken by many.

I have two little Shih Tzu, Danny and Jane Jane that resemble
Pekingese. These Shih Tzu are both one year of age and weigh in
at 4 pounds. It is my opinion, their Shih Tzu size is a result
of some of this crossbreeding, and most likely would have made
the Empress Dowager “smile.” My Danny and Jane Jane are
exquisite little treasures of mine at Stain Glass Shih Tzu. I
must say they have the “sweetest” disposition of all the Shih
Tzu I have ever owned. These tiny treasures are very rare in the
world of Shih Tzu today.