Shih Tzu Have Had Many Nicknames

Several theories exist as to how the Shih Tzu was created. It
has been reported that around the year 1650 the Dalai Lama
visited China and brought along three “holy dogs” from Tibet.
The Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama was believed to be a
reincarnation of Buddha. Tibetan monks were devoted to breeding
“holy dogs” to resemble their perception of lions. Based upon
this theory, it is believed the three “holy dogs” were interbred
with Pekingese to create shorter muzzles, broader heads, smaller
dogs in general and is quite possibly the foundation of today’s
Shih Tzu breed.

Some people believe the Shih Tzu was created by crossing Lhasa
Apsos with Pekingese. Another theory is that the Tibetan Spaniel
was bred with the Pekingese to create predecessors of the Shih
Tzu.

Others believe the Shih Tzu developed centuries ago in Tibet and
reached China originally as a purebred. The answer to just how
the Shih Tzu were created still eludes us today. Its origin is
steeped in mysteries and legends. The Shih Tzu is generally as
the result of interbreeding original Tibetan “holy dogs” and
various “lion dogs” in China. It is also generally accepted that
the oldest and smallest of the “holy Dogs” are the ancestors of
today’s Shih Tzu.

Through time the Shih Tzu has had many nicknames: 1. Lion Dog 2.
Holy Dog 3. Fu Dog 4. Chrysanthemum-faced dog 5. Sleeve Dog 6.
Under The Table Dog 7. Shih Tzu Kou 8. Lhasa Lion Dog 9. Lhasa
Terrier 10. Tibetan Poodle 11. Shock Dog 12. Imperial Shih Tzu
13. Teacup Shih Tzu 14. Imperia/Teacup Shih Tzu 15. Standard
Shih Tzu

After World War II, there were very few Shih Tzus in Europe. A
few of the larger specimens reached the U.K. from China. Of
these few larger size Shih Tzu, many had medical problems or
died at an early age. The problems could have been caused by
poor living conditions, insufficient food or food of low
quality.

Breeders began breeding as many of the remaining Shih Tzu as
possible. They did not remove a Shih Tzu from the breeding
program just because it wasn’t a perfect specimen of the breed,
and at that time, who really knew what was a perfect specimen of
the Shih Tzu anyway. The result of these breedings resulted in
Shih Tzu much larger than was ever seen in the Chinese Imperial
Palace during the days of the Empress Dowager. Eunuchs tried
desparately to keep the very exquisite, small treasures of the
Imperial Palace from reaching anyone outside the Palace. There
were even instances where some Eunuchs fed the Shih Tzu glass
just before releasing them to others outside the palace and then
committed suicide themselves.

Despite all their efforts, however, Shih Tzu managed to survive.
We are blessed today with these exquisite creatures, and
regardless of what their nicknames have been or is now, the fact
that we have Shih Tzu at all is quite a miracle.