Meet the Shih Tzu
PROUD OF BEARING, TRUSTING TOWARDS ALL
Once the prized lapdog of Chinese emperors, the Shih Tzu remains a royal charmer with a flowing coat, warm expression, and infectious personality. Well known for their affectionate, outgoing nature, the people who know the breed well say they are friendly, trusting, and always playful. While their luxurious coat requires a dedication to grooming, they are adaptable, happy companions that thrive on the attention.
The Shih Tzu breed is a luxuriously coated Toy breed with a distinctive chrysanthemum face, rectangular body, and an amazing personality and temperament. Shih Tzu also have a “signature” proud head, with a tail held high over the back. They require extensive grooming, so the exhibitors, breeders, and handlers can easily fool the inexperienced judge. Shih Tzu are more than just a pretty face accentuated by an elaborate, and sometimes overdone, artificial topknot.
The Shih Tzu head is what makes our breed unique. Think “round” from all sides. As a judge, I like to see the head at least the size of a grapefruit or larger. Today’s exhibitors are, unfortunately, what we refer to as “artists.” Once you learn how to examine the head, you can see beyond all the fuss and grandiose grooming.
Using the method of cupping the head in your hands with fingers behind the ears, you can then use your thumbs to do all the examining of the rest of the head. This allows you to look into their eyes, feel the whole shape of the skull, width of muzzle, amount of stop, and fullness of foreskull, without destroying the grooming.
“Judging the Shih Tzu: More Than Just a Pretty Face” by Wendy Paquette SHOWSIGHT August 2021
Please visit showsightmagazine.com to learn more about the Shih Tzu.