Shih Tzu - MOUNTAINPASSBARN.COM

Smokie

Smokie is from B.B and Tig. She is black with graying on her tail and rump and brown on her face within the shades of black and a small white chest patch. She's a lap-dog cuddle bear, a jumping bean, and a rascal looking for a fun time.

Tig

Docile and doe eyed sweetheart who just wants to sleep on the bed with you or follow you around constantly just to find a corner to nap in the room you are in. He is a perfect cuddler and focused on his owner intensely. Soft and fluffy weighing in at 11 lbs. He is submissive to people like a ragdoll, so grooming is easy when his hair is clippered short or brushed and combed daily. Gold and white with a black mask. His lineage traces back to titans of the show ring with his great-great-great grandparent of the Wenrick line, great-great grandsire of the Zephyr line, great-great grandparent of the Lun Lynn line, and great grandparent of the Centerfold line. His smaller size means potentially a lighter weight puppy when paired with a smaller female. He has all of his OFA's in good standing and a CHIC #.

Aslan

Adventurous and obedient with high drive and high potential, he's a strong and lean 16 lbs. of muscle, no pudge belly on this guy. He has great hair that requires much less maintenance when kept long as an adult. He is brave and plays well with others and is suited to groundhog chasing if it's not too hot outside. He loves sledding on the ice hardened snow like a slip and slide. He's what's called an old-fashioned type of shih tzu, short, long, and stout (with a big, bobble-head noggin). He is a gold and white with a black mask, genetically marked as a black sable running through his gold hair. He has been tested extensively for OFA submitted health records all in good or average standing with healthy joints - hips, elbows, patellas, dentition, CAER eyes, and outstanding DNA with no known carriers in any breed tests per Embark. He has a CHIC #.

Fancy

A luxurious lounging tiny princess with soft, lofty, flowing hair weighing 8-9 lbs. who doesn't do rain or snow... it might mess up her nails or hair. She believes that she belongs inside and on the bed. She prefers potty pads and the indoor life although she does go outside at times. Princess life has high standards, don't hate, beauty is hard work and she just got her nails and hair did and precipitation of any sort or wind are not on her nice list. Her lineage goes back to show lines of Centerfold and Lun Lynn. Black and white. Her smaller size means potentially lighter weight puppies, especially paired with a small dog like Tig. She has her CHIC #.

B.B.

She has a soft energy and a happy-go-lucky demeanor. Her hair feels like velvet, soft, plush and the silkiest of them all. Ridiculously smart, we call her Houdini because she's an escape artist if left alone in a pen and she wants to be near you, opening gates and climbing like a free-style champ. Maybe it's the Shaolin warrior monk in her ancestry, running up walls like in the old movies:). An easy potty trainer. She is sturdy boned, short, long, and stout. She is a big girl and it all goes to her belly just looking at that food, her pups will also have potential to be on the sturdy side, no over-feeding treats to these puppies. Black with the slightest greying wisps through her hair and the tiniest wisp of white on her chest as a star. She has all her OFA testing all in good standing and a CHIC #.

Penny

Gentle with a soft mouth and delicate demeanor. Easy to potty train because she truly wants to make her people happy. She bats her big bashful eyes and wags her entire body with joy. A willingness to please, and love of fetch make her a perfect companion for the house, lets stick to little stuffies as tennis balls are too big to fit in their mouths for a game of fetch. Black and white with a ticking pattern like cookies and cream. Not only is she easy to potty train but no coprophagia which is a rare find in small dogs, these are traits that I love about her. She has all good OFA's and a CHIC #.

Nova

Nova is from Tig and Penny. A sweet girl like her parents who is also very well crate and potty trained as it came easy for her in the paw-steps of her mother. Gentle and docile and always obedient and respectful of your wishes and your space. Black and white cookies and cream pattern. She has all good OFA's and a CHIC #.

Grace

Grace is from Fancy and Aslan. She is a sweetheart who comes to sit on my lap and gives me one or two delicate kissed on the nose and at times she can be a rascal looking for fun. She is a lovely warm gold and white with a black mask.

Shih Tzu in History

Excerpt from the American Shih Tzu Club:

..."no Shih Tzu ever left China until the twentieth century and not until after the Chinese no longer had an empire with an Empress to protect them. There were frequent descriptions of the dogs in the Imperial Palace, particularly under this last Empress, which included “shag dogs” as well as the familiar pugs and Pekingese so we know they were there. Why they never got out of the country is a question without an answer.

During the years of the empress’ life, she was very particular about the breeding of her dogs and thus very judgmental. Those not measuring up to her standard were lucky to find homes with minor royalty or influential people outside the palace. After her death, while China was in turmoil, foreign diplomats were able to acquire dogs that were said to have come from the palace where they had been carefully bred and cared for by eunuchs for many years, but only one that was actually born in the palace made it to the west. The long-haired dogs had many names at this time of which “Lhasa Terrier” or “Apso” seemed to be more common. These names point to the fact that they were considered to have been imported from Tibet instead of having originated in China but considering the efforts of eunuchs at breeding to please the empress, one cannot consider them to have been purebred in any sense of the word. There was a Peking Kennel Club in the late thirties which actually held dog shows where the long-haired dogs were entered. However, the judge complained that the lack of uniformity among the dogs, albeit they all had short muzzles, long hair and tails carried high over the back, made judging them quite difficult if not impossible. We owe the appearance of the Shih Tzu of today to the few Europeans who managed to obtain what they considered good specimens of the shaggy dogs and successfully bring them back to Europe."...

American Shih Tzu Club ASTC

TRAINING and GROOMING

Links for Shih Tzu:

There is much more information available, this is just a starter to get you linked to the best source of knowledge for Shih Tzu, use the search bar if you can't easily find what you are looking for as it may be hidden in the ASTC site somewhere.

Shih tzu will require a year of your diligence for potty training and following the space and management rules to prevent reverting back to accidents. If you want less work get one over 3 years old.

Catchy Phrases to remember in training:

Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast .... slow your roll, baby steps

What you release (reward) is what you teach

What is practiced will be repeated - for better or worse

K.I.S.S.'s. = keep it simple, short, silly

They fall to the level of the training, not rise to the occasion in a stressful or quick scenario.

If you don't want a grown dog doing the behavior, then don't let the puppy do the behavior. If they don't know it's a possibility they won't miss it.

My favorite kind of "training" with these pups is games with plain cheerios. Not the honey variety due to excess calories, 4 plain cheerios is 1 calorie. This is a better option for you to have fun, you get to treat your pup and you avoid excess table food which is actually harmful for them with potentially harmful spices and excess high fat calories. Keep them thin and they live 2 more years, feed them one overly fatty meal and get pancreatitis and potentially diabetes with daily shots for life. Half a cup is an adult shih tzu daily food amount, for the entire day. puppies in the 4-8 month range get twice that but only for the growth spurt. Making them fat is not kindness and makes more vet bills for life.

So, the "training" is games like hungry hungry hippo tossing a small handful on the floor and watching the searching fun if you have more than one dog, 52 cheerio pick-up if it's just one (maybe not 52 at one time, that's just a play on the words for the 52 card pick up game that your older brother thought was funny, cheerios are way more fun for the dogs). Training is calling their name then giving them one cheerio, seeing them go in their crate and give them a cheerio, stand on two legs - Cheerio! They sit and look at you - Cheerio! Anything cute - Cheerio! Now everyone feels good. You got to shower them with treats and do training at the same time all from your chair. Now the excitement for cheerios is built up by the hippo or 52 pick up. You are not going to get a down stay with cheerios. That's when you get to give them steak the size of a tiny green pea. Also, they love raw vegetable trimmings cut into, you guessed it, pieces the size of a pea. Asparagus ends too tough to eat in your meal, celery, green peppers, cucumbers, etc. Onions and Garlic family foods are bad and make tummy upset. Don't give them big pieces and think they can just chew it like a dog - your memory of a big dog with powerful jaws. Why create choking hazards, why? Just cut small as you would for a baby, like the babies they are who don't chew before they swallow, because they won't chew.

Never overdo training. 5 minutes is enough for a session if you want them to maintain interest and always ending on a good note... don't do one last repetition as it is a greedy training mistake and asking for a bad note. You can do 2 or 3 sessions per day if you insist, 30 minutes is pushing your luck, and an hour is begging to end on a bad note. What is practiced will be repeated. Reward well and often in the beginning, real meat or cheese has the most value and the freeze-dried meat products are good also, not a dog biscuit for the shih's - tell the banks and tellers to save their treat as they will just spit it out. Carrots, cucumbers, melon, etc. are good value also. NO GRAPES or RAISINS or CAFFINE or CHOCOLATE (the darker it is the worse it is) or XYLITOL and can lead to kidney or liver failure even in small quantities. One high fat meal or spices can cause pancreatitis that can lead to diabetes requiring insulin injections daily or a spleen rupture.

Coupon Code: BaxterandBella.com 25% off training package CODE: MountainPassBarn . Amy Jensen free podcast "puppy training" on Spotify also available. (she is a former elementary school teacher who gives great, short, easy to digest learning materials for the new owner)

Introduction to other pets in the home: It's important to give other animals space and time to acclimate to the new visitor and not force them to accept the new addition immediately. Use baby gates or exercise pens to separate while allowing visual and smell introduction. Don't force them to share food or favorite toys and chews creating resentment and aggression. If you have a dog close to the same size and not typically aggressive towards other dogs, it's okay to allow them to correct the new puppy's behavior within reason. A dog that growls is sharing information, don't silence that information and communication, silence can be deadly. I want bark, not bite. It's the quiet ones you have to watch out for is a saying because it's true.

Potty Training: It causes less confusion if you just train to outside. Take them out of the crate directly to your preferred spot and wait for business to be completed. Go play for 30 minutes then go to the designated spot again. Feed then go to the spot again. Sometimes a little walk helps move things along. Your time span increases as they age. Some will catch on faster than others. It's important not to let them run free on carpet unsupervised or to go off of your diligent schedule, that will come after a year or so. If using potty pads, a pad that is 1/4 used with pee or any poo is done, a fresh one is required or they will use the floor or couch or their bed. Pet's World is a cheap brand that you can buy in bulk, a little thin but they're not using it more than once or twice anyway. In the baby puppy pen I train the pups to the brilliant pad system of potty pads because it has a protective grate so the hair on their feet don't get dirty, they can't eat the poo, and the pups can't shred the pads for fun as they will do in the 4-12 early weeks. This system rolls up the waste with the touch of a button, automatically, or by your phone. I have a 10% discount code brilliantpad.com/ShannonW . If you see them run back and forth in a zig zag or pounce and stand on the fence with their front paws or spin in circles, they are about to do their business. Just run, pick up dog and take them outside or put them on their pad, in a little fenced area works nice, and wait and watch. Don't let them convince you that it was a false alarm, they just forgot for a second up to 15 minutes, sit out there with them and enjoy the scenery. Have patience and limit distractions so they can remember. Play time in the really early months is for like 10 minutes then potty option for 5 minutes, 10 more minutes, are they sniffing in a corner - potty option now. After 30 minutes of this they need a nap, put them down for a nap in their play pen with potty pad or crate for 2 hours with a good chew toy. Rinse, repeat. Multiple animals in the same space cause distraction accidents. The younger they are the sooner they need to go outside after a meal and if you want them to crate for 3+ hours then take up the food 3+hrs prior. Never do you leave them to roam your huge house without being watched like a hawk for the first year, they are so short it's hard to tell when they are peeing vs. sitting. The second you have an accident then you know you allowed too much square footage too soon. Puppies NEED NAPS, downtime and a break from you so don't feel guilty about crating. Also, you must use enzyme cleaner to remove potty accident smells. You can try a home mixture recommended by Dr. Marty Greer DVM: 1 small bottle peroxide with 1 small box baking soda and 2 tablespoons DAWN dish soap, mix / use / avoid eyes. Rinse 5 times longer than you think because dish soap doesn't rinse out the same as shampoo. Use immediately, it doesn't save well. This mixture is the solution to skunk smell also - not tomato juice as the old tale goes.

Grooming Appointments: Toes are best done with a grinder on big adult nails causing less discomfort than the possible torque when clipping but keep everyone's hair far away, sometimes a wet paw is the answer to make the hair lay out of the way. I also like the little kitty scissors for baby toenails. Do toes once a week a millimeter at a time in a rounded tip slowly burnishing the quick back to a nice short nail if you aren't getting professional grooming every 4 weeks. Overgrown nails hurt. Don't let the dew claw curl into their toe pad causing an ingrown nail. Make it a short happy appointment the first few times. Schedule early before they need it because the groomer might be booked out a month or more. The cheaper the cut the more likely you will get a shave down, whether matted or not. The distance from the matt to skin is the length your groomer will shave them down to. Detangling tight mats is just ripping the hair from the skin causing bloody spots, conditioner isn't going to fix that. Comb, comb, comb - not brush. If you neglect even for a week or put outfits or collars on and a matt has already developed If you don't want the groomer to shave down you have to put in the 3 -5 hours before you take them. Always hold the hair and comb to prevent pulling and ripping. If the matting is extensive and to the skin it will be unfair to brush that out, they will bleed where you are ripping out the hair, shave down with a 40 blade and do better next time. Try using Ice on Ice ultra dematting spray and thinning/chunking/blending shears for cutting out matts without scissor lines showing while using comb teeth as a protective guard. Don't pull knot up while cutting because skin is loose and will easily pull into the scissor or clipper causing cuts and abrasions. Excess ear gunk with blackish dots (poo from bugs) is probably earmites or an infection, meds from your vet fix this. Do know that all medications for ears among others cause birth defects so we, as breeders, can't use them in our house. So if your baby has come home with excess ear gunk this is not neglect but a lack of medications that may be used on mothers, fathers' sperm is also affected, and young pups. By the time you get them it's safe to use these medications and flea and tick treatments that are more potent and take care of more bugs. We also can't use most over the counter flea treatments on such young pups but the veterinarian has safe alternatives that you should get on monthly immediately when you bring home your puppy.

Puppy Class: Find a puppy class and go play, be okay with being an under achiever as these concepts are to teach you more than the dog in the first year or two. Many professional dog people don't bother with specific training until much older, they wait for maturity for detailed specifics. Just stick to learning how to learn with joy and being in a calm energy in many environments. Don't let the pressure of being in class make you push your dog past their limit, recognize their stress before the bad association or melt down and quietly step away and probably be done for the day. Classes of one hour make people happy but aren't best for the puppy, you did get your monies worth even if you only participated for 20 minutes, crate your dog and watch the rest of the class if possible. Instructors are sometimes volunteers from clubs and may not be practiced enough to be attuned to your needs in every instance when in a group class. Be your own advocate without shame of disrupting the class or offending the instructor, this is common practice in the dog world. There is no shame in taking a bow for the day before you lose your cool or ruin months of progress. Keep it positive for the dog to keep them motivated to play the game with you.

Load a recall immediately and often: Use your preferred call command and reward with a food treat. Again and again. If you do nothing in your first year but this then you are still on a good trajectory. Cheerio game nightly, say their name and when they look at you and or come to you depending on how accomplished they are, they get a cheerio. yay. If doing this in the open off leash you better have steak the size of a pea. If your voice doesn't carry over long distances and you can't whistle you can use a clap rhythm as your special code language between you and your dog(s). Visual cues are nice to layer on also such as waving high above your head, like the folks directing airplanes or traffic for long distance commands.

Leash Walking: Don't drag but reward the moment they move forward of their own choice. We are not doing "heeling" work in the first year unless you are really doing this training thing for sport. The second they get to pulling you around change direction in a 90* turn or 180* about face direction. Don't fuss at them, just stay interesting by being unpredictable, jumping jacks if you have lost their interest, get creative. A session only needs to last 5 minutes once a day for a week to make progress. Most important is not to practice being dragged because what you practice will be repeated. But I also don't like to steal the joyful bouncy glee that young shih tzu have so I don't over correct as long as they aren't tripping me up, literally, forward is good enough for me. Personally, I hate a tight heel and I also like the dog on the right as opposed to the "correct heel position", especially when passing others on a path, the dogs noses shouldn't be in the center of the isle, they should be on the outside, not interacting with the passing dog, just my opinion unless they are protecting you from the passer-by as opposed to you protecting your dog from the interaction, but I'm left handed and I often think the reverse is better.

Sometimes others ruin or wear out your command words so you must pick unique commands and not tell others who don't understand not to wear out the command to extinction. The person who says their name repeatedly and gives no treat are making your command useless.

Shih Tzu hair drapes like the finest silks and linens, I cannot resist the feel of hand.

Adoration, they require nothing more than to just be, with you.

The royal treatment.