The name of this breed, which translates as ‘Lion Dog, is usually mispronounced in the West. The Chinese rendering of it is `sher-zer’. In earlier days it was known as the Chrysanthemum Dog, or the Lhasa Lion Dog.
The Shih Tzu originated as an ancient cross between what we now call the Lhasa Apso and the Pekingese. Several centuries ago there were Lhasa Apsos in the great monasteries of Tibet and an early form of the Pekingese in the great courts of China. From time to time the Dalai Lama would make a special gift of some of Tibet’s most precious dogs to the rulers of China. These Lhasa Apsos would make the long and difficult journey to the Chinese capital, where they would disappear into the Forbidden City. Living there in splendid isolation from the outside world, they would inevitably come into contact with the royal Pekingese. Matings occurred and the result was what could loosely be described as a ‘Shaggy Peke’ or, if you prefer, a ‘Flat-faced Apso’. Either way, the crossbreed was an immensely attractive little dog and was soon on its way to becoming a pure breed in its own right. It was known in the Imperial Palace as the Lhasa Lion Dog, presumably to distinguish it from the Chinese Lion Dog (the Pekingese).
This happened during the 17th century, or perhaps even earlier. The dog then remained hidden to the West until the 20th century, when it finally emerged from the shadows and entered the glare of the show-ring. In 1934 the Peking Kennel Club was formed and held its first international dog show. Lhasa Apsos and Lhasa Lion Dogs were both entered and were judged together. There was clearly confusion between them at this time.
The breed description of the Lhasa Lion Dog given by the Peking Kennel Club must be one of the most poetic ever written for a dog. It includes the following features: the head of a lion; the round face of an owl; the lustrous eyes of a dragon; the oval tongue of a peony petal; the mouth of a frog; teeth like grains of rice; ears like palm-leaves; the torso of a bear; the broad back of a tiger; the tail of a phoenix; the legs of an elephant; toes like a mountain range; a yellow coat like a camel; and the movement of a goldfish.
Although golden-yellow was the favourite coat colour, others were permitted and each colour had its own special Chinese name. Solid yellow dogs were called Chin Chia Huang Pao; yellow dogs with a white mane were called Chin Pan To Yueh, meaning `golden basin upholding the moon’; black-and-white dogs were Wu Yun Kai Hsueh, meaning ‘black clouds over snow’; solid black dogs were Yi Ting Mo, meaning ‘lump of ink’; multicoloured dogs were called Hua Tse, meaning ‘flowery child’, and so on.
During the 1930s a few of these cherished dogs managed to find their way to the West. A black-and-white one called Lung Fu Ssu arrived in Ireland in 1930 and in. the same year a black-and-white pair called Hibo and Shu Ssa reached England. In 1932 a trio a dog and two bitches also reached Norway and established the breed there.
The owners of the English pair, Sir Douglas and Lady Brownrigg, showed them alongside Lhasa Apsos in 1933, and it was then realized that the two forms were, beyond any doubt, different breeds and should not be lumped together. It was at this point that it was decided to give them separate, distinctive names; the type with a narrower skull and longer muzzle was called the Lhasa Apso, and the type with a rounder skull and shorter muzzle was called the Shih Tzu.
In the following year the Shih Tzu Club of England was formed, and during the 1930s and 1940s a few more specimens were imported from the East to add to the gene pool. The breed was officially recognized in England in the 1940s and before long was gaining rapidly in popularity. In 1952 a controversial back-cross was made to a black-and-white Pekingese in an attempt to overcome some faults due to inbreeding. Some felt that this improved the breed, but purists were unhappy and there were heated arguments. One of the debates concerned the size of the breed in the West, many feeling that it was being allowed to become too big, when compared with the Imperial Palace dogs of Peking.
The breed’s popularity continued to rise in the second half of the 20th century. It arrived in the United States in the I 960s and was soon competing in dog shows all over the world.
Words used to describe the personality of the Shih Tzu include extrovert, vivacious, confident and dignified. It is one of the few breeds that is ideally suited for modern urban living, having for centuries been forced to adapt to a life in the confines of the Imperial Palace in Peking.
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