Hi All. It's been a while since I have been on but I have been checking in every so often A doggie friend of ours lost his Maltichon over the Christmas. He was Zeus's first real doggie friend and they would have great feisty plays. We are not too sure what happened to this 4 1/2 year Maltichon but €2,500 later the Vet recommended that his time had come and he was not going to recover. It was suspected that he had drank contaminated water on one of his walks. We have 2 Shih Tzus. The first one Zeus is only 90% sold as a thoroughbred but at 4 years of age we have had to put him on joint care tablets. He is prone to getting an inflamed joint on his right leg. With the long back and the short legs keeping his weight to a safe 10kg and we are careful not to over walk him. Xena, the 2nd Shih Tzu - a female came from a reputable breeder in N.I. who has a bloodline excelling in Rally or Agility. She is a little more long legged with a short back. She has been a dream dog and is in a different league to Zeus. She is now 2 years old. My doggie friend has been interested in a dog like Xena but when I put it to him would you like one like her - he hesitated and said No to my surprise. His Malitchon was a great walker and would do at least an hour walking - it would be a combination of on and off the lead. But his experience of Zeus calling the shots on some our walks where he had to be managed on keeping up made him think twice. The brief is probably too much. A small dog ideally under 10 kg, one that can walk for a good hour and one that would be your companion. He is now contemplating a Cavapoo which personally I would not go for since Zeus is 10% Cavalier King Charles.
Personally, I would stay away from any of the designer crossbreeds. None are going to be the result of responsible breeding. Responsible breeders do not breed mixes as it defeats the purpose of responsible breeding - ie, ensuring the breed is maintained through careful breeding to minimize health and mental defects. Tell your friend to either buy a purebred breed from a responsible breeder OR adopt a mixed breed from a shelter or rescue group.
My daughter has 2 shih tzu and they are worlds apart from each other, Jack is so laid back and really lets life pass him by, but he’s a humper regardless of who it is and frank is on a different planet all together the lights on but no one is home type, but she will walk them around the woods like when we went to see her and they never once complained or dragged behind , frank has to stay on his lead as he just doesn’t listen, but Jack just plods along in front or runs to catch up.
We believe that one of our dogs, Rose, is a Maltese + Shih Tzu mix. However, we have not done a DNA test, so my comments are not accurate for a pure Shih Tzu. I just want to add any thoughts that might help a little. We adopted Rose in August 2018, from a family who was too busy for her after small children got older. They said that she was born in February 2014, so she is almost eleven now. She is a loving, affectionate dog. She follows us around and watches us. Wags her tail when I make eye contact with her. Wants to be in whatever room we are in. Loves to snuggle with our two other dogs (senior Chihuahua and adult Beagle). She has a lot of energy at times. She might dash across our fenced-in back yard. Or, she might approach one of the other dogs and start a brief, friendly play-wrestle session. When I walk her (I like to walk each dog separately, to exercise myself more), she can go on a long walk without appearing tired. A wonderful dog overall. I would not go looking for "designer mix" puppies to buy at high prices. I would gladly adopt a similar dog again.
Totally agreed with the recommendation Toed. I had to look back on the texts that I send my friend and I was recommending the likes of a good temperament Miniature Poodle, a Havanese and had looked at Tibetan Terriers. I went down a rabbit hole with the TT and discovered that there was 2 linkages. 2 of the breeders that I contacted had retired from breeding TTs and another had no plans in the future. I got the impression that there you could get unlucky with the wrong one. On the Shih Tzu breeders none of them returned my emails or text messages. I had planned to go today to a Shih Tzu dog show but something came up and I was unable to go. After the difficulty in contacting a reputable breeder I re-looked at dogs.ie and was quite horrified to see the size of the breeding establishments that were licensed by the councils. I personally would not be happy about buying a €500 Cavapoo or a designer cross breed from an establishment with a 100 breeding bitches. I now find that I put people off acquiring a Shih Tzu stating that they are high maintenance, need daily attention and you really need to look after them. I felt that the Cockers we had previously were more more resilient but the golden one developed a rage so we had to deal with a behavioural issue after she was spayed. For my friend I still felt that a rally / agility breed Shih Tzu would have suited him and carry him or her after 45-60 minutes so there was no risk of getting over walked. What you give in care comes back many fold.
