Animals For Sale

The name comes from the Chinese word for "lion dog" because this kind of dog was bred to resemble "the lion as depicted in traditional oriental art," such as the Chinese guardian lions.  (The Pekingese breed is also called "lion dog" in Chinese) "Shih Tzu" is the Wade-Giles romanization of the Chinese characters 獅子, meaning lion; Wade-Giles romanization was in use when the breed was first introduced in America, but in modern times Pinyin romanization is used, rendering it shīzi. The Mandarin Chinese pronunciation is approximately SHIRR-dzə.  The Shih Tzu is also known as the "Xi Shi dog" because Xi Shi was regarded as one of the most beautiful women of ancient China. Shih Tzu were nicknamed the Chrysanthemum Dog in England in the 1930s.  The dog may also be called the Tibetan Lion Dog, but whether or not the breed should be referred to as a "Tibetan" or "Chinese" breed is a source of argument, the absolute...

The Shih Tzu comes in a range of colours that include various shades of gold, white, brown, red, and blue.  Other colours include black mask gold, black and white, solid black, solid liver, liver and white, brindle and white and grey and white. Though not as common there are also solid blue Shih Tzu.  An interesting point (and often a point of confusion) is that while the coat color of those with black pigmented skin (nose, lips, pads, also referred to as "leather") is determined by the color of the coat itself; the coat color on dogs with either liver or blue pigment is categorized by the color of the pigment.  Thus a parti colored (white and another shade) Shih Tzu with blue pigment is a "blue and white" regardless of the tint of the hair which might very well appear similar to a gold and white or other colors. The same principle applies to solid blue, liver and liver and white. Sometimes you might see dark brown pigments near the shoulders and betw...