Tiny Toi Shih Tzu  

 Origins of the Shih Tzu

The history of the Shih Tzu dates back thousands of years to China, where dogs are believed to have been family pets as early as 10,000 years ago. As for the progenitors of the Shih Tzu, the first recorded mention of a small, stout dog in China does not occur until 1000 B.C. In "The Lost History of the Canine Race," historian Mary Elizabeth Thurston relates that these dogs were called "Happa" or "Hah-bah" dogs and were kept and admired by the Chinese Imperial Court. In 500 B.C., a witness described small dogs with short, square mouths being allowed to ride inside chariots with their regal owners while the hunting hounds were made to run alongside. Other accounts note that some--but not all--of the diminutive dogs kept by Chinese emperors and their court had long-haired coats.

By 700 A.D. breeding for increasingly beautiful dogs was a passion in the Imperial palace in Beijing, with the kennel operation supervised by a unit of eunuchs who were specially entrusted to care for the dogs. Favorite dogs were pampered in the court; however, life was not necessarily rosy in the breeding kennels. The eunuchs were known to resort to desperate means when their breeding failed to produce exacting results. Their arcane methods included biting off the tips of tails to create a more "lion-like" look and confining puppies to small cages to stunt their growth.

Exactly when the Shih Tzu became a separate and distinct breed in the Imperial court, and what breeds or types of dogs influenced its development are topics largely open to debate. A common theory is that the Shih Tzu, which means "lion" in Chinese, is descended from Tibetan "lion dogs," which were bred in Tibet and clipped to resemble lions. The lion was an important facet of Buddhism, and historians report that little "lion dogs" were considered holy and were bred by Chinese eunuchs and Tibetan monks. According to this theory, the Shih Tzu was the oldest and smallest of the holy dogs and was a favorite of Chinese emperors.

Another theory places the Shih Tzu's origins with Toy dogs already present in the Orient, such as the Pug, Pekingese and Japanese Chin. Yet a third theory combines the two previous theories, hypothesizing that the Shih Tzu's progenitors include Tibetan lion dogs crossed with various Asian breeds.

Regardless of the breed's exact origins, no one in the Western world is believed to have known what the Shih Tzu was or even looked like until the palace's well-guarded secret was exposed in 1860. Thurston relates that during the second Opium War, Empress Dowager Tzutsi fled with her family as English and French troops attacked her summer palace. Left behind were some of the Imperial kennel dogs, which may have been taken in by local people but also were carried away and kept by the troops--and thus the secret of the dogs was out. A year later, the empress returned to the palace and rebuilt her kennel. A few years before her death in 1908, a palace guest reported that the palace was filled with hundreds of dogs.

Once the empress died, the palace fell into disorganization, and many of the dogs apparently perished, perhaps from neglect, but others were smuggled out by servants and sold. Breeding of the Shih Tzu now began outside the palace. Foreign visitors and diplomats purchased some of these dogs and brought them home, establishing a small colony of the breed in Europe. Following China's Communist Revolution in 1949, owning a pet that did not work or was not suitable for eating was not allowed, and the Shih Tzu is believed to have become extinct in its homeland. If it weren't for seven bitches and seven dogs in England, Norway and Sweden, the Shih Tzu also may have become extinct in the Western world.

The breed came to the United States during the 1930's when military personnel spotted these charming dogs overseas and brought them home at the end of their tours. Interestingly, the breed was mistakenly classified by the American Kennel Club as Lhasa Apso. It wasn't until 1952 that the Shih Tzu was reclassified as a separate and unique breed. The Shih Tzu's popularity gradually increased until 1969 when it gained recognition by the AKC as a Toy Breed. On the day it earned recognition, a Shih Tzu (Chumulari Ying-Ying) was awarded Best in Show honors at an all-breed dog show. Since that point, the breed's popularity has continued to climb. The Shih Tzu consistently has ranked near the top 10 most popular breeds for the past decade.
 

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