I bought a Shih Tzu for my daughter last year for graduation. She is liver and white and has the most gorgeous light brown eyes. She is smart as a whip and loves my yorkies. Buyer beware though!!!! As with yorkies I found out after we purchased her that the breed has a large problem with Renal Dysplasia being a hereditary problem. Our girl was apparently born with a worst case scenario of the disease. Their kidneys are shrunken and have little function at all in filtering toxins out of their bodies. Therefore, she is constantly thirsty and urinates ALOT. Although she is good at going out we are not home all the time and therefore she has to go. We were told she would probably not live past her 1st birthday. She turned 1 on July 9th. She is a blessing and we love her dearly. She has such a wonderful spirit and we love her everyday as though it were her last. They are a wonderful breed but as with yorkies I would do alot of research prior to purchase. Puppies can be born with all stages of the disease and may not have any problems until they are older. She just happens to have almost no kidney function. If you wish to purchase a Shih Tzu I would make sure its parents were both tested and cleared prior to purchasing a puppy.
Good Luck and God Bless All Doggies |