Recently a friend and I use the term loosely asked me why I breed Belle when there are soooo many unwanted dogs out there.  Believe me I have thought about this for days now and I am not sure if my answer is great but this is truly how I feel and how this whole breeding thing came about.  Warning this could be a little long.  In The Beginning (oh wait maybe not that long) ;)…  Five or so years ago my daughters (1 & 3 at the time) and I went to the pet store to by bunny food for Honey our rabbit (featured on Belle’s page).  While there the shop girl brought an adorable male Tzu puppy and Bridget fell in love she named him Skippy and cried and cried the whole way home because we did not buy him for the crazy price of $1700.  I was not even in the market for a puppy and while Bri was in love, Fiona was petrified of this tiny puppy.  So weeks go by and all I can think of is this puppy.  I went and bought several books AND read them, yes read them (that is for my book club who knows I never read the books I buy).  I talked constantly about Shih Tzu's and Chris (my husband) asked what a Tzu was and the only person I knew that had one, had a HORRIBLE representation of the breed.  This Tzu was mean and HIDEOUS looking, buggy eyes, sticking out teeth, everything I swore mine would not be.  So I began looking for one, the first place I went to was Petfinder.com, spent hours and hours looking at the website. The first thing I ran into over and over was that they would not adopt out to people with small children.  At the time my girls were 2 & 3, second we don’t have a fenced in yard, third a lot of the dogs I looked at had serious issues.  Then the LAST thing was the price to adopt was almost the same as buying a pure bred AKC puppy from a breeder.  Then I switched gears and started shopping on the AJC (Atlanta Journal Constitution) website, once again hours spent looking at AND calling breeders ALL OVER the Southeast.  What I found was that either the places the dogs were being raised were extremely sketchy, the parents of the dogs were hideous looking, or the people breeding could not answer the 7000 questions I had for them.   Of course the puppies were cute and I walked out on a ton of adorable puppies.  I had an exact look in mind as to what I wanted my puppy to look like, then one day I was looking at the AJC again and saw the exact puppy I wanted.  I called and talked to Tracy who seemed very normal, and we decided to meet and I bought Belle.  She was and is ADORABLE!!!  This whole process took a year or more, it wasn’t like I decided I wanted a puppy and that was it.  So we brought home Belle and Fiona was still terrified of her but she quickly got over that.  Belle was AKC registered and in excellent health and as she grew she just got more and more cute and her personality is awesome.  She is super friendly, playful, and so sweet.  So when she was a little older than a year I had decided that maybe I should look into breeding just because I had seen so much bad stuff out there I thought maybe I could bring something great back into the breed.  So once again I bought tons of books, e-mailed tons of different breeders and almost ended my breeding plans before they ever started because of the hateful comments and things I was told from other breeders.  Chris was like do you really want to get mixed up in this world?  Ummm YES that is exactly why I felt I needed to.  So then the search began for a stud, once again hours of calling and talking to people and I would say I have a female blah, blah, blah and they would say well call me when she is in heat.  Belle was a good year out from breeding time, nobody understood I needed to interview and see where she would be staying.  People just thought I was a freak.  So several people had recommended this one lady 2.5 hours south of me.  She and I talked on the phone many times and I decided that yes her dog was certainly cute enough he had been the #17 Tzu in the country, been in the Eukanuba dog show blah, blah, blah.  So when the time was right I drove down there for the first time to drop Belle off for a week and the place was soooo sketchy I couldn’t believe this was the same dog, same lady.  I did leave Belle there but cried the whole way home.  Belle who is an indoor dog, sleeps in our room most nights, was tossed into a dirt floor kennel with some shaved rat looking dog.  I was slightly horrified and the lady had NO personality, she was like come back in a week and shooed me off.  I e-mailed her every day and she responded to one of them, then when I went to pick up Belle the lady wasn’t even there I gave the check to some guy gathered Belle and left.  So yes those puppies were beautiful and I have a great friend and my own sister have puppies from that stud.  I decided there had to be a better way, so that is when Caspian entered the picture.  I met Amy on Facebook and she lives in California and the rest is history as they say.  Caspian flew here in January of 2009 and it was LOVE at first sight for him, Belle would not agree for herself.  He was here just a couple of months when he and Belle made their first litter of puppies.  THOSE puppies were adorable, and I know I am going to get a lot of flak for this but Caspian puppies are better looking.  They tend to have a  lot more color than the first set of puppies and their fur is a lot more thick and fluffy.  I know there are a  lot of good breeders out there and I know there are a lot of good rescue groups you just need to find a good match for you.  Oh and my new favorite show on Animal Planet is “Last Chance Highway”  it is all about giving stray dogs here in the South to people up North.  I LOVE Shelly, she and I are a lot alike except for the millions and the fake nails, I have neither of those.  :)

"Acquiring a dog may be the only opportunity a human has to choose a relative." Mordecai Siegal


If you are going to buy a Shih Tzu you want the best example of the breed you can find. A responsible breeder can assure you that the dog you choose is a purebred; he/she will know most of the dogs in a five-generation pedigree, some of them personally. He/she will also know what diseases to look out for and will have tested breeding stock for them whenever possible. He/she will be able to tell you which puppy would best fit your lifestyle based on its personality traits and those of its family. A responsible breeder will require that you spay or neuter your pet. 

Since there is no perfect Shih Tzu, our breeding program is aimed at improving each generation. Each litter is planned with the hope of improving or strengthening one or more traits. Hopefully there will be at least one puppy in each litter that we can add to our breeding program after it attains its AKC championship. This usually leaves several equally nice puppies to be placed with loving families. Since we "puppy-sit" any of the puppies we place we also have the opportunity to see how the ones we did not choose to keep grow up. This really helps in evaluating a particular breeding. I keep in touch with other area breeders so I can recommend someone else when we don't have puppies available. All puppies, and occasionally older dogs, are sold with a contract that requires spaying or neutering and guarantees that the puppy/dog can be returned anytime in its lifetime if the need arises.

Shih Tzu coats are different from other animals as they have hair and not fur. This is what leads most people to call them hypoallergenic. I do not like this term as there is no such thing as an hypoallergenic pet. The reason you would not likely be allergic to these dogs is because Shih Tzu hair is one of the closest of all dogs to human hair. They don't shed and release very little dander into their surroundings. They will, however, lose a good portion of their coat during high stress times and breeding. It is highly recommended for anyone allergic to dogs to visit with a friend's Shih Tzu or a breeder before deciding on the breed. It is very rare for someone to be allergic to this delightful breed but it is possible.

For more information on the breed please visit http://www.akc.org/breeds/shih_tzu/index.cfm.

A segment for "Ask Lisa" of the AKC website.

Dear Lisa: I have a 22-week-old Shih Tzu and he is a great pet and is doing well with his training. He runs up the stairs fast but will not come down the stairs. At this time he is 9.6 pounds and getting heavy for my Mother to lift. I have tried placing treats on the stairs and showing him how to come down but it is not working. He jumps on and off the chairs and sofa with no problem. Does he think he should do the same on the steps? Please note he is the best thing I could have done for my Mother. She is at home alone all day and he has made a big difference in her life, they are great together. – Startled By Stairs

Dear Startled: In my experience puppies learn to walk up stairs fairly quickly but it seems to take them longer to learn to go down them. First, let’s make sure we have decent footing on the stairs and properly groomed feet on the puppy. Are the stairs carpeted or bare? If bare, maybe putting some carpet runners on the steps will increase the traction for the puppy. Perhaps they are slippery to the puppy and he is scared of the surface, which is why he is running up them and not walking. You can also trim the hair away from and around his pads so he can grip the stair surface better. Also trimming the toenails will help with his gripping, long nails get in the way of proper traction and walking.

Baby Steps
You didn’t say where you had tried to start training the puppy to go down the stairs. If you tried from the top maybe it was a bit daunting for such a little dog down a big staircase. I would start at the bottom step and train one step at a time, one per day. Since your Mom has time at home with the dog, she could make this a play session twice a day. Have her sit on the second step and place the pup on the first step and then put the treat on the floor at the bottom of the first step. Do these sessions before normal feeding time, that way he’ll be hungry and want that treat. Be patient and the puppy will learn.

If the puppy doesn’t move on his own gently place his front feet on the lower step and then lift his hind end and give him a small push to get him moving. If he resists, then place his hind end on the step yourself and he will have to move his front feet forward. Whenever he moves in the right direction give him lots of praise. If this doesn’t work, move in front of him and coax him down with treats, praise and moving his front feet onto the next step. Once he completes a step successfully and is rewarded, do it again, then stop for the day. The next day start with one step and then increase to adding another step. Once they master several steps they will be on their way to a total staircase descent all on their own.