- Permissible: All colours, white blaze on forehead and white tip to tail highly desirable in parti-colours
About the Shih Tzu
Origin: Tibet (China)
- Typical life span
- 10-18 years
- Size
- Small — from its typical weight
- Weight
- 4-7 kg
- Height
- 23-27 cm
- FCI status
- Recognised by FCI
- FCI group
- Companion and Toy Dogs
- Origin
- Tibet (China)
- Known hereditary risks
- 5 documented conditions, with the test for each
About
What is a Shih Tzu?
Small, sturdy toy breed with a distinctive short snout, large dark eyes, and luxurious long flowing double coat. Known for their charming, affectionate companion temperament
Shih Tzu history and origins
Ancient breed developed in Tibetan monasteries and refined by imperial breeders in Chinese palace courts. Believed to descend from Tibetan breeds, possibly crosses between Lhasa Apso and Pekingese, prized as house pets for centuries
Shih Tzu appearance and size
Typically 4-7 kg and 23-27 cm at the shoulder — published as one range rather than separately for males and females.
What the breed standard says
- Bred for
- Companion Dog
- Behaviour and temperament
“Intelligent, active and alert. Friendly and independent”
Quoted from FCI standard n°208. It describes the breed the registry recognises, not any individual animal.
Breed reference from The Dog API.
Characteristics
- Size
- Small
- Exercise needsRead from what the breed was bred to do, in the registry’s own words: “Companion Dog” That is a working purpose, not a measured exercise requirement — an individual dog’s needs depend on its age, health and household.
- 2 of 5
- Easy to train
- —
- Amount of shedding
- 3 of 5
- Grooming needs
- 4 of 5
- Good with children
- —
- Cost to keep
- —
- Tolerates being alone
- —
- Intelligence
- —
- Health of breed
- 5 conditions documented
Pros & cons
Pros & cons for the Shih Tzu
What you get with the Shih Tzu
- Purpose stated in the standard: “Companion Dog”
- The standard describes the breed as: “Intelligent, active and alert. Friendly and independent”
What you are taking on
- 3 serious inherited conditions are documented, mainly in bones & joints and breathing. The health guide tab has the test to ask for on each.
- High grooming needs — the standard’s own description is “Outer coat long, dense, not curly, with moderate undercoat, not woolly.”
Drawn from sources rather than written as an opinion — cited health research, the registry’s own standard, and peer-reviewed longevity. FCI breed standard; The Royal Kennel Club - RFG scheme expansion for Crufts 2026. One breeder’s animals can differ from any of it, and an empty column means we hold nothing for that side rather than that there is nothing to say.
Characteristics
FCI standard · Shih Tzu
Coat and colour
As the FCI standard sets it out. Every line below is the standard’s own wording, tagged permissible.
Coat
Slight wave permitted.
Hair not affecting the dog’s ability to see.
Length of coat should not restrict movement.
It is strongly recommended that the hair on head is tied up without adornment
- Outer coat long
- Dense
- Not curly
- With moderate undercoat
- Not woolly
Colour
- Preferred
- Permissible
- Undesirable
- Disqualifying
Preferred, permissible, undesirable and disqualifying are FCI’s own words about the breed. They describe what the standard asks for — not an assessment of any individual dog, and not ours.
Shortened from FCI standard n°208 — each label is the standard’s own wording with the verdict lifted into the tag beside it. Read the full clause at source.
What the breed standard says
- Size
- “Height at the withers: Not more than 27 cm Type and breed characteristics of the utmost importance and on no account to be sacrificed to size alone. Weight: 4.5 to 8 kg. Ideal weight 4.5 - 7.5 kg”
- FCI distinguishes an ideal from what is permitted.
Quoted from FCI standard n°208. It describes the breed the registry recognises, not any individual animal.
Breed-level information from The Dog API. It describes the Shih Tzu in general; any individual animal can differ.
Health guide
Health & screening guide for the Shih Tzu
Known hereditary risks for the Shih Tzu breed, and the specific documentation to request from any breeder before paying a deposit. A responsible breeder will have these readily available; deflection is a red flag.
5 conditions documentedThis is breed-level literature, not veterinary advice about an individual animal — your vet knows the animal.
Health checklist (PDF)Bones & joints
Patellar luxation
Monitor
The kneecap slips out of its groove; the American Shih Tzu Club recommends screening for a CHIC number.
What to ask for
OFA patellar luxation exam (graded 0-4) on both parents.
Chondrodystrophy with intervertebral disc disease risk (CDDY/IVDD)
Serious
An FGF4 retrogene variant alters disc structure and raises the risk of disc degeneration and herniation. Shih Tzu is one of the breeds OFA names for this DNA test, and insurance-database studies put lifetime IVDD prevalence in the breed at roughly 3.5-5%, well above non-chondrodystrophic breeds.
What to ask for
OFA/DNA CDDY (FGF4 retrogene) test on both parents.
Eyes
Brachycephalic ocular syndrome (entropion, pigmentary keratitis, corneal exposure)
MonitorInherent to the breed
The shortened muzzle and large, prominent eyes leave the cornea more exposed and prone to pigmentation and ulceration, and predispose to inward-rolling lower eyelids (entropion). A 2023 ophthalmic study of Shih Tzus from a single kennel found medial lower-eyelid entropion in 71% of the eyes examined.
What to ask for
Annual eye examination by a board-certified veterinary ophthalmologist (OFA/CAER) on both parents.
Breathing
Brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome (BOAS)
SeriousInherent to the breed
Shih Tzus are extremely brachycephalic, with the same volume of soft tissue as a longer-muzzled dog crowded into a much shorter airway. A 2026 cross-sectional study assessed almost 900 dogs across 14 brachycephalic breeds, including Shih Tzu, using the functional grading test, and the Kennel Club responded by expanding free RFG testing at Crufts to Shih Tzu and 13 other breeds from 2026.
What to ask for
The Kennel Club/University of Cambridge Respiratory Function Grading Scheme (RFGS) result on both parents.
Kidneys & urinary
Juvenile renal dysplasia
Serious
Abnormally formed kidneys present from birth, found at unusually high rates in Shih Tzu kidney-biopsy series. Mildly affected dogs can appear normal for years while more severely affected puppies progress to kidney failure early in life, and standard bloodwork (BUN/creatinine) often misses it until most kidney function is already lost.
What to ask for
No fully validated commercial DNA test exists yet. Ask for a renal ultrasound and urinalysis (including urine protein:creatinine ratio) on both parents, understanding these can still miss early-stage disease, and ask about kidney failure in close relatives.
How long the Shih Tzu lives, in the records
Median survival 12.8 years
95% confidence interval 12.6–12.9 years, from 5,894 recorded deaths among 12,085 dogs
Mortality hazard 0.94 (0.91, 0.96) relative to crossbred dogs, whose median is 12.0 years.
Measured in the United Kingdom from 584,734 dogs. Median survival is not a prediction for an individual dog.
McMillan, K.M., Bielby, J., Williams, C.L., Upjohn, M.M., Casey, R.A. & Christley, R.M. (2024) Longevity of companion dog breeds: those at risk from early death. Scientific Reports 14, 531.
Gallery
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Puppies
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