Shih Tzu Did You Know?

• The legend of the Shih Tzu has come to us from documents, paintings, and objets d'art dating from AD 624.

• During the Tang Dynasty, K'iu T'ai, King of Viqur, gave the Chinese court a pair of dogs, said to have come from the Fu Lin (assumedly, the Byzantine Empire). Mention of these dogs (Shih Tzus) was again made in AD 990-994 when people of the Ho Chou sent dogs as a tribute.

• Shih Tzu means lion, and in Buddhist belief, there is an association between the lion and their Deity; thus, the dogs were bred in court.

• The Shih Tzu was the house pet for most of the Ming Dynasty.

• First classifed as Apsos, but after a ruling by the Kennel Club (England), became a separate breed, culminating with the formation of the Shih Tzu Kennel Club of England in 1935 and admittance to the AKC Stud Book in 1969.

• The Shih Tzu is often called "the chrysanthemum-faced dog" because of the haphazard, round-face way their hair grows in the front.