(This was originally going to be posted in GQ but I figured this category is probably better suited.)
I occasionally “dog-sit” a Shih-Tzu for a neighbor, mainly because I like dogs (they like me too ) and have owned many.
Anyway, some time ago, this Shih-Tzu bit me for no reason whatsoever. This wasn’t just a “play” bite and the dog really acted hostile toward me. This bothered me because I’ve never been bitten by a dog before and the bite became infected a few days later and I ended up as an outpatient at a hospital. :mad:
I’ve owned German Shepherds and Huskies and although they are a lot bigger and stronger than Shih Tzu’s, these dogs never showed any hostility to me. (The same holds true for all dogs I’ve met in my life).
The only thing that might have upset him was that I had been training him to sit and stay when I gave him a dog treat. The funny thing is, I got the dog bite hours after the last time I attempted to train him.
Something particular to ST’s that you wouldn’t see in the other breeds you mention: If the ST’s hair has overgrown its eyes, you can startle them accidentally, which can lead to them biting you.
My sister used to keep Shih Tzus. They were very friendly little dogs, and always happy to make a new friend. My sister never had any problems with her dogs acting aggressively, but then she DID clip their hair herself, and kept it fairly short. She’s also pretty good at socializing dogs.
I’d say the problem was not with the hair. Yes, at the time his hair was very long, but he could see me quite well so he was not startled.
Yeah, supposedly the breed is agreeable and playful. The funny thing is I told this story to my doctor and she said she was bitten by a Shih Tzu when she was 8 years old. She seems to think that the breed is not the pleasant dog everyone thinks it is. One thing I’ve noticed about dogs is the fact that they are very good with children so if someone 8 years old could get a severe bite, maybe there is simething wrong with the breed. (Of course, I might be arriving at that conclusion based on very sparse evidence - 2 people bitten).
A well-bred, well-socialized, well-trained Shih Tzu is a pretty nice little dog. Not terribly bright, some of them, and often kind of yappy and territorial (which they were bred for), but typically pretty nice.
Sadly, most of the ones I’ve encountered failed one or more of the three criteria I listed. These dogs are…unpleasant, to say the least. Imagine a kid with organic personality issues and a predisposition to distrust strangers who has never left his own house, never been made to do anything that wasn’t his idea, and has always been given what he wants when he wants because he’s just so darn cute. Bundle that kid into a fur coat and smush his face in, and you have these dogs.
The guy across the street from us has one, and I always have to keep an eye out for the damn thing when I’m out working in our front yard. Because he lets it out to roam, it thinks most of the street is its territory and the little shit will come into my yard to bark and growl and try to bite me if I don’t pre-emptively run it off. On the bright side, someone will eventually run over it as it plays blythely in the road, and then I won’t have to deal with it any more.
I don’t think there’s something specifically wrong with Shih Tzus as a breed. I think the problem is common to many small breeds, especially the fluffy and harmless-looking ones. Because they appear harmless, and also maybe because they’re small and easy to ignore, people make no effort to train these sorts of dogs, to socialize them properly, or to form a proper pack structure and show the dogs their place in that pack.
Dogs need leadership. Not dominance per se, but effective pack leadership. They are smart enough to recognize that they themselves will have trouble providing for a pack. One can imagine their dilemma: How do I open the door? How do I get dog food? Water? What happens if the mailman doesn’t go away when I warn him?
A human can take care of all these things and more, and dogs are happier knowing there’s a pack leader in charge who will keep things running smoothly. A dog prefers to know his or her place in the pack, perform that role, and (ideally) be rewarded for that performance by the pack leader.
Small dogs get this kind of loving guidance less often than large or dangerous-looking dogs; people are often careful to make sure the Great Dane knows to be gentle, but don’t think about the Shih Tzu.
The Shih Tzu in question probably (I am obviously applying my beliefs to a situation I did not witness) is uncertain if his human is actually a pack leader. He wonders if he should bee contesting for the job (which he doesn’t really want). He’s nervous that he won’t win such a contest, and perhaps even more nervous that he will win and be in charge of this strange world of can openers and doorbells he doesn’t understand. He (again, probably) tried to signal to you that he was asserting dominance and trying to take the pack leader position, but many people don’t recognize these signals, especially in a small dog covered in long hair. So he had to use more force to get the “stupid” human to understand.
We took our dogs to obedience classes when they were puppies for the training and the socialisation. The classes were run by the local vet, and were a room of people with puppies (about 12) of all breeds at about the same age, plus a trainer. (What insane person gets a Husky puppy in Australia? Talk about cruelty to animals…).
So each person starts by introducing themself and identifying their puppy’s breed and what they want to get from the class. Other side of the room was an older couple, late 70s at a guess, white haired. Dog has hair to match. The couple are immaculate, the husband obviously finicky. Come their turn, they introduce themselves, say the puppy is a ShihTzu bought by the wife. Trainer immediately says “Ah yes - ShihTzu. Tibetan for “cannot be toilet trained.”” Long slow swivel as the husband turns to look at the wife. Strangled voice as husband says they are there to learn how to stop the dog weeing everywhere.
Many people in the class wound up with well trained animals. The elderly couple with the ShihTzu…not so much.
At the risk of adding my own nearly insignificant anecdotal data points to this thread, all 4 of the Shih-Tzu’s I’ve personally known well have all been absolute sweethearts. They all barked at noises outside, but they very rarely snapped at you (only the now-deceased one would, but only if you tried to disturb her nap under the bed-can’t blame her). All were easily toilet-trained. A mischievous streak yes, but definitely not any of the problems I’ve seen in this thread.
There is no one “shih tzu” personality. My neighbor has two of them, and they are both playful and friendly. My mother in law used to have one that would bite for no reason whatsoever. It depends on the dog.
I agree with what some others have said, it’s not necessarily a bad breed it’s that the tend to attract owners that spoil them and don’t train them properly. Every Shih Tzu puppy I have ever seen is a sweet, trusting ball of fluff. The adults I’ve seen vary in temperment but I wouldn’t call them a nasty breed.
I would not say the same for Min Pins.
I have a hard time reconciling the idea that a dog is an absolute sweetheart and the idea that it would snap at you for disturbing its nap (or for any reason short of severe pain or threat, really). A sweetheart provided everything is exactly how they want it, I would buy–I see a lot of little dogs who are, quite frankly, petty tyrants who rule the house with an iron paw, but they’re benevolent tyrants as long as the subjects stay in line.
And that, I think, is the major reason you tend to get such hugely divergent opinions on breeds like shih tzus, min pins, dachshunds, and chihuahuas.
I get where you’re coming from, but imo, disturbing a sleeping animal is different than petting an awake animal. Even the best pet is still an animal, and it’s instinctive for them to jump ready to protect themselves when startled in their sleep.
Shih tsus - I’ve never owned one but I have owned Lhasa Apsos. In the past, there was some confusion between the two breeds in the US. Back in the 30’s, some women imported a bunch of Shih tsus and called them Lhasas. She went on to breed her Shih tsus to the few Lhasa Apsos around at the time. (Lhasos were exceptionally rare back then.) Because of this, most modern Lhasas in the US have some amount of those Shih Tsu-Lhasa crossbreds.
There are purists around today, but very few of them. It’s generally considered that the Shih Tsus improved the notoriously difficult Lhasa temperament. Lhasa Apsos back in Tibet were considered to be reincarnated monks (still are, for all I know.) As such, the Tibetans revered the little beasts and never tried to train them or treat them like dogs. To the extent that Lhasas are trainable today (not very) it’s considered mostly thanks to the influence of Shih Tsu’s more charming temperment.
I appreciate all the replies and after reading those, I’d say the bad behavior is definitely due to the “pack” mentality. I think I’m the only one that ever attempted to make this dog do anything.
I think everybody would agree that a dog should behave properly when being fed. (no jumping at the dish, jumping on you, etc)
Some people have told me “well gee you’re not giving the dog the treat until he sits and stays. That’s why he bites you.” (Yeah but why 4 hours later?)
Besides, good feeding behavior has got to be the most fundamental thing a dog can learn and it is not cruel.
I am not a fanatic who wants a 100% well-behaved canine. If anything, I’m probably one of the more lenient dog owners allowing them to jump on me or slam me into a wall. But they know not to do this to people who just dropped by.
This is the first time I have ever taken care of a dog that isn’t a work dog. (I imagine Shih Tzu’s are not used for sled-pulling, herding, leading the blind, sniffing out secret drug caches, locating missing people, etc.) That’s probably got something to do with it too.
I agree with this. My Aunt has a shih tzu (with the admittedly adorable name Mochi, like the Japanese rice cake)and he’s a cute little happy dog until the second he doesn’t get what he wants. Then he’s a yappy, mean little pain in the ass.
The thing is, though, he almost always gets what he wants. :rolleyes:
This has been my experience. The tiny fluffy dogs can be a joy to have around, if they’ve been properly trained and socialized, and are treated as dogs, not as gods. They can be wonderfully loving companions. However, they do need to know that they aren’t the pack leaders, and they need to obey their humans. They shouldn’t be spoiled, because that will make for unhappiness all around.
I can say that I remember reading an article, though I do not recall where, on dog bites. Uniformly, the worst bites overall came from the dogs with the round mouths, rather than long snouts. Much more likely to be infected than any other sort of bite. This memory is from the late 80s or early 90s when I was thinking of being a vet, so my chances of finding the article are exceedingly slim.
Mine was very loving and friendly to a point, but he was incredibly protective of me and and hated males for reasons I never knew. He bit several people thinking he was protecting me.
THAT would explain why I ended up in the hospital. As I said, I’ve had dozens of “play bites” from German Shepherds and Huskies (some have been a foot long :eek: ) but they never became infected.
I’ve heard of some dogs not liking certain sexes maybe that was it, or it was having a bad hair day.
Either way you should of bit the dog back, that’ll learn em.
I’m soon to be a Boston Terrier owner, yeah for me.
Your toy breeds also have a tendency to develop tartar buildup and dental disease much faster than bigger breeds, which means a much higher bacterial population on the teeth and in the saliva and a higher risk of infection.
) and have owned many.