SHIH TZU THEN AND NOW—AMERICA
by Victor Joris
T o the best of my knowledge and from extensive research all Shih Tzu in the U.S. trace their an- cestry to imports from either the United Kingdom, Germany, Austra- lia, Canada, the Netherlands or one of the Scandinavian countries. The original Shih Tzu imported into England by Lady Brownrigg, into Ire- land by Miss E. M. Hutchins and into Norway by Mme. Henrik Kauffman, although carefully chosen by each of these ladies, were not identical in size, structure, weight or type. In efforts to establish a new breed with a very limited gene pool the breeding policy is governed by the existing conditions and the available stock. The breeding of close relatives was unavoidable and even desirable in some instances in order to establish a uniform type. The entire gene pool for all existing Shih Tzu is derived from a combination of 14 dogs and bitches. One of these 14 was the Pekingese dog, Philadelphus Suti-T’sun of Elfann. One bitch Ishuh Tzu, whose dam, Hamilton Maru, was registered in the United States as a Lhasa and had won at Westminster, was imported into the U.K. in 1948 and declared suitable for registration as a Shih Tzu by Lady Brownrigg. One interesting note concerning this line in the Lhasa Apso Best in Show winner at Crufts in 1984 and the Best of Breed Shih Tzu winner at the same show descended from that line.
Each had illustrious descendants in the U.K. and the U.S. Most of the imports, both English and Scandi- navian, had come from China with “pedigree unknown,” or only one generation known. A great deal had to be learned about their descendants through the offspring of the early gen- erations. Before the death of the Dow- ager Empress in 1908 the Shih Tzu was very difficult to obtain and so far as we know after the death of the old Dowager Empress the Shih Tzu be- came extinct in China with only a few able to reach the Western world. At the time of her death there were three distinct toy dogs being bred in the Im- perial Palace, the Pug, Pekingese and Shih Tzu, all short nosed breeds with not much difference between them except coat. No one knows exactly what ingredients the palace eunuchs stirred together in their experiments with the palace dogs to create the Shih Tzu. It is interesting to note that prior to 1952 eight Shih Tzu from the UK were imported into the US and all were re-registered and bred as Lha- sa Apso as well as some of the Shih Tzu brought back by members of the armed forces which were also bred. We know that all breeds of dogs were created by interbreeding for a desired trait. We can only suppose what breeds were used in the creation of the Shih Tzu. It has long been my
belief that the Shih Tzu for the most part was a combination of the Tibetan Spaniel and the Pekingese rather than the Lhasa Apso and have seen this in litters which would indicate that the Tibbie breeds true while I think the Shih Tzu does not. That does not dis- count the introduction of Lhasa genes as we know they are also there. The differences between the Lhasa head and the Shih Tzu head are consider- able. The Shih Tzu head more closely resembles that of the Tibetan Spaniel. We can breed away from certain genes but once introduced they are carried from generation to generation in the genotype and may never resur- face again but could in future litters when least expected. Even with the utmost care when selecting a superior dog and bitch for breeding and with full knowledge of their ancestors, there is always the chance that the litter will not be up to specifications and could produce throwbacks to an earlier ancestor. As stated before very early in the de- velopment of the breed a great many Shih Tzu were imported into the U.S. and the two types were interbred whereas only one or two Shih Tzu were exported to England early on from Scandinavia. That established a more stable type for the English dogs as there was very little interbreeding between the two lines. The English lines had been introduced into the
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