“IF WE LOSE THE BROAD ROUND SHIH TZU HEAD IT WILL BE LOST FOREVER, NEVER TO BE REGAINED. It must be continually bred for.”
that the Shih Tzu would be shown in the Toy Group in the U.S. and shown in the Non-Sporting Group in Cana- da and the equivalent in the U.K., the Utility Group. With the differences in the imports many heated arguments took place between the breeders as to what the correct size and weight should be. Some stated that the larger and coarser dogs had lost their Oriental appearance, a major breed point at the time. What was more important in the correct “type” differed in each section of the country. Type is one of the most used and misused words when referring to dogs. The Hon. Mrs. Neville Lytton in her book “Toy Dogs and their Ancestors,” published in 1911, wrote when asked about type, “most people interpret it rather than define it.” I think this is still a very valid answer after nearly 100 years. According to Webster’s New Explorer Dictionary type is defined as “a class, kind or group set apart by common characteristics.” I am using a quote from the late Mr. Nigel Aubrey-Jones in an article writ- ten for Dog News . “One word the newcomer has to wres- tle with is to truly understand what it is to describe ‘type’. Yet they have no reason to be ashamed of this, as its intendedmeaning can also escape the established breeder and judge. It is a very vague termand not by anymeans alone when we refer to dogs. Yet this is a virtue in a dog or bitch that an ex- perienced breeder or judge can recog- nize instantly. It has been said quite often that the nearest to absolute per- fection of type in any breed lies at the recommended description in a breed Standard, not at its extremes.” During the early 1970’s the Shih Tzu in the American show ring were a
mixed bag so to speak, as the breed had not been stabilized to conform to the then standard. During that pe- riod one could see small, big, bigger, short legged, long legged, slab-sided, square but one consolation, thankful- ly, a rainbow of beautiful colors in the show-ring. It was later, in the 1980s, when every shade of gold and white with black tips became the “in” color combination and it was very nearly impossible to win with any other col- or. This was due to several studs being used on a great many bitches good and bad. It was during this latter period and into the 1980s that many of the newly approved judges had never seen solid blacks, silvers, black and white, black masked golds and brindles with many assuming that gold and white was the color of all Shih Tzu. This was when the “American Shih Tzu” began to emerge, a leggy, slab-sided, square dog with toomuch length of neck. The eyes were smaller due to the reduction in the size of head and the forehead became less prominent and flatter which I think was due to a throwback to the Lhasa. It appears the Shih Tzu head seems to be regressing to the normal structure of the dog. If we lose the broad round Shih Tzu head it will be lost forever, never to be regained. It must be continually bred for. Some of the imports had a great in- fluence on the American Shih Tzu while others had no direct influence at all. I know several dogs imported by the Rev. Easton and Mrs. Easton which arrived over an extended pe- riod. It was well known that Rev. Easton preferred a smaller Shih Tzu but imported several Shih Tzu from the U.K. They included, in addition to Si-Kiang’s Tashi from Ingrid Colwell, who was the sire of many champi- ons, Wei Honey Gold of Elfann from
Elfreda Evans, a ten pound solid gold bitch sired by Mister Wu x Elfann Gold Leaf of Tawnyridge; Jemima of Lhakang, a black and white grand- daughter of Wuffles and Mai-Ting from Mrs. Gay Widdrington; Ch. Katrina of Greenmoss; and Int. Ch. Tangra von Tschomo Lungma, in whelp to Int. Ch. Bjornholms Pif, from Erika Geusendam. One puppy from that breeding was to make his- tory for the Shih Tzu breed in the U.S. That puppy became Am/Can. Cham- pion Chumulari Ying Ying ROM. His influence has been tremendous and is still felt in the show-ring. Some of his accomplishments included win- ning Best in Show on the first day of AKC recognition. He sired 30 cham- pions, six all breed Best in Show dogs, each from a different dam; this was accomplished before shipping by air was in vogue. His name appears in an extended pedigree of countless champion Shih Tzu and would be impossible to list. His name appears seven times in the pedigree of the top producing American Shih Tzu of all time and in Am/Can Ch. Shente’s Brandy Alexander, winner of 58 BIS and 18 Specialties and Am/Can. Ch. Shente’s Christian Dior, winner of 94 BIS and eight Specialty awards. He was the sire of Ch. Dragonwyck The Great Gatsby, who became the top winning Shih Tzu in the US with 42 BIS. I doubt if there is any coun- try with Shih Tzu that in some of the dogs “Ying’s” name does not appear in an extended pedigree. The East- ons later imported from the Baroness Van Panthaeleon Int. Ch. Quang Te V.D. BlauweMammouth and Dhuti V. Tschomo Lungma fromMrs. Guesen- dam. An additional bitch exported to the U.S. was Int. Ch. Freya Shu V.D. Oranje Menage to theWest Coast.
38 • T op N otch T oys , A pril 2019
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