Shih-Tzu standard

FCI Shih-Tzu Breed Standard

ORIGIN : Tibet.

PATRONAGE : Great Britain.

DATE OF PUBLICATION OF THE ORIGINAL VALID STANDARD : 24.06.1987.

UTILIZATION : Companion dog.

CLASSIFICATION F.C.I. : Group 9 Companion and Toy Dogs.
Section 5 Tibetan breeds.
Without working trial.

GENERAL APPEARANCE : Sturdy, abundantly coated dog with distinctly arrogant carriage and chrysanthemum-like face.

BEHAVIOUR / TEMPERAMENT : Intelligent, active and alert. Friendly and independant.

HEAD : Head broad, round, wide between the eyes. Shock-headed with hair falling well over eyes. Good beard and whiskers, hair growing upwards on the nose giving a distinctly chrysanthemum-like effect.

CRANIAL REGION :
Stop : Definite.

FACIAL REGION :
Nose : Black but dark liver in liver or liver marked dogs. Top of nose leather should be on a line with or slightly below lower eyerim. Downpointed nose highly undesirable. Wide open nostrils. Pinched nostrils highly undesirable.
Muzzle : Of ample width, square, short, not wrinkled, flat and hairy. Length about one inch (2,5 cm) from tip to stop. Bridge of the nose level or slightly tip tilted. Pigmentation of muzzle as unbroken as possible.
Lips : Level.
Jaws/Teeth : Wide, slightly undershot or level.
Eyes : Large, dark, round, placed well apart but not prominent. Warm expression. In liver or liver marked dogs, lighter eye colour permissible. No white of eye showing.
Ears : Large, with long leathers, carried drooping. Set slightly below crown of skull, so heavily coated they appear to blend into hair of neck.

NECK : Well proportioned, nicely arched. Sufficient length to carry head proudly.

BODY : Longer between withers and root of the tail than height at withers.
Back : Level.
Loin : Well coupled and sturdy.
Chest : Broad and deep.

TAIL : Heavily plumed carried gaily well over back. Set on high. Height approximately level with that of skull to give a balanced outline.

LIMBS

FOREQUARTERS : Legs short and muscular with ample bone, as straight as possible, consistent with broad chest being well let down.
Shoulders : Firm, well laid back.

HINDQUARTERS : Legs short and muscular with ample bone. Straight when viewed from the rear. Legs looking massive on account of wealth of hair.
Thighs : Well rounded and muscular.

FEET : Rounded, firm and well padded, appearing big on account of wealth of hair.

GAIT / MOVEMENT : Arrogant, smooth-flowing, front legs reaching well forward, strong rear action and showing full pad.

COAT

HAIR : Long, dense not curly, with good undercoat. Slight wave permitted. Strongly recommended that hair on head tied up.

COLOUR : All colours permissible, white blaze on forehead and white tip to tail highly desirable in parti-colours.

SIZE AND WEIGHT :
Height at the withers : Not more than 26.7 cm (10 1/2 ins), type and breed characteristics of the utmost importance and on no account to be sacrificed to size alone.
Weight : 4.5 to 8.1 kg (10-18 lbs). Ideal weight 4.5-7.3 kg (10-16 lbs).

FAULTS : Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree and its effect upon the health and welfare of the dog.

Any dog clearly showing physical or behavioural abnormalities shall be disqualified.

N.B. : Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.

Text from: www.fci.be

AKC Shih-Tzu breed Standard


General Appearance
The Shih Tzu is a sturdy, lively, alert toy dog with long flowing double coat. Befitting his noble Chinese ancestry as a highly valued, prized companion and palace pet, the Shih Tzu is proud of bearing, has a distinctively arrogant carriage with head well up and tail curved over the back. Although there has always been considerable size variation, the Shih Tzu must be compact, solid, carrying good weight and substance. Even though a toy dog, the Shih Tzu must be subject to the same requirements of soundness and structure prescribed for all breeds, and any deviation from the ideal described in the standard should be penalized to the extent of the deviation. Structural faults common to all breeds are as undesirable in the Shih Tzu as in any other breed, regardless of whether or not such faults are specifically mentioned in the standard.

Size, Proportion, Substance
Size - Ideally, height at withers is 9 to 101/2 inches; but, not less than 8 inches nor more than 11 inches. Ideally, weight of mature dogs, 9 to 16 pounds.

Proportion - Length between withers and root of tail is slightly longer than height at withers. The Shih Tzu must never be so high stationed as to appear leggy, nor so low stationed as to appear dumpy or squatty.

Substance - Regardless of size, the Shih Tzu is always compact, solid and carries good weight and substance.

Head
Head - Round, broad, wide between eyes, its size in balance with the overall size of dog being neither too large nor too small.
Fault: Narrow head, close-set eyes.

Expression - Warm, sweet, wide-eyed, friendly and trusting. An overall well-balanced and pleasant expression supersedes the importance of individual parts. Care should be taken to look and examine well beyond the hair to determine if what is seen is the actual head and expression rather than an image created by grooming technique.

Eyes - Large, round, not prominent, placed well apart, looking straight ahead. Very dark. Lighter on liver pigmented dogs and blue pigmented dogs.
Fault: Small, close-set or light eyes; excessive eye white.

Ears - Large, set slightly below crown of skull; heavily coated.

Skull - Domed.

Stop - There is a definite stop.

Muzzle - Square, short, unwrinkled, with good cushioning, set no lower than bottom eye rim; never downturned. Ideally, no longer than 1 inch from tip of nose to stop, although length may vary slightly in relation to overall size of dog. Front of muzzle should be flat; lower lip and chin not protruding and definitely never receding.
Fault: Snipiness, lack of definite stop.

Nose - Nostrils are broad, wide, and open.

Pigmentation - Nose, lips, eye rims are black on all colors, except liver on liver pigmented dogs and blue on blue pigmented dogs.
Fault: Pink on nose, lips, or eye rims.

Bite - Undershot. Jaw is broad and wide. A missing tooth or slightly misaligned teeth should not be too severely penalized. Teeth and tongue should not show when mouth is closed.
Fault: Overshot bite.

Neck, Topline, Body
Of utmost importance is an overall well-balanced dog with no exaggerated features.

Neck - Well set-on flowing smoothly into shoulders; of sufficient length to permit natural high head carriage and in balance with height and length of dog.

Topline - Level.

Body - Short-coupled and sturdy with no waist or tuck-up. The Shih Tzu is slightly longer than tall.
Fault: Legginess.

Chest - Broad and deep with good spring-of-rib, however, not barrel-chested. Depth of ribcage should extend to just below elbow. Distance from elbow to withers is a little greater than from elbow to ground.

Croup - Flat.

Tail - Set on high, heavily plumed, carried in curve well over back. Too loose, too tight, too flat, or too low set a tail is undesirable and should be penalized to extent of deviation.

Forequarters
Shoulders - Well-angulated, well laid-back, well laid-in, fitting smoothly into body.

Legs - Straight, well-boned, muscular, set well-apart and under chest, with elbows set close to body.

Pasterns - Strong, perpendicular.

Dewclaws - May be removed.

Feet - Firm, well-padded, point straight ahead.

Hindquarters
Angulation of hindquarters should be in balance with forequarters.

Legs - Well-boned, muscular, and straight when viewed from rear with well-bent stifles, not close set but in line with forequarters.

Hocks - Well let down, perpendicular.
Fault: Hyperextension of hocks.

Dewclaws - May be removed. Feet-Firm, well-padded, point straight ahead.

Coat
Coat - Luxurious, double-coated, dense, long, and flowing. Slight wave permissible. Hair on top of head is tied up.
Fault: Sparse coat, single coat, curly coat.

Trimming - Feet, bottom of coat, and anus may be done for neatness and to facilitate movement.
Fault: Excessive trimming.

Color and Markings
All are permissible and to be considered equally. Click here to see examples.

Gait
The Shih Tzu moves straight and must be shown at its own natural speed, neither raced nor strung-up, to evaluate its smooth, flowing, effortless movement with good front reach and equally strong rear drive, level topline, naturally high head carriage, and tail carried in gentle curve over back.

Temperament
As the sole purpose of the Shih Tzu is that of a companion and house pet, it is essential that its temperament be outgoing, happy, affectionate, friendly and trusting towards all.


Approved May 9, 1989
Effective June 29, 1989

Text from :www.shihtzu.org

The sole purpose of my shih tzu is to bring love to the family.