Several theories exist as to how the Shih Tzu was created. It has been reported that around the year 1650 the Dalai Lama visited China and brought along three holy dogs from Tibet. The Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama was believed to be a reincarnation of Buddha. Tibetan monks were devoted to breeding holy dogs to resemble their perception of lions. Based upon this theory, it is believed the three holy dogs were interbred with Pekingese to create shorter muzzles, broader heads, smaller dogs in general and is quite possibly the foundation of todays Shih Tzu breed.

Some people believe the Shih Tzu was created by crossing Lhasa Apsos with Pekingese. Another theory is that the Tibetan Spaniel was bred with the Pekingese to create predecessors of the Shih Tzu.

Others believe the Shih Tzu developed centuries ago in Tibet and reached China originally as a purebred. The answer to just how the Shih Tzu were created still eludes us today. Its origin is steeped in mysteries and legends. The Shih Tzu is generally as the result of interbreeding original Tibetan holy dogs and various lion dogs in China. It is also generally accepted that the oldest and smallest of the holy Dogs are the ancestors of todays Shih Tzu.

Through time the Shih Tzu has had many nicknames:

1. Lion Dog
2. Holy Dog
3. Fu Dog
4. Chrysanthemum-faced dog
5. Sleeve Dog
6. Under The Table Dog
7. Shih Tzu Kou
8. Lhasa Lion Dog
9. Lhasa Terrier
10. Tibetan Poodle
11. Shock Dog
12. Imperial Shih Tzu
13. Teacup Shih Tzu
14. Imperia/Teacup Shih Tzu
15. Standard Shih Tzu

After World War II, there were very few Shih Tzus in Europe. A few of the larger specimens reached the U.K. from China. Of these few larger size Shih Tzu, many had medical problems or died at an early age. The problems could have been caused by poor living conditions, insufficient food or food of low quality.

Breeders began breeding as many of the remaining Shih Tzu as possible. They did not remove a Shih Tzu from the breeding program just because it wasnt a perfect specimen of the breed, and at that time, who really knew what was a perfect specimen of the Shih Tzu anyway. The result of these breedings resulted in Shih Tzu much larger than was ever seen in the Chinese Imperial Palace during the days of the Empress Dowager. Eunuchs tried desparately to keep the very exquisite, small treasures of the Imperial Palace from reaching anyone outside the Palace. There were even instances where some Eunuchs fed the Shih Tzu glass just before releasing them to others outside the palace and then committed suicide themselves.

Despite all their efforts, however, Shih Tzu managed to survive. We are blessed today with these exquisite creatures, and regardless of what their nicknames have been or is now, the fact that we have Shih Tzu at all is quite a miracle.