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Shih Tzu Did You Know?
- The legend of the Shih Tzu has come to us from documents, paintings, and
objets d'art dating from AD 624.
- During the Tang Dynasty, K'iu T'ai, King of Viqur, gave the Chinese
court a pair of dogs, said to have come from the Fu Lin (assumedly, the
Byzantine Empire). Mention of these dogs (Shih Tzus) was again made in AD
990-994 when people of the Ho Chou sent dogs as a tribute.
- Shih Tzu means lion, and in Buddhist belief, there is an association
between the lion and their Deity; thus, the dogs were bred in court.
- The Shih Tzu was the house pet for most of the Ming Dynasty.
- First classifed as Apsos, but after a ruling by the Kennel Club (England),
became a separate breed, culminating with the formation of the Shih Tzu
Kennel Club of England in 1935 and admittance to the AKC Stud Book in 1969.
- The Shih Tzu is often called "the chrysanthemum-faced dog" because
of the haphazard, round-face way their hair grows in the front.
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