KENAI
Shih Tzu

The breeds · companion

AKC Toy · UKC Companion · FCI standard 208

Shih Tzu.

AKC standard: the sole purpose of the Shih Tzu is that of a companion and house pet; a highly valued, prized companion and palace pet of noble Chinese ancestry. UKC: sole purpose is companion and house pet; given as gifts to the Chinese Court. FCI 208: utilization Companion Dog, without working trial; roots in Tibet but developed in China, where dogs like these lived in the imperial palaces. RKC: originated in China with an ancestry of Tibetan breeds, known early as the Lhasa Lion dog. Wikipedia: toy or pet dog; favourites of the Chinese royals in the Ming Dynasty..

Breed sets the odds. The parents set the dog. Every number here shows its source, its spread and how sure we are. Nothing on this page is a prediction about one dog.

12.8YRMedian lifespan · sources differ12.6 to 12.9, measured on real dogs. A second study puts life expectancy at birth at 11.1; both are shown below.
0INHeightall null. An ideal from the standard, not a range.
9–18LBWeight, all linesbreed 8.8 to 17.6 lb.
1HRSExercise, every dayRKC: up to 1 hour per day; suits a flat or apartment; town or country; small or medium garden.. The constraint most homes get wrong.

The body

What the breed is built like. Registry standards give an ideal, not a range.

Height at the shoulder

8 to 11 in

Breed clubAKC breed standard

Center left blank: AKC prints an ideal range. low/high are the AKC outer limits (8 to 11), which cover UKC, FCI and Wikipedia. Both-sex row; no source splits height by sex.

Weight

8.8 to 17.6 lb

Breed clubAKC breed standard

Center blank: every source prints an ideal range. low/high span all cited figures (Wikipedia 4 kg = 8.8 lb; FCI outer limit 8 kg = 17.6 lb). Both-sex row.

Coat

AKC: luxurious, double-coated, dense, long and flowing; slight wave permissible; faults sparse, single or curly coat; all colors and markings permissible. UKC the same. FCI 208: outer coat long, dense, not curly, moderate undercoat, slight wave; all colours except merle; white blaze and white tail tip highly desirable in parti-colours; 'chrysanthemum-like' face from hair growing upward on the bridge of the nose. RKC breed-standard colours include black and white, brindle, gold and white, solid gold, liver; blue, cream, lilac and white are non-breed-standard colours (NBS).

Breed clubAKC breed standard

Shedding

Shedding 1 of 5 (AKC breed page trait score)

Breed clubAKC

AKC breed page trait score, 1 to 5: a breed-club tendency, never a measurement.

Heat tolerance

1 of 5 · RKC Shih Tzu page carries a 'Health issues in flat-faced dogs' section: brachycephalic dogs may have excessive soft tissue in the nose and throat, narrow nostrils, and breathing difficulty (heavy panting or noisy breathing), plus skin fold, teeth and eye problems; 'not all flat-faced dogs will have the health issues described'. RKC added a breathing test (BOAS, KC Respiratory Function Grading scheme) in Aug 2026, to join the Health Standard from Jan 2027. Wikipedia: brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome (stenotic nares, elongated soft palate, tracheal hypoplasia); affected dogs struggle with exercise and are prone to heat stroke from ineffective evaporative cooling. UKC standard: muzzle must be an adequate length so as not to compromise breathing or vision. AKC standard: muzzle square, short, unwrinkled, ideally no longer than 1 in. FCI 208: muzzle about 2.5 cm. Coat: long, dense double coat (AKC, UKC, FCI).

DerivedThe Royal Kennel Club

Derived: heavy long double coat plus brachycephalic = 1, per the library scale. The heat-risk statements are RKC and Wikipedia (editorial); the RKC text describes brachycephalic dogs in general and is shown on this breed's page. No measured heat-tolerance study was read.

How long they live, and what they costSources differ

Two numbers, two measures. Median lifespan: in a large sample of this breed, the age by which half had died; read it as the typical lifespan (UK, 2024, 584,734 dogs). Life expectancy at birth: how many years a newborn of this breed is expected to live, worked from the death rates at every age in UK veterinary records, the same life-table method used for people (VetCompass, 2022). It runs lower because every early death pulls the average down and because it comes from clinics, not registries. KENAI leads with the median and shows the other beside it. Neither is averaged.

Median lifespan

12.8 years (12.6 to 12.9)

MeasuredMcMillan KM, 2024

McMillan et al. 2024 / Dogs Trust table. UK population; the median is across dogs that had died plus censored dogs per the paper's method. The AKC page 'Life Expectancy' band is a registry band and is not used here.

Life expectancy at birth

11.1 years (10.7 to 11.4)

MeasuredTeng K.T., 2022

Teng et al. 2022, VetCompass UK, Table 3 ('Shih-tzu'); life expectancy at birth from life tables, a different method from the Dogs Trust median (12.8 years), so the two figures differ and both stand. Wikipedia also cites a Japanese cemetery-data study giving 15 years, which the page itself flags as likely to miss early deaths; not read here and not used in low/high.

The dog at home

What the breed asks of a day. The first thing most homes get wrong.

Exercise need

RKC: up to 1 hour per day; suits a flat or apartment; town or country; small or medium garden.

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

RKC is a UK registry band, not a study; mapped by the library rule (up to 1 hour = 60).

Exercise need

AKC page energy level 3 of 5, mental stimulation needs 3 of 5, playfulness 3 of 5, adaptability 5 of 5, barking level 3 of 5, trainability 4 of 5 (AKC bands). RKC: up to 1 hour per day. Wikipedia: struggle with exercise when affected by brachycephalic airway obstruction syndrome.

Breed clubAKC

AKC bands are not mapped to minutes; RKC supplies the minutes figure. Exercise should be read against the heat and airway notes on the heat_tolerance row.

Energy

3 of 5

Breed clubAKC

AKC breed page trait score, 1 to 5: a breed-club tendency, never a measurement.

Grooming load

4 of 5 · RKC: grooming every day; long coat; does not shed. AKC page: coat grooming frequency 4 of 5, shedding 1 of 5 (AKC bands). AKC standard: luxurious, dense, long, flowing double coat; hair on top of the head is tied up; trimming of feet, bottom of coat and anus allowed for neatness, excessive trimming a fault. UKC: hair on top of the head customarily tied up; shown as natural as possible. Wikipedia: soft long double coat that tangles and mats easily if not brushed at least every 2 or 3 days; long hair in the ears raises the risk of ear infections.

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

RKC band mapped by the library rule (every day = 4).

The work

What it was built to do in the field, and what a test or trial asks of it.

Role

AKC standard: the sole purpose of the Shih Tzu is that of a companion and house pet; a highly valued, prized companion and palace pet of noble Chinese ancestry. UKC: sole purpose is companion and house pet; given as gifts to the Chinese Court. FCI 208: utilization Companion Dog, without working trial; roots in Tibet but developed in China, where dogs like these lived in the imperial palaces. RKC: originated in China with an ancestry of Tibetan breeds, known early as the Lhasa Lion dog. Wikipedia: toy or pet dog; favourites of the Chinese royals in the Ming Dynasty.

Breed clubAKC breed standard

Not a working dog. Origin differs by source: UKC says thought to have originated in Tibet; FCI says Tibet roots, developed in China; RKC and Wikipedia say China with Tibetan ancestry. All stand.

Field trial standard

FCI 208: Group 9, Section 5 Tibetan breeds, without working trial. No working test is named by AKC, UKC or RKC pages read.

Breed clubFCI-Standard N° 208

How common the problems are

Evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock; the numbers are still the best there are.

Hip dysplasia

21.7% · 1257 OFA hip evaluations, current all-data, accessed Oct 9 2026; 21.7% dysplastic (mild 17.9, moderate 3.3, severe 0.6; 75.7% normal). OFA rank 44 (ranks run from the highest dysplastic rate down).

MeasuredOrthopedic Foundation for Animals

OFA's own breed statistics. OFA-evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock (owners and breeders submit films, and poor results are less likely to be submitted), so this is not the rate across all dogs of the breed; the true population rate is not known. Ask any breeder for the sire and dam's own OFA or PennHIP results.

Elbow dysplasia

10.8% · 167 OFA elbow evaluations, current all-data, accessed Oct 9 2026; 10.8% abnormal (grade 1 8.4, grade 2 1.2, grade 3 1.2; 87.4% normal). OFA rank 46.

MeasuredOrthopedic Foundation for Animals

OFA's own breed statistics. OFA-evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock (owners and breeders submit films, and poor results are less likely to be submitted), so this is not the rate across all dogs of the breed; the true population rate is not known. Ask any breeder for the sire and dam's own OFA or PennHIP results.

Most common disorders

Wikipedia: mitral valve disease; brachycephalic airway obstruction syndrome; eye problems (epiphora, tear staining, cataracts, corneal scratches and ulcers, glaucoma; a Japanese case series found Shih Tzu 16% of glaucoma cases against 8.2% of the study population); ear infections from hair in the ear canal; a UK study found a 4.02 times greater risk of impaired hepatic perfusion. RKC: Good Practice test is the BVA/KC/ISDS Eye Scheme; Best Practice includes BOAS breathing testing; flat-faced dog risks listed as breathing, skin folds, crowded teeth and eye conditions.

EditorialWikipedia

Disorder list is Wikipedia (editorial; its citations were not read; one health sentence on poor breeding carries a citation-needed tag and is not repeated here). RKC lists tests and general flat-faced risks, not prevalence.

More

akc bands

AKC breed page trait scores (1-5): Energy Level 3; Mental Stimulation Needs 3; Trainability Level 4; Barking Level 3; Watchdog/Protective Nature 3; Good With Young Children 5; Openness To Strangers 3; Good With Other Dogs 5; Shedding Level 1; Coat Grooming Frequency 4; Drooling Level 1; Affectionate With Family 5; Playfulness Level 3; Adaptability Level 5.

Breed clubAKC

Fourteen AKC bands in one row; the selector reads each by name. Breed-club ratings: a tendency, never a measurement.

What to ask a breeder for

The health clearances the breed’s own club and registry name. Reference only: what to ask for, never a statement about any dog’s health.

How to read this page

Every value carries a label. Measured means peer-reviewed data on many dogs. Studied means peer-reviewed, smaller or indirect. Breed club means a club or registry states it. Editorial means expert opinion with no measurement behind it. Where two good sources disagree, both are shown and neither is averaged.

Published when the entry rests on the best information available from no fewer than three independent sources, checked by a second pass that did not write it. 8 sources on this page. Found something wrong? Tell us and the correction is logged with its date.

Also called
Chrysanthemum Dog, Lion Dog

Every breed, read the same way.

The breed index grows as entries clear the standard. Gun dogs first.

All published breeds

Your shih tzu, on the record.

Log the days, the miles and the birds, and the KENAI app keeps the dog’s story beside the breed’s. Free to start.

Get the app