Despite my protests my wife bought a puppy yesterday, which turned out to be a shih tsu puppy. Since I know, I'm the one supposed to take care of proper education and pay the bills, I've google'd them and found out that they grow a very long and warm coat and are likely to catch a number of diseases.

I just can't but imagine the climate of Thailand will be devastating to that kind of dogs.

However, that ugly looking - and most likely burdensome - creature has won my heart and we're thinking of buying one of her sisters so we'll have a crowd. I sort of like the idea that two of them will be happier than one with only humans as company, but do I thereby have to deal with two permanently sick dogs?

I've got a 3 year old Shitzu who's quite healthy, make sure injections are up to date and watch for distemper and stomach problems which can kill though.

I too have a Shitzu, she is outside dog so we have to keep her hair cut fairly short or it gets full of burrs etc when she goes out for her walks. Gentle, smart, loving dog, beautiful long coat if they are inside dog.

My dog is a half shih-tzu half Thai dog. Her mother is still alive (and my dog is over two now) and doing well, apparently (not my dog) as is my dog. My dog came out with the smallness of a shih-tzu, the little buggy eyes and a Thai dog appearance. Still has small dog attitude tho

I don't know where you are based, but each time I go past a dog groomers, the chances are high that the dog being done is a Shih tsu. I think as long as you keep their hair cut (please don't put a ribbon in their hair though, it looks foolish) they should be fine.

Thanks for the assurances. There are about a million puppies for sale in Bangkok - so there must also be some adults. If they can survive in Bangkok, they can survive here in Chiang Mai.

Besides, there's an easy solution in case they should appear to be suffering due to their coat.

Just seen this shih tsu dog , sitting on a market stall with its owner , the owner said she has had him for 3 yeras now.... so it looks like they can cope with climate of Thailand , on this market they were selling shih tsu puppy's for 2,800 Baht each....

TL

they were never delicate dogs just cause theyre small; they are meant to do well in all climates as are most tibetan/chinese dogs...they have double coats for dealing with harsh differences in climate, etc. dont spoil them and they do fine.

its the large dogs that always have problems; st. bernards, danes' etc...

google them to find out more

I think the heat is harder on the large dogs than the smaller dogs. Our neighbors dog died at only 8 years and it was a huge doberman mix.

Okay... By now I'm convinced that it is possible for shih tsu'es to live a non-suffering life in Thailand ... We've had a female puppy for about a week and she has been such a joy that we decided to get another one (male) from the same litter. They've now been together two days and all I can say: (after having raised five "solitary" puppies into reasonable behaving adults through my lifetime) - don't ever hesitate to get two puppies.... The only negative (from my personal experience) is that I only get 2/3 of my computerwork done, because the last third of the time, this former geek can't but sit looking at those two guys playing (or figfhting I should say) together. Shih tsu'es most certainly are fierce and mercyless fighters. Althought they seem to take each their share of the underdog role in a reasonable exchange, we wimpy superoverdogs can't but interfere once in a while because of the wining sounds from the - at that time - still fiercely attacked looser ... However, if we save the "looser" by taking him/her onto our lap, he/she surely enjoys the soothing, but it seldom takes more than one minute before he/she struggles to get down and continue the fight... Besides, after the play is over - they sleep together looking as if they were only one puppie... Most certainly, not even the most sofisticated puppie-toy can ever replace a brother or sister ... I know, because our first one never spend more than a few minutes at a time on those toys and chewing things, we bought before she sought out a different item - her brother obviously is worth at least an hour of extensive exersize before it's time to lie down flat and sleep for two hours.