Looking For Shih Tzu Type Dog For My Grandmother.

[Sera]

Hi everyone, I was wondering whether you could please help me.

I was keeping an eye out for a dog for my grandmother. She wants a Shih Tzu type dog, one with a "squished face".. I was showing her photos of dogs to find what the breed she was describing was and that's what we came up with

She would like a white or cream one, either sex, and I was looking for any age up to 3-4 yrs old but I found out my uncle was looking to buy her a dog and he wants it to be a puppy, we just spoke and he'll compromise up to 6-8 months. If I don't find a rescue he will go to a breeder which I desperately want to avoid. I was hoping whether anyone seeing a dog that fitted the 'criteria' could please alert me to it?

We are situated in SA but can adopt from any state.

My grandmother has owned a Maltese and a Chinchilla from puppy-hood/kitten-hood to their last breath and has always given them the utmost care and attention and adored them. The puppy will drive with her everywhere and be taken for walks three times a day by my grandfather as well as sit 'al fresco' beside them in cafes; will be an indoor dog of course and sleep on their bed: it will be safe and treasured each day until it's last.

Thank you for your time reading this.

[honeybun]

Check out the PAWS web site,they always have plenty of rescued shih tzu and similar breeds.

[mita]

Denise's PAWS in Sydney sure often has little dogs in the 'squishy' face style. I've been grateful to her & her foster-carers for rescuing some lovely natured Tibetan Spaniels (Tibbies) over the years. They'd fit the 'Shih Tzu' type. Info on the breed here:

http://www.tibbies.net/faq.html

As retired people ourselves, we adopted adult age tibbies... with known personalities and mellowed past the puppy stages. In our case, we got ours as retired showdogs from good registered breeders. Because the dogs had been so well socialised by their breeders, they immediately slipped into the lifestyle of going in the car, going out anywhere, being happy to meet strangers and becoming inside close companion dogs.

The foster-carers for good rescues, like PAWS & others, can fill you in on their little 'squishy face style' fosters who'd fit that same bill. Certainly, the little ex-PAWS doggies I know of, settled beautifully into new good homes.

So maybe you could search on the Pet Rescue site (Small Dogs) for those available in your state and also the other states (depending on policies re interstate adoption).

(Include ACT as I've seen lovely small breeds with the Canberra rescues and RSPCA over the years.)

http://www.petrescue.com.au/

Edited September 9, 2012 by mita

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

Have you checked out Petrescue for your state? There are new rescues in SA now and also vets there that rescue.

[Sera]

Check out the PAWS web site,they always have plenty of rescued shih tzu and similar breeds.

Thank you honeybun, I hadn't been to their site :)

[Mrs Rusty Bucket]

squashed face? Like a pug? Or maybe a Lhasa Apso?

squashed face often equals snoring though if the new owner is fairly deaf that might not matter.

I have a friend involved in this one - they may know of a dog that would suit.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/LittleLegsDogRescue

[Sera]

Denise's PAWS in Sydney sure often has little dogs in the 'squishy' face style. I've been grateful to her & her foster-carers for rescuing some lovely natured Tibetan Spaniels (Tibbies) over the years. They'd fit the 'Shih Tzu' type. Info on the breed here:

http://www.tibbies.net/faq.html

As retired people ourselves, we adopted adult age tibbies... with known personalities and mellowed past the puppy stages. In our case, we got ours as retired showdogs from good registered breeders. Because the dogs had been so well socialised by their breeders, they immediately slipped into the lifestyle of going in the car, going out anywhere, being happy to meet strangers and becoming inside close companion dogs.

The foster-carers for good rescues, like PAWS & others, can fill you in on their little 'squishy face style' fosters who'd fit that same bill. Certainly, the little ex-PAWS doggies I know of, settled beautifully into new good homes.

So maybe you could search on the Pet Rescue site (Small Dogs) for those available in your state and also the other states (depending on policies re interstate adoption).

(Include ACT as I've seen lovely small breeds with the Canberra rescues and RSPCA over the years.)

http://www.petrescue.com.au/

Thank you mita, sounds great :)

I have checked the Pet Rescue site several times with the "available for interstate adoption" option on, but as you can't search by breed it's literally hundreds (500-700 profiles usually) of listings to go through and at the moment I can only go online at my mother's place, so maybe once or twice a week, or on my phone as I'm having problems with my laptop. And I'd go nuts trying to sift through all the profiles on my mobile, it's bad enough on a computer! It's not just the time consuming factor, it's that I see dozens each time that are gorgeous, sound great and fit the "look" but not the age "requirement" and it really bothers me. Like you said, it made sense to me too to get a dog past the puppy stage that was over the destructive phase, was toilet trained, and had developed into him/herself so I could assess if it was the right energy for my grandparents.

I'm in my early thirties and my own dog, I adopted last January, was thought to be around 9 and after bringing him to the vet they even ventured he could be as high as 12 years old! I adore him, he is perfect for me, and he has all the quirks and behaviours some people believe are restricted to puppies and couldn't look any cuter :)

[Sera]

Have you checked out Petrescue for your state? There are new rescues in SA now and also vets there that rescue.

Thank you dogmad :)

Yes I am looking as often as I can through Pet Rescue. Most of my connection time is through my mobile at the moment til my laptop is fixed, and when I can get to a computer I scroll through the hundreds of listings on PR but finding a Shih Tzu that has the "squished face" (I'm guessing the ones that don't are perhaps not purebred?) and that is 8 months and under and then that isn't already on trial has eluded me so far. I have found another two rescues in SA since my original post and will keep checking here too.

It's just disheartening seeing potentials but having to pass them by because of age.

[Sera]

squashed face? Like a pug? Or maybe a Lhasa Apso?

squashed face often equals snoring though if the new owner is fairly deaf that might not matter.

I have a friend involved in this one - they may know of a dog that would suit.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/LittleLegsDogRescue

Thank you Mrs Rusty Bucket, I will send them a message :)

I am actually on their facebook page but for some reason I thought they were interstate! I have been in love with their Raffi since I first laid eyes on him and I loved the late little Henry too

I showed my grandmother some images of different dogs with "squashed" faces trying to find the one she was describing and it was the Shih Tzu breed she pointed out, but not all images. Some had more prominent snouts and I could only wonder if perhaps they were not purebred? But I didn't show her a Lhasa Apso and upon googling them the ones groomed with a shorter cut seem a perfect match, thank you!

While I find all dogs gorgeous, I myself am not a fan of the particular look and while the snoring would bother me more for it's reason that it's noise I doubt I'd be able to sleep! However I'm fairly confident my grandmother has already been rendered deaf by the cacophony blaring from my grandfather's side of the bed.. one night we were over, we heard him all the way from the lounge room and we even had the tv on :laugh:

[mita]

[my own dog, I adopted last January, was thought to be around 9 and after bringing him to the vet they even ventured he could be as high as 12 years old! I adore him, he is perfect for me, and he has all the quirks and behaviours some people believe are restricted to puppies and couldn't look any cuter :)

Sera, you've got a swag of us DOLers who think the same as you... the senior dogs are gems and bring enormous happiness to us.

[OutOfSightHound]

I love adult adoptions! I get ex show dogs for all the above mentioned reasons! They make excellents pets and have been extensively socialised along with some basic obedience. I also have the same gripe about pet rescue! I find the whole look through all the profiles annoying too! I think a lot of people would like to find a certain breed or X. I also thinks it's bad just to classify the dogs by size :-/ It tells you nothing about the activity levels of a dog. I think the people want you to look at all the dogs but essetially most people want a particular type of dog. eg good with cats, can be alone during the day, good with kids etc. You can't put those details into a petrescue search which essentially the type of questions a responsible person wants to ask. I also found the look-a-like Ap interesting and fun but disturbing. It isn't a life style analyser it just matchs a dog to your face. Although many people DO look like their dogs I think it has a lot to do with personality matching and not just looks.

[casowner]

Paws & Claws facebook

Contact Paws and Claws adoptions in SA they rehomed a 10 month old last week but may have others coming up,

[BJean]

Hi everyone, I was wondering whether you could please help me.

I was keeping an eye out for a dog for my grandmother. She wants a Shih Tzu type dog, one with a "squished face".. I was showing her photos of dogs to find what the breed she was describing was and that's what we came up with

She would like a white or cream one, either sex, and I was looking for any age up to 3-4 yrs old but I found out my uncle was looking to buy her a dog and he wants it to be a puppy, we just spoke and he'll compromise up to 6-8 months. If I don't find a rescue he will go to a breeder which I desperately want to avoid. I was hoping whether anyone seeing a dog that fitted the 'criteria' could please alert me to it?

We are situated in SA but can adopt from any state.

My grandmother has owned a Maltese and a Chinchilla from puppy-hood/kitten-hood to their last breath and has always given them the utmost care and attention and adored them. The puppy will drive with her everywhere and be taken for walks three times a day by my grandfather as well as sit 'al fresco' beside them in cafes; will be an indoor dog of course and sleep on their bed: it will be safe and treasured each day until it's last.

Thank you for your time reading this.

Why do you desperately want to avoid going to a breeder, when a good breeder can give your grandmother exactly what she wants. With a known background of lineage, health and temperament characteristics.