Shih Tzu can be a Quiet Small Breed Dog

by Carol
(Canada)

Polly, a quiet Shih Tzu puppy

I have a 4-month-old Shih Tzu, and her name is Polly. She's black and white.

She's very stubborn and very intelligent at the same time. We love her to bits. If we go outside, she likes to bark. She's not too bad with barking. Sometimes will use her voice when she plays with our toy poodle.

Other than that, she doesn't bark when someone comes or leaves our house. So far, we are working thru a few problems with her with constant care and attention.

All in all, we think she is beautiful, unique and lots of fun. She will fight us with some of our training but gives in eventually because we don't take no for an answer. (ha)

Consistency is the name of the game. She has one eye that has pure white hair around it, and the other is black. Her markings are absolutely beautiful.

We have had many other types of dogs in our lifetime, but she is right up there with being #1. We are so blessed to have her in our lives now.
My hubby and I are seniors and home with her constantly. She has made our lives complete.

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Hi, Janice here from Small Dog Place
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Thank you for taking the time to introduce us to your Shih Tzu puppy. She sounds and looks so cute! It's nice to hear that you are on the right track with training and Consistency is always the key.

OK, back to Barking and Quiet Small Breed Dogs.

You've convinced me! I'm adding the Shih Tzu Breed to our list of Quiet Small Breed Dogs.

I've been told by many Shih Tzu owners that the only time they bark is when someone comes to the door. Others complain that the breed is more vocal than they would like.

The difference in opinions emphasizes the fact that there are no two dogs that are exactly alike just like all people are different.

Sometimes Shih Tzu bark because they see or hear something novel in their environment. By the time a person goes to investigate, the "thing" may be gone.

Typically if they can look out a window, they are more likely to bark at small animals and people passing by.

If their field of vision is restricted, they will most likely bark at noises. It seems reasonable to assume that they are going to bark when someone comes to the door.

Historically, they were breed to act as sentries for temples and palaces in antiquity. They may not have made good guard dogs, but they could sound the alarm so that the temple guard dogs could spring into action.

The one nice thing about barking is that there are ways to train a dog to quiet down.

Help for Yappy Dogs


It is not something that you can achieve overnight, but it is possible.

Thanks for posting.

Everyone, feel free to post your dog's story and tell us why or why not we should include his/her breed on our Quiet Small Breed Dogs Page.

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