How to Take Care of Your New Shih-Tzu Puppy: The Essentials

A new puppy is a wonderful addition to your family. They bring so much joy and happiness, and they are good for you! Pets help to lower our blood pressure, through touch, activity and unconditional love. A Shih-Tzu puppy is one of the cutest, hardiest of the small breeds, and they are easy to take care of, as long as you know what to expect ahead of time.

Shih-Tzu's need lots of love and attention to truly thrive. If you work all day, and leave your Shih-Tzu alone for long periods of time, they may become depressed. If there can't be someone at home with your dog, a big stuffed animal can keep it company, just get one without eyes or plastic parts on them, for Shih-Tzu's love to chew, and they could choke. Remember, a Shih-Tzu puppy is just like a baby, they don't know any better until their brain starts to age and your training kicks in along the way. Shih-Tzu's are fast at learning commands, just by a resonating firmness in your voice for "no", or "stop that". Shih-Tzu's respond to the "EE" sound, so if you name them something with e in their name, they will respond faster and listen more when responding to a command where you incorporate their name.

Make sure you have plenty of rawhide bones around, for during the teething stage, they tend to chew at wooden furniture. You can easily train them to stop doing this by introducing them to the bone each time they start to go after the furniture, reprimanding them with your voice firmly. Shih-Tzu's are smart, they learn fast. Puppy pads are the best way to train your new puppy from not urinating all over the house and on the rugs, where permanent stench can ruin your sense of well being. Dogs are drawn to the puppy pads, and you can train them to use them by putting them in the middle of the pad before they begin to urinate. You will know this because Shih-Tzu's squat down; they don't lift their leg up often like the big dogs, though when urinating outside they might.