not a shih tzu owner yet....but soon will be!!

Hello!!
Im new here and im new to shih tzus too, i do have other dogs so im not a complete novice to keeping them. I am putting a deposit down on a puppy next week and im soooo excited!!! We have the pick of the litter which im not sure if thats a good thing or a bad thing really because they all sound lovely so im going to struggle to choose just one!!! We have the choice of six- 2 are chocolate and white, 2 are brindle (not sure but i think they are with white too) and 2 are chocolate- and how wierd is this but there are one of each sex of each colour!!! If anyone has any of thee colours id love to see some pictures so we can see how they might look when grown.

Welcome to the forum. You will have great fun here, everyone is really friendly, and will give you loads of help. You lucky thing to have the pick of the litter, I would want to bring them all home, but that might be a bit expensive! I would follow the usual rules when choosing a puppy, don't go for the quiet one hiding in the corner, play with them for a while, see how they react to you etc, etc, etc. I just sit on the floor and let them come to me, and if they are playful and happy it just makes your job harder!

When I chose my Westie, he was one of six, and I chose him because he was playful and very nosey. The first thing he did as I was sat on the floor was try to tug my laces, which showed he was relaxed and not afraid. When we went to choose Simba, there was only a choice of two, the other pup was a bit smaller, but there was something about Simba that just kept pulling me back to him, and he was nice and friendly. He is classed as black, white and brindle, but he has lightened a lot as he has grown and is more a grey and white now.

I am sure others will be here later that will give you more info, hope you have fun choosing your pup, let us know how you get on.

Hi and welcome and another lucky person about to have a baby I would want to come away with all of them but the advice I have for you is let the puppy choose you! I wasn't going to have one of the puppies whenI went to see Josh's litter (wasn't too keen on the breeder) but out of politeness I picked the pups up and Josh immediately snuggled into me and started to kiss me and looked into my eyes with an expression that clearly said I am coming home with you!!
As for brindles they are fascinating in this breed as they change colour throughout their life often turning a shade of silver grey, sometimes the colour of steel and even ending up almost black!

Hi there,
How exciting for you to be getting a new puppy. I don't like dogs and have never had one before. But got Biscuit at 8 weeks and the whole family fell in love straight away. He is now 17 weeks and the best thing we have ever done . I believe he is a brindle. He has got lighter since we had him. I have found this site very helpful and friendly. Hope you do too.
Michaela