| Shih Tzu Club of Scotland 2007 | Date : 5th May 2007 |
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I was very pleased to judge the Shih Tzu Club of Scotland’s Championship show. Thank you to the Officers and Committee for inviting me.
Not having judged for a while I was anxious to see if the breed had altered much. It has in some ways. There is still a great gulf between the top 15% of very good Shih Tzu and the bottom 20% being quite poor. There are still problems but I would say that on the whole they are different problems than we experienced years ago. This has probably come about because of large numbers of imports available at stud which has mixed up bloodlines and diluted the type of Shih Tzu I was looking for. Genetic diversity is highly desirable but a lack of consistency of type is not. Fronts are narrower, so too the back ends and the balance has changed in that they are higher on the leg and shorter in body. I do feel that this will cause us problems in future as a large round head coming out of a square body invites whelping difficulties as already seen in Bulldogs and Pugs to name but a few.
Presentation is now generally excellent, but remember, a fit healthy, good type Shih Tzu is far more important than a huge coat if the Shih Tzu is to move forward in a healthy state. |
