dog breeds by size

speaker 1: animal lovers are drawn to thebig, bold eyes of the shih tzu breed, but those beautiful eyes do come with their ownset of problems. we actually call that condition "ax ophthalmos", which means the eyes areprotruding and they're actually more prone to what we call "exposure keratitis". simply,the pollens, the doss will irritate the cornea of those dogs' eyes and even create a blackpigment, which colors the globe of they eye like a shade and eventually can lead to blindness.so it's important to be aware that this breed can develop that problem.speaker 2: they're a good blend of playful and mellow. we like the fact that they cankind of adapt to how the family schedule is. my husband liked the fact that he didn't shedand he was hypo-allergenic and so, right off

the bat, we knew that that was the breed forus. speaker 3: the other thing about a shih tzuis that they are what we call brachycephalic dogs, meaning that they have a squishy faceand so dogs with squishy faces can sometimes have a more difficult time with breathing.so, from a training perspective, it's really important that we take our time and we makesure we train them in a cool climate so they don't overheat. they don't need a tremendousamount of exercise. they need a little bit more grooming than some of the other dogs.shih tzus are bred for companion ability, meaning they were bred to be in your lap.so, because of that, they are a wonderful choice for any family member.speaker 4: my name is kate mcilvain. i'm the

director of program operations for sit stayread. asher is an eight-year-old shih tzu who's been volunteering with sit stay readfor about a year with her mom, debbie. asher is a great volunteer for sit stay read. asheris obedient and well-behaved, which is a really good thing for our programs because volunteeringwith kids, with a lot of kids, in schools and community centers can be a hectic experience,so it's great that asher is so calm and easy-going. asher just loves to be pet by our kids andsnuggled with our kids and getting treats from our kids. she's an exemplary sit stayread dog. speaker 5: shih tzus actually originated intibet, but were developed in china and they were considered royal dogs. in fact, royaltykept these dogs and they sat for hours and

hours and hours in the lap of royalty.