Shih Tzu Grooming – Naturally
Have you ever wondered how Shih Tzu grooming happens in the wild? If so read on, for Shih Tzu grooming naturally is our topic for the day.
The Shih Tzu coat is long, fine and will never stop growing. His coat is silky and needs combing every day or clipping regularly.
Left untended the Shih Tzu coat would be a terrible mess and the dog would be unhappy and unhealthy. So how on earth does the Shih Tzu keep himself tidy when we don’t do it for him?
The short answer to this is, he doesn’t. The Shih Tzu cannot actually groom himself very much at all. His soft coat barely sheds and will easily knot up if allowed. The reason for this is breeding.
Breeding and Grooming
Shih Tzu dogs, or their close ancestors, would have been short haired or shedding at the very least. This is because via the process of evolution the dog’s body will only have saved the things that benefited him and for survival in the wild long silky hair is of no use at all.
The Shih Tzu coat is created as a part of artificial selection. This is the term that describes breeding in animals when dictated by the hand of man. Within natural selection the dog chooses his own breeding partner and this leads to strong and robust genes becoming prevalent in the breed.
Alongside strength and resilience prevailing for the dog during natural selection the body and behavior also adapts to the environment and loses anything that does not serve the dog. Over a few generations something can change completely without human intervention.
Shih Tzu Grooming – What Now?
Now the little dog’s coat is so established that if for some reason the dog becomes feral and we stop Shih Tzu grooming altogether he will be in a mess. As the coat grows it will knot up, cover his eyes, anus and genitals and eventually we would not be able to tell one end of the Shih Tzu from the other.
Which is exactly why we need to keep the coat of the Shih Tzu well managed. The options that we have for Shih Tzu grooming include:
- Allowing the coat to grow long and combing it daily. Inclusive of trimming around the eyes and hygiene areas, or tying the facial hair back to allow the Shih Tzu to see and prevent debris landing on the eyes.
- Taking the dog to a professional grooming salon and allowing him to be clipped and styled into an easily manage length to prevent the need for daily grooming.
- Styling your Shih Tzu at home with scissors or clippers. There are plenty of tips around the site to help if this is the route that you’re interested in taking. Even quite complex Shih Tzu grooming is easy with the right advice and some practice.
As you can see Shih Tzu do need some grooming of some type or another in order to stay healthy and happy. It’s important that we care for this little dog properly because by giving him the long and wonderful coat that he has we have also provided him with Shih Tzu grooming requirements that cannot be overlooked.
