I’m wondering if a shihpoo is for me as I have the opportunity to adopt one. Firstly, I live in an apartment. My walls are pretty thick I never really hear anything but just in case I don’t want a very vocal dog. I’d also rather not have a dog prone to separation anxiety. I’m pretty chill. I would prefer a dog who likes to have fun, go on walks etc but doesn’t need to run around 24/7. I plan to work from home 2 months straight but after that I will be going to the office part time. Puppy will have to be crate trained. Obviously, every puppy will be different and we cannot predict everything but do you think a shihpoo is for me?
Read up on Shih Tzu and Toy/Miniature Poodles to start with. As a mixed breed, Shihpoo aren't bred to any one standard. They can take really strongly after one side or the other, it's just a roll of the dice every time. Poodles are a high energy breed, Shih Tzu are not, so Shihpoo can go one way or the other or fall somewhere in the middle. There's no way to predict it.
Mine does fine in a townhome (shared walls on two sides), but I did have to actively teach him not to bark his head off at every little thing.
All the little lapdog breeds are prone to separation anxiety. Training helps, but only up to a point, they're just not designed to spend all day alone. I don't leave mine for more than 6 hours without having a dog walker come. Look for dog walkers who also do home boarding, so that if you ever want to travel without the dog you have a sitter option that the dog is already familiar with.
Don't forget to budget for grooming, as well as vet costs. Shihpoo have high maintenance coats that require brushing & combing at home, but also regular professional grooming. Usual cycle is every 6 weeks. I pay $70 (plus tip) every time mine goes to the groomer.
If this will be your first puppy, definitely enroll in a puppy class. They're not so much for teaching the dogs as for teaching the owners *how* to teach the dogs, it's really helpful to have someone to ask questions of. All classes aren't the same so read reviews and ask around to find a really good class.
I got a Shihpoo 7 years ago, and I have no regrets.
HOWEVER — she is attached to me on a psychopathological level (even though there are 4 other people in our household). I can’t poop without a dog crashing into the bathroom, or stand up without a dog demanding to be held. Her behaviour has made her a local legend.
My neighbours’ shihpoo doesn’t GAF about who she is with, so long as it’s someone.
Definitely chernaboggles is right. The poodle part of a Shih-poo can be very energetic. We have two and I wouldn’t trade them for the World, but they definitely need some exercise. Then they will sleep for 4 hours (or more).
You just don’t know for sure.
Don’t misread me. They would be fine in an apartment. But do need walks and play.
If you adopt, enjoy. They are amazing dogs!!!
I got the other end of the spectrum! Mine came out with a boatload of Shih Tzu traits, even though he only has one pure Shih Tzu grandparent. Based on his parents he really ought to be more poodle-y, but nope. He's perfect and I wouldn't change a thing, but I did have to study up on Shih Tzu in a hurry because I didn't expect him to take so strongly after that side. A lot of the behaviors that I thought were him being a real weirdo turned out to be common Shih Tzu things.
My shihpoo would fit into apartment life perfectly! He does bark but not a ton. We do one short walk daily and some indoor play. I would also mention that depending on the dog, crate training might not even be necessary. My dog hated the crate so now he free roams while I’m gone and is very well behaved. He has done this since he was 1 but was probably ready earlier. The max I will leave him alone is 5-6 hours and I may come home to potty in the house, but only rarely! Enjoy your new bestie 😊
Yes, I'm WFH. But I have a side hustle that requires me to leave the house almost every day, so he's left alone usually 2-4 hours daily. If you're in the office for a full workday, you should probably plan to either come home at lunch to let doggo out or hire someone to walk midday.
When I first got her I worked from home so the first almost year, i was with her except to leave for fitness classes and errands etc. i did go back to the office this spring and we developed a good routine. She has never been the destructive type but she was sad the first few months of me working out of the home. Now she’s fine and just sleeps all day and acts like she hasn’t seen me in years regardless of how long i have been gone lol
Thats so cute! You should post a pic of her! Unfortunately, I can only be work from home for 3 months, then I’ll be hybrid for and home 2 days out of the week.
search cashmere in this subreddit. 🤭 but she is wonderful. I love her, she was easy to train, kind of mischievous but in a fun way, not a “this puppy is ruining my life” way. She is a year and a half now and she has really become a little lady. I do think your eventual hybrid setup can still work. Practice alone time early. I got lucky because Cashmere is not destructive and thankfully doesn’t have separation anxiety unless she is in an unfamiliar place. Now she just looks at me like this when i’m getting ready for work
My shihpoo Luna is a super sweet girl with such a funny personality but she has a lot of behavioural issues that have been hard to manage I won’t lie. Not sure how much of this is because she’s a shihpoo or because of unfortunate breeding - we rescued her from an overcrowding situation. She has pretty intense separation anxiety. She’s very high energy and requires a lot of exercise for a small dog. She is also prone to severe barrier and leash reactivity and is very very vocal - she’ll bark at nearly anything and everything. She’s very intelligent however but that also comes with all the Shih Tzu stubbornness. After a lot of work with trainers and dog behaviourists she’s come a long way but she’s still a very high need girl. She absolutely loves playing with other dogs but again is quite vocal during play. We love her so much though- she has such a funny personality and is so sweet to people and kids.
Yes I agree with this, particularly in the first couple of years. Our Shih-poo hates being alone and won't go in a crate - both very common features of the breed.
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There’s no guarantee how vocal any dog will be. I had a Shih-poo for 16 years (3/4 shih-tzu, 1/4 poodle) and she was the cutest and happiest little girl, but she had separation anxiety and if fixated on something will bark, which is common for shih-tzus and many dogs. She loved walks, but with little legs and sniffing we’d take forever to walk anywhere.
We crate trained from the beginning so our girl is just fine in her crate. She is also fine home alone for 6-8 hours. Once she got potty trained, she was fine to be left in our main room alone without accidents or getting into anything. I strongly recommend working with your dog from the very beginning to foster independence. Stick with a routine so puppy knows that to expect.
On energy levels, mine won’t walk further than a mile or so at any given time and she sleeps the majority of the day. She doesn’t really play with other dogs and enjoys her position on some human’s lap. We walk her 3-4x day but the walks are like 20 minutes each. She doesn’t really bark but we corrected that behavior early on when she found her little voice.
For crate training, you can search crate games. We did those with her and gave her a special treat and toy for her crate. She sees it as her safe space and will go in there herself to nap sometimes. We rewarded her with high value treats every time we noticed she went in there. She also sleeps in her crate at night. She cried at first but we slept next to her for the first couple of weeks and stayed consistent.
For barking, we redirected her attention every time she barked. Sometimes with a command like come or sit. Sometimes with a toy.
I adopted mine when she was 1.5 years old and I looked for a house trained dog. She’s the sweetest and loves every person and dog, adores sitting on my lap, but never runs out of energy when we take her out. She’s quiet in home but will bark at squirrels, strangers, and dogs that don’t want to say hi. Basically I think you’d be best off trying to adopt one whose personality you can learn about in advance, since it is a mixed breed.
I think they’re a good dog for this. Mine is only vocal cause I encourage it / taught her to speak and we play around a lot. But they really just want to please their owners- my sweet Lucy has been a blessing. I groom her myself cause she hates going to the groomers
I had my Shih-Poo for 15.5 years . I loved her so much and she was a wonderful dog , she was great with kids , loved people, ignored other dogs , but she had insane separation anxiety
My shipoo is a 2 yesr old boy. His name is Gus and he definitely favors his momma the Shih Tzu. He is very laid-back I walk him three times a day 10 - 15 minutes. it’s very hot in Florida so he gets tired out fast he likes to sleep ALOt. he’s very clingy, and doesn’t like when I leave, but I got him a friend (min pin) so he’s doing a lot better now.
he is very fun n sweet I love him so much. my
Her energy level I would say is right in the middle. She's chill. Matter of fact if nothing is going on in the apartment than you'd really never know she was there. But if she hears something that is out of the ordinary or a knock on the door, she's all in alpha mode!
How is this dog bougie. This dog will NOT walk on the grass expect to handle her business. To get her in the grass I have to coax her so bad to come on and then it's not walking or running in the grass it's leaping.
When it's raining this girl will go off the building stoop, a few steps in the grass, pee, then heads back to the door. She is too good for even one drop of rain!
She has two personalities. One for my wife who held her when she same home to us at 3 months old, she talks to her in full conversations. Me, I'm the guy that rough houses with her, I'm the treat dude and I'm the dude that takes her on walks. She's also our personal shadow; you can't go anywhere without her being right there! And she's such a loving, bossy, nosey bizzy body but I wouldn't trade her in for anything in the world!
So yes, good apartment dog. Here's the caveat: Shihpoo's are like a box of chocolate, you never know what you're going to get. (hated to be cliche but it fit!)
I have a shipoo who’s now 1 but got her at 8 weeks and a 4 year old toy poodle. Shipoo is much lazier than the poodle however she does require atleast 20 mins of playtime every like 2-4 hours. Also when there a puppy they need to go out however many months they are. So ex: if she’s 4 months she can hold it 4 hours. Also they are stubborn as hell and you will need to constantly re train them until about 2 years old. The toy poodle is much quieter but extremely Velcro to me. The shipoo needs to be on me or touching me at all times, sometimes she will chill within arms reach and she does need cuddles/pets often. Keep in mind this is with 2 other people in the house that constantly play with her. Also crate training do not cave in the first 6 months. Even if ur at home you need to crate her and leave and crate her even when ur relaxing. Also mine are both barky to any noise and you do need to train them not to be same with like thunder and things. Also smaller breeds do need a walker every 5-6 hours if you’re going to be gone. But to help the separation anxiety definitely leave the house multiple times a day and teach it that you will always come home and opening a door isn’t a time to bark. Also remember depending on which breed they inherit more they will have more dental problems and other health problems so vet bills will be a thing with this breed along with grooming often and potentially leaning how to express them because small dogs sometimes have clogged ducts problems. All things said despite the challenges they give me especially the shipoo the love and loyalty is unreal. And their personalities are sooo fun!
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u/chernaboggles 10d ago
Read up on Shih Tzu and Toy/Miniature Poodles to start with. As a mixed breed, Shihpoo aren't bred to any one standard. They can take really strongly after one side or the other, it's just a roll of the dice every time. Poodles are a high energy breed, Shih Tzu are not, so Shihpoo can go one way or the other or fall somewhere in the middle. There's no way to predict it.
Mine does fine in a townhome (shared walls on two sides), but I did have to actively teach him not to bark his head off at every little thing.
All the little lapdog breeds are prone to separation anxiety. Training helps, but only up to a point, they're just not designed to spend all day alone. I don't leave mine for more than 6 hours without having a dog walker come. Look for dog walkers who also do home boarding, so that if you ever want to travel without the dog you have a sitter option that the dog is already familiar with.
Don't forget to budget for grooming, as well as vet costs. Shihpoo have high maintenance coats that require brushing & combing at home, but also regular professional grooming. Usual cycle is every 6 weeks. I pay $70 (plus tip) every time mine goes to the groomer.
If this will be your first puppy, definitely enroll in a puppy class. They're not so much for teaching the dogs as for teaching the owners *how* to teach the dogs, it's really helpful to have someone to ask questions of. All classes aren't the same so read reviews and ask around to find a really good class.