Hi everyone, I have a recently opened shih tzu info site and I need to get my "list of breeders" section up and running. If anyone is interested in swapping links and getting their link on my site please let me know.
The site is http://www.shihtzuplanet.com
Thank you

Did anyone else visit this??? I'm biting my lip btw ;-)

Why, what do you mean?

Hi Shihtzuplanet,
I think what was meant was that most reputable breeders here on OTL, would only discuss any form of outside communication or otherwise via the various Shih Tzu clubs based here in the UK You may find some breeders here willing to contribute, but IMHO, I think you will be very lucky to find any. I maybe wrong and I am pretty sure some of the breeder members will be along to clarify this for you soon.

Welcome to OTL btw, I hope you find your way around ok Enjoy

Oh... Thanks for clarifying. I had no idea this was a bad thing, I was just hoping to start a directory of breeders sorted by country on my site. Anyway feel free to delete this thread if it's going to cause trouble

No worries . good intentions were meant!!!! I maybe wrong about the info stuff , Adam the boss will clarify this I'm pretty sure.

Hope you enjoy the site, get lost just shout and one of us will throw you a rope lol!!!

Thanks Tam and Taffie :-)

Maybe you can add the links to each shih tzu club in each country that interest you... ( perhaps you need permission) ...good luck with your website and welcome to OTL

My thoughts were 2 fold. Firstly your website is an american site so may not interest the UK breeders. Secondly we have politely discussed teacup and Imperial Shih Tzu's on the site and this is where I shall very politely button my lip.

However, we have people from all over the world join Off the Leash and have a jolly good chat about all sorts so whilst I hope my comments haven't been offensive, please do stick around even if our shih tzu's are giants in the eyes of some

I am of course curious if Stainglass shih tzus are Kennel Club registered.

Good idea Di I'd check with them first though STplanet

Hi Wingtzepupu
I'm in Australia but I was hoping to have a kind of international site I suppose. Do you feel that my site supports imperial or teacup shih tzus? Can you point out which pages? I don't support them myself but I also didn't write all the content.
Please let me know if anything needs changing, I really don't want to offend anyone and would also not like to support unethical practices.

Oooh I'm from Australia - where are you?? I'm from Wollongong but living in UK now... Anyway ummm unfortunately it does seem very pro teacup IMHO. ALL the articles under the Other Shih Tzu Facts are written by Stain glass shih tzu - who specifically breed under 9lb and under 6lb shih tzu's. On this alone I think you would find many reputable breeders not wanting to associate with this.

Im glad you came back and clarified because by posting these articles you are linking to them and this is perhaps something you may want to reconsider.

I must admit I automatically assumed that you were an american site and were somehow associated with promoting the teacups.

So we can clrify there is no link to stainglass shih tzus and shihtzuplanet then??? I'm confused lol then again thats not hard to do to me i'm easily confused at the best of times lol

I suppose the internet is dominated by the teacup promoting US residents :-)
I'm in Melbourne (where it's getting past my bedtime so this will be my last post)
I did add those articles which were free to use by anyone because I was running short on content. If they are going to get my site listed on the teacup promoting list though then I'd rather take them off though :-) I had no idea.
I'm very new to the whole thing (as you can tell lol)

Hi, Sue (is that correct?) -- I live in the US, but there's a lady in Australia who has a long list of links to breeders all over the world. Her name is Rhonda and her website is at http://www.gateway.net.au/~rlf/shihtzu/. You might want to check with her and see if the two of you can work together or something. Rhonda's had this website for a looooooonnnnnnggggg time and a lot of people (including myself) find it very useful and entertaining. I for one enjoy looking at the websites of breeders from around the world, not just in the US -- and I've gotten a lot of great information that has helped me with my own dogs through her links. She doesn't screen the sites that she links to and makes it clear that she doesn't support "Imperial" or puppymill breeders, but can't guarantee that none are listed there. Also, I know that Connie Limon of Stainglass does write a lot of articles and puts them on websites where you can copy them and use them on your website for free. I believe she does this to market her puppies and try to make herself more well-known as a breeder. So far as I know, she doesn't show, but I believe her dogs are AKC. I believe that someone posted a link to her website here at one time because she does have a lot of information there. There's another woman who also has a lot of information on her website. This other woman raises only so-called "Imperials" and is not held in high regard among show breeders. Good luck with your website. I think it looks very nice and could serve a good purpose. I hope that Rhonda's site helps you get off to a good start!
Janet

Well, they say you learn something new everyday. In this case quite alot in very short period of time Glad it has been bought to your attention , and glad that clears things up for you.
Tell us a bit about yourself after your nights rest, I hear via family in NSW its rreally hot over there at the moment

Quote: I suppose the internet is dominated by the teacup promoting US residents :-)

I don't think that's the case at all. There are far more websites of good breeders. You have to look for them a bit harder, I suppose. LOL! And it certainly isn't true that ALL US breeders support and promote the so-called "teacup" and "imperial" Shih Tzu.

Janet

Yes it is, thanks for all the info I do appreciate all you guys taking the time out to show me all this stuff. I do hope to make a useful web site so I do appreciate all the info. My strength is actually web design and promotion. Would you guys find it more useful if I did something like offered free Shih tzu web site templates/graphics or something?

You can say that again!

Ok so linking to each country's main shih tzu clubs are the way to go, correct? Rather then individual breeders?
Because I will do that then. I also took off the articles by Stainglass, I can always find more content.

Will do! I'm about to fall off my chair though so I'm really off to bed this time. It has been a VERY hot summer! But it is starting to get cold now (about time! )

I think listing breeders/links by country is an excellent idea! If I find anything useful I'll let you know.

Hi guys no I do'nt agree with breeding fffor the teacup size I peresonally think this is wrong

Hi Janet
Sorry that was just a bad joke on my part about Wingtzepupu's comment about having for some reason assumed I was from the US promoting teacup shihtzus.

Like I said it is late.

Hi Sue I think your website is great, I couldn't see any links to teacups so I presume you've removed them, keep up the good work.

I'm sorry to appear thick, but as I am new to the Shiddie world, I don't understand what a teacup is! Is this a type of breeding? Tell me more please!

They are basically tiny versions of Shih Tzus purposly bred to be tiny, like Niblet but Niblet was'nt mean't to be that small.

I'm sure if you do a search for Teacup Shih Tzus you will soon find some more info

The American Shih Tzu Club sums up most Shih Tzu breeders feelings on the subject:

http://www.shihtzu.org/Info/imperial.asp?menu=Info

I'm sure members here will be able to help you out with finding reputable Shih tzu resources, the various countries breed organisations are pretty good sources especially if your experience is more to the design side than the doggy side. Links to some breed clubs sites around the world can be found here:

http://www.theshihtzuclub.co.uk/orglinks.htm

As mentioned above Rhonda in Oz has a massive set of links that you could lose weeks just following!!

Thanks Adam (and everyone), I have been looking around Rhonda's site and will go from there.

Yea, I've noticed that myself. It's frustrating. I'm in the process of trying to find a shih tzu and it's a daunting task. Every other US website I look at is talking about teacups.

Personally I dont understand it. "Standard" Shih Tzu's are the perfect size (and small enough) as it is. Why anyone would want to go aginst the breed standard intentionally for tiny dogs is beyond me.


-marcie

It's a fad, Marcie -- and a sad one at that. Actually, the people who are "promoting" the tinies seem to be in it primarily for the money. They charge outrageous prices for the pups. As I mentioned earlier, there are a lot of good Shih Tzu breeders in the U.S. and the ASTC is very much opposed to the breeding of dogs that are smaller than the standard. I wrote you a LONG (sorry!) post in response to your other message that I hope will help you find a good breeder.
Janet