Shih Tzu Nation: America Falls for the Lion Dog

By Jonathan Agronsky

The book that put Shih Tzu Nation on the map! Twenty-two true tales about the infinitely varied, always revealing bonds forged between Lion Dogs and their humans. Penned by award-winning author Jonathan Agronsky and featuring such distinguished guest writers as Shih Tzu expert and author Jo Ann White and famed American playwright Larry L. King.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Dec 18, 2012
• ISBN: 9781624887758

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

HAIR OF THE DOG

Chantilly lace and a pretty face. And a pony tail hangin’ down.

— J.P. RICHARDSON, JR. (THE BIG BOPPER)

You’ve got to be kidding! I’d exclaimed, with my usual mix of subtlety and sensitivity, after Bonnie informed me she intended to make a Shih Tzu her new pet. A big-dog man, used to wrestling with the family Weimaraner and a friend’s Golden Lab, I was aghast that my girlfriend had selected this small, strange-looking creature with the sad, rheumy eyes, two-inch lashes, stubby legs and flattened muzzle over more than one hundred other breeds profiled in—I kid you not—a ‘dog encyclopedia’ she had recently purchased.

This is a high-maintenance dog, I’d vainly argued, pointing to the long, thick, coat of the adult male Shih Tzu pictured in the book (to my horror, I saw that he also had a vertical ponytail adorned with a ribbon). I flashed on the disdainful looks I’d surely get from any male pedestrian I passed while walking this sissy dog through Bonnie’s neighborhood. You’ll have to brush it every day! Besides, what use is it—other than sitting on your lap or yipping every time the doorbell rings?

Bonnie was unmoved. She had made her choice and that was that. If I could not learn to accept and get along with her new puppy, well, I knew where the door was. And so, reluctantly, I held my tongue.

Right around Valentine’s Day in 1987, Bonnie came home late from her high school counseling job, carrying a small cardboard box. Inside it was a brown, black, and white fluff ball smaller than my hand. After setting the box down, Bonnie picked up her new furbaby, cradled it against her, gently stroked its little head as I looked on skeptically. A few minutes later, she handed the tiny animal to me. As the puppy licked my face, I promptly forgot about the uselessness of this Tibetan toy, or the potential embarrassment of being seen in public with