Shih Tzu / Lhasa Apso? - Any info please

[Neilsden]

I am looking for information on Shih Tzu's. I have read an article that says that they are hard to house train - does anyone else know anything on this subject?
I am also interested in Lhasa Apso's. We have a 7 year old boy and live in a releativly small house with a well fenced garden for a small dog. I am not sure what breed of dog would suit us. Also we are town people but can get out to parks & countryside at weekends. http://www.dogforum.org/images/icons/icon5.gif

[skunkstripe]

Hi Neilsden and welcome to the forum.
I wonder why Shih Tzu's would be hard to housetrain - perhaps people aren't as willing to go out in bad weather as they might be with a bigger dog? As long as you use the standard method of praising for going outside and ignoring mistakes inside that should work.

I'm not sure that a toy breed is a good idea with a 7 year old boy, but it really depends on the boy. Little kids have a way of not understanding how to approach dogs properly, and toy breeds can be fragile. If your boy likes to roughhouse then a "tougher" breed (like a Beagle) might be better.