The honest version
Teacup Shih Tzu Puppies for Sale
If you searched for a teacup Shih Tzu, you are probably picturing a very small dog. Here is what the word means, what our dogs actually weigh, and why we describe them honestly rather than promise a number.
There is no such thing as a teacup Shih Tzu in the breed standard, and I do not breed for one. My adults finish about 8lb: under the 9lb floor of the standard, small enough to carry in one arm, and not teacup. If a small purebred Shih Tzu is what you were picturing, we have 6 here now. If you need a dog under 6lb, ours will be a little bigger than that, and we would rather say so now.
What people mean by teacup
When somebody searches for a teacup Shih Tzu, they almost always mean one of two things. Either they want a Shih Tzu that stays very small, smaller than the ones they have met, or they have seen the word on a listing with a high price next to it and assume it describes something special.
It describes a size. Usually a dog that will finish around 6lb or less, sometimes less than four. There is no separate bloodline, no registry that recognises the word, and no way to tell a “teacup” eight-week-old from any other eight-week-old except by what its parents weigh.
What my dogs actually weigh
about 8lb as adults. I can tell you that because the parents live with me and I know what they weigh. That puts my puppies at the small end of the breed, comfortably under the show standard, and about the size of a large house cat when grown.
It does not put them at 6lb, and I am not going to describe them as teacup to match a search. Every puppy on this site will grow into a small Shih Tzu you can pick up with one hand, and that is the honest description.
Why I will not promise under 6lb
Two reasons, and they are mine rather than a comment on anybody else.
The first is that I cannot. Nobody can promise an adult weight from an eight-week-old puppy. The parents’ weight is the best guide there is, and mine tell you about 8lb. Anyone who guarantees a number smaller than the parents is guessing on your behalf.
The second is that I would not want to. Breeding deliberately for the very smallest dogs means selecting the runts of litters and breeding them to each other, and I am not prepared to do that with a breed that already has a flat face to manage. I breed for a small, sound, ordinary Shih Tzu. about 8lb is what that looks like here.
If an 8lb Shih Tzu is what you were picturing
Three of the 6 here now. All of them will finish about 8lb, and the photograph on each card is of that puppy.
All 6 puppies, in full · Each one described · How buying works
Teacup Shih Tzu puppies for sale near me
We are in Sedona, Arizona, two hours north of Phoenix. We meet Arizona families at a public place we agree on, and for everyone else we arrange ground transport or a flight nanny to your door. How that works.
If you were looking for something between teacup and standard, the imperial page answers the other word people use for it, and the puppies I have now are what I can actually offer.
Ask us about a puppy
Tell us what you are hoping for and we will help you find the right one.