Shihpom Puppies For Sale

A small dog with a large opinion

The Shihpom crosses a Shih Tzu with a Pomeranian. Both parents are small, both are densely coated, and both arrive with more character than their size accounts for.

The Shih Tzu brings the companion history — an indoor breed developed over centuries in China and Tibet for the specific purpose of being pleasant company — along with a sturdier little frame and a heavy coat.

The Pomeranian brings the spitz side: pricked ears, a stand-off double coat, a tail carried over the back, and the alert, forward, slightly self-important manner that spitz breeds do so well.

The Shihpom that results is a compact, thickly coated dog that is affectionate at home and rather bold about the world outside the front door.

Socialising a bold little dog

This is where the effort should go in the first six months.

Small confident dogs sometimes grow into small reactive dogs, and it usually happens for a predictable reason: they get carried past the things that worry them instead of being given time to work them out at ground level. The remedy is unglamorous. Put the puppy down. Let it approach a new person, a bigger dog, a rolling suitcase or a noisy pavement at its own pace, and pay it for calm curiosity.

A Shihpom that has met the world properly before six months is a relaxed, portable, easy adult. One that has spent that window in someone’s arms is often not.

Barking, and the off switch

The spitz side is an alert side. Your Shihpom will probably tell you about the delivery driver, and the first few times it will be right, which is exactly why the habit sticks.

Teach an off switch before it hardens. Acknowledge the bark, mark and reward the pause, put a word on it, and practise it deliberately rather than only in the moment. Combine that with enough daily occupation — a chew, a scatter feed, a few minutes of trick training — and you get a dog that alerts once and then settles.

The coat

Dense, and often with an undercoat from the Pomeranian side. Expect real grooming: combing to the skin every day or two, with attention behind the ears, around the collar or harness line, in the armpits and around the back legs.

A professional groom every couple of months keeps it in shape. Ask for a tidy rather than a close shave if the coat leans plush — the outer coat is part of how a double-coated dog handles sun, which matters through a Florida summer. Walk early and late in the hot months and stay on grass rather than midday asphalt.

The puppy stage

House-training a toy breed takes longer for purely mechanical reasons. Frequent trips, a fixed routine and a crate sized to the dog will get you there.

Get the puppy comfortable being handled — feet, ears, face, coat — while it still finds the attention flattering. Every groom for the next decade is easier because of it.

Come and meet one

Coat and character both vary between littermates, so the puppy in front of you is the real information. Look at the latest arrivals, read about our breeders, and visit us in Clermont or Goodlettsville. Ask about the warranty and about financing while you are there.