Two toy breeds, one small dog
A Shorkie is a cross between a Shih Tzu and a Yorkshire Terrier, and the interesting thing about the pairing is that both parents are small, long-coated companions who arrived at that job from completely different directions. One spent centuries on cushions in a palace. The other spent the nineteenth century keeping vermin out of woollen mills. Put the two together and you get a dog that will sit on you for an hour and then go and investigate a noise in the hallway with real conviction.
Because it is a cross rather than a breed with a written standard, no two Shorkies come out identical. One puppy takes the Shih Tzu’s broader head and heavier coat; the next has the Yorkie’s finer muzzle and a coat that clears from black toward steel and gold as it grows. Littermates can differ from one another. That variation is worth knowing before you go looking, because it means the puppy in front of you tells you more than any general description can.
Where each half comes from
The Shih Tzu is the older story by a long way. Its roots run back through Tibet and into the Chinese imperial court, where small long-coated dogs were kept as palace companions and rarely left the walls. Its Western career only began in the 1930s, when the first examples reached England and Norway, and the American Kennel Club recognized the breed in 1969. Everything about it — the size, the coat, the habit of arranging itself on the nearest person — comes from a job that was purely companionship.
The Yorkshire Terrier came out of the other end of society. Scottish weavers moving south for work in the mills of northern England brought their terriers with them, and those dogs were crossed and re-crossed in the mill towns until something small, silky and very game came out the other side. Huddersfield Ben, born in 1865, fixed the type and is still called the father of the breed. The name Yorkshire Terrier settled in 1870, and the American Kennel Club recognized it in 1885.
A Shorkie carries both lines. The lap comes from one side and the opinion comes from the other, and most owners find the two take turns through the day.
Size, coat and colour
Adults are genuinely small. A Shih Tzu stands around nine to ten and a half inches at the shoulder and a Yorkie around seven to eight, and a Shorkie usually lands somewhere between the two, in the range of seven to fifteen pounds. That is a dog you can carry under one arm, which is part of why the cross suits apartments, upstairs flats and small yards so well.
The coat is long, fine and glossy, closer to hair than to fur, and it keeps growing rather than dropping out. Colours run through black, gold, tan, silver, white and combinations of all of them, often with a lighter face or chest. Puppies born dark frequently lighten as they grow, which is the Yorkie side showing up, so the dog you take home is rarely the exact colour of the dog you have a year later.
The head is where the two parents argue most visibly. Some Shorkies have the Shih Tzu’s short, broad muzzle and round dark eyes; others have the neater terrier face. Both look good, and both come with the same small decision to make, since the hair above the eyes grows long whichever parent wins.
The coat and the weekly routine
Most owners keep a Shorkie in a short, even trim — the puppy cut that Yorkie and Shih Tzu owners already use — and it makes the whole job small. A comb through every couple of days keeps everything smooth, a bath happens when the dog has found something worth a bath, and a visit to the groomer every six to eight weeks resets the length. In Florida and Tennessee summers a shorter trim is simply more comfortable to wear.
The face gets its own minute. A wipe with a soft cloth around the eyes and muzzle after meals keeps the beard tidy, and the hair on top of the head either goes up in a small band or gets trimmed short. Both look good, and it is the sort of decision you can change your mind about every few months. Nails want doing a little and often on a dog this size, ears get a wipe while you comb, and teeth are worth brushing from the first week so the toothbrush becomes an ordinary part of the day.
Start all of it early and in ten-second pieces with a treat at the end. A Shorkie that enjoys being handled makes the next fifteen years easy.
Half lap, half terrier
The everyday character of a Shorkie is affectionate and busy in about equal measure. These are dogs that would rather be on you than near you: on the arm of the chair, against your leg, under the desk with a chin on your foot. They follow you from room to room, take a close interest in cooking, and treat the bathroom as a shared space.
Then something happens at the front door and the terrier arrives. A Shorkie will tell you when the mail comes, when a delivery van pulls up, and when a squirrel oversteps. Most owners settle into the same routine Yorkie owners use: go and look together, thank the dog, and get on with the day. Taught from the first week that reporting is followed by a thank-you and an end, a Shorkie keeps the whole business brief.
They are good company for adults, for older children who enjoy a dog with something to say, and for anyone who wants a small dog with a real personality rather than an ornament. They settle in with other dogs and with cats when the introductions are unhurried, and they are cheerful about visitors once they have made up their minds.
Training, and what a day looks like
Both parent breeds are bright and both like to be right, which makes a Shorkie a very good pupil for anyone who pays properly. Food works, praise works, and a squeaky toy works better than either on some days. Keep sessions to a couple of minutes, ask for one thing at a time, mark it the moment it happens, and finish while the dog still wants another go.
House training goes best when it is boring and predictable: out first thing, after meals, after naps, after play, with a proper celebration every single time it goes right outdoors. Socialization is the other early job. Take the puppy out through the first year to meet ordinary things — different floors, umbrellas, wheeled bins, calm dogs, people in hats. A small dog that has met a hundred ordinary things before six months finds the world a very manageable size.
The day itself is not demanding. Two short walks suit a Shorkie well, and the walk is about the news more than the distance. Five minutes of fetch down a hallway does as much for a dog this size as a long route march, and a food puzzle or a treat hidden under one of three cups keeps the terrier half occupied. Evenings are for company, and a Shorkie that has walked, played and been included spends them tucked against someone with one ear still up.
Come and meet the Shorkie puppies
Photographs flatten a Shorkie into a fluffy shape. Standing next to one, what you notice is how much dog is in there — how quickly it works out who you are, how directly it asks to be picked up, and how completely it settles once it is.
Our Shorkie puppies come from our network of licensed breeders, and our team can tell you how a particular puppy has been getting on with people and what its coat has been doing. We have a store in Orlando and one in Nashville, and you are welcome to sit on the floor and let a puppy come to you before deciding anything. Find directions and hours, and ask about financing while you are here. Every puppy here goes home with its vet records, its vaccination history and a health warranty, and our team will walk you through what those cover.