By Curious Tails · AVS licensed pet shop
Shih Tzu Puppies in Singapore, Honestly Done
Looking for a Shih Tzu in Singapore? Ours are from $3,888, all-in, placed by an AVS licensed shop at Balestier that tells you about the grooming bill before the price. The lion dog is HDB-approved, item 48 on the official list, and we handle the licence at purchase.
Shih Tzu puppies
From $3,888, all-in
This month’s Shih Tzus
These are the Shih Tzu puppies Singapore families have recently taken home from us, shown across the six colours we place: 30+ Shih Tzus placed so far, and the same families are behind our 45 five-star Google reviews. Availability moves weekly, so message us with a colour and we will tell you what is in the shop right now, including age in weeks and whether a male or female is ready.
Shih Tzu puppy (gold & white)
Shih Tzu puppy (black & white)
Shih Tzu puppy (liver & white)
Shih Tzu puppy (red & white)
What is a Shih Tzu?
The Shih Tzu is a small companion dog bred as a palace lapdog, known in Chinese as 獅子狗, the lion dog. It stands 20 to 28 cm, weighs about 4 to 7.5 kg, and is item 48 on HDB’s approved small-breed list, which makes it one of the few characterful, sturdy breeds you can legally keep in a Singapore flat. Expect a friendly, calm-indoors temperament and a coat that needs real commitment.
45
Five-star Google reviews
30+
Shih Tzus placed
AS24J00046
AVS pet shop licence
$3,888
From, all-in
The HDB-approved lion dog, honest about the grooming
Why the Shih Tzu suits a Singapore flat
The Shih Tzu is an HDB approved dog, one of roughly 62 breeds on the HDB approved small breed list, sitting at item 48, so keeping one in your flat is completely legal. The rules that come with it are simple: one approved dog per flat, a mandatory AVS dog licence, and a fine of up to $4,000 if you keep a breed that is not on HDB’s approved-breed guidelines. We complete the licence paperwork at purchase, so nothing is left for you to file.
Legality is only half the case. This is a breed that is genuinely built for flat living: calm indoors, low exercise needs, sturdy enough for family life, and content with void-deck walks and an aircon afternoon. Condo and landed homes are covered too; private housing simply allows up to three dogs where a flat allows one. The full rules, the licence tiers and the one honest catch are in our guide to the HDB rules for keeping a Shih Tzu.
HDB Shih Tzu, at a glance
- Approved: item 48 on the HDB small-breed list
- Limit: one approved dog per flat
- Licence: AVS dog licence, completed at purchase
- Fine: up to $4,000 for a non-approved dog
- Size: about 4 to 7.5 kg, 20 to 28 cm tall
The honest catch: grooming is the real price
Shih Tzu grooming is a daily brush at home plus a professional groom every 4 to 6 weeks, at about $75 to $120 a session. That works out to roughly $900 to $1,400 a year, for the dog’s whole life, and it is the number no other Singapore seller prints on a sales page.
Low-shedding is how the breed is sold; the honest word is high-maintenance coat. Hair not fur is the shorthand: a Shih Tzu barely sheds, and that same continuously growing hair mats without daily brushing, a slicker brush habit, and tear-stain wipes around the eyes. What we usually tell buyers is blunt: you are not buying less grooming, you are buying a groomer on retainer for twelve years.
That is why grooming-readiness is our qualifying question before any price talk. Read the full grooming guide with the full cost table first, then message us. A family that budgets the groomer before the puppy keeps the puppy.
The grooming ledger
- Daily: a proper brush, down to the skin
- Salon: every 4 to 6 weeks, $75 to $120 a session
- Annual: about $900 to $1,400, per SG cost surveys
- Lifetime: it can rival the purchase price
- First professional groom included, on us
The flat face, honestly
The Shih Tzu is a brachycephalic breed: the short muzzle that gives it the famous face also narrows the airway, which is why flat-faced dogs run hotter and tire faster, per PDSA’s Shih Tzu health guide. In Singapore’s heat that is a daily design question, not a footnote: early or late walks, shade, water, aircon through the hottest hours, and never a midday jog.
Heat sensitivity is the practical version of that fact, and it shapes the routine more than the vet bills do. The prominent eyes need care too; they sit exposed, so they scratch and dry more easily than a longer-nosed breed’s. Neither shortens the outlook by default: the typical Shih Tzu lifespan runs 10 to 16 years, longer than many larger breeds. None of this is a reason to avoid the breed. It is a reason to buy from someone who says it out loud, manages walks around the climate, and points you to our honest health and lifespan guide before you commit. We frame every health point as risk to manage, never as something a shop can promise away.
The flat face is a feature buyers coo at and a health profile they ignore. We refuse to ignore it.
What living with one is actually like
The Shih Tzu temperament is the breed’s best argument: good with kids, gentle with the elderly, calm indoors, and happiest wherever you are. Day to day it is a companionable shadow, sturdier and more outgoing than the delicate lapdog breeds it gets compared with, which is exactly why it suits busy family flats.
The heritage explains the temperament. This is a palace lapdog with Tibetan and Chinese heritage, bred for a thousand years to sit on laps and look regal doing it, not to work, herd or guard. That history left a dog with low exercise needs, a confident and bold streak for its 4 to 7.5 kg, and an expectation of company.
The honest parts: housetraining takes longer than the internet promises, because the stubborn streak is real, and this is a companion breed that does not love long stretches alone. Owners in communities like r/shihtzu report the same arc again and again, patience plus routine wins. The free lesson with an AVS-certified trainer that comes with every puppy exists for exactly this.
An HDB day, in practice
- Void-deck or park walk before 9am, another after sundown
- Aircon or a fan through the midday heat
- Pee tray indoors; patience while housetraining beds in
- Ten minutes of brushing, daily, without fail
- Company: this breed is happiest with people around
Pick your Shih Tzu: colours and coats we place
Shih Tzu colours span most of the small-dog spectrum, and we place six: gold and white, black and white, brindle, liver and liver-white, red and white, and solid black. Coat style is a separate, later decision: the long flowing coat and the practical puppy cut are grooming choices on the same dog, not product tiers, and most Singapore homes land on the puppy cut for the heat.
Gold & white
Black & white
Brindle
Liver & white
Red & white
Solid black
Colour changes nothing underneath. A solid black Shih Tzu grooms, behaves and costs exactly like a gold and white one, so choose the face you fall for and let the coat decision wait until the first salon visit. Tear stains show more on the light-faced colours, which is worth knowing before you pick, not after.
We also place purebred Shih Tzus alongside legitimate Shih Tzu mixes: the Shih-Poo (Toy Poodle cross), the Malshi (Maltese cross) and the Pomshi (Pomeranian cross). Mixes are honest crossbreeds with their own trade-offs, priced and health-checked the same way; they are not the size gimmick we refuse below.
What $3,888 to $4,888 all-in actually includes
Ask any Shih Tzu price Singapore question and you usually get "depends". Ours is published pricing: an all-in price of $3,888 to $4,888, where the market runs roughly $2,400 to $7,000 with the extras sold separately. All-in means what’s included is everything below, starter kit included, with the licence, delivery, training and first groom inside the number. The line-by-line maths lives in the itemised price breakdown.
| Included | Detail |
|---|---|
| The puppy itself | Vet-checked, vaccinated on the weeks 6, 8 and 12 schedule, dewormed at every visit, microchipped, with breed identification |
| 30-item starter kit | $533 itemised value: food, playpen, pee tray, slicker brush and comb, and everything else for week one |
| Free home delivery + setup | We deliver to your flat and set up the playpen before the puppy explores it |
| First professional groom | Included, around weeks 12 to 16, so the salon habit starts calm |
| Free training lesson | One session with an AVS-certified trainer, built for first-time owners |
| Licensing at purchase | AVS dog licence paperwork completed by us; the first licence tier is $13.50 |
| Aftercare | 5-day bring-back-if-sick support, free boarding up to 1 month after deposit, ongoing care advice |
Mini, imperial, teacup: we refuse the label
A mini, imperial or teacup Shih Tzu is not a breed; it is a marketing label, and deliberately breeding for undersize, or selling a runt under a fancy size tag, trades a dog’s health for a price premium. Some Singapore shops actively sell on the label. We do not sell or label mini, imperial or teacup dogs, full stop.
Honestly, if a Shih Tzu puppy Singapore listing charges extra for smallness, treat the premium as a red flag, not a feature. HDB and AVS care about exactly two facts, that it is a Shih Tzu and that it is small; an exotic size label adds price and health risk, never value. The full explanation, and what the label does to a dog, is on our mini and teacup truth page in the guide library below.
Buying safely: licensed vs the cheap listing
The cheapest Shih Tzu for sale Singapore listings on Carousell and Telegram undercut every licensed pet shop Singapore operates, and the discount is usually a smuggled puppy brought across the Causeway without veterinary care. Search "Shih Tzu breeder Singapore" and both kinds of seller look identical in the results; the registry below is how you tell them apart. Parvovirus is the common outcome, treatment runs $5,000 to $10,000 with no guarantee of survival, and NParks has fined a buyer $7,000 for purchasing a smuggled dog. The buyer, not just the seller.
The safe way to buy a Shih Tzu in Singapore takes one extra minute: check any shop on the public registry of AVS licensed pet shops before you pay anyone. We are on it as Curious Tails, licence AS24J00046, and we would rather you verify us than trust us.
$500–1,000
Typical "saving" on a cheap listing
$5k–10k
One parvovirus treatment
$7,000
NParks fine paid by a buyer
1 min
To verify a licence on the AVS registry
How it works: from message to gotcha day
- 1
WhatsApp us
Tell us the colour and gender you are after. Expect the grooming-readiness chat first; the honesty gate comes before any price talk.
- 2
Meet at Balestier
Come and visit us at Balestier: 2 Balestier Road #01-701, weekdays 12pm to 6pm or weekends 10am to 6pm, and meet the puppies in person before deciding anything.
- 3
Vaccinations run on schedule
Core puppy vaccinations at weeks 6, 8 and 12, with deworming at every visit, all recorded before handover.
- 4
Home at about week 9
Roughly a week after the second vaccination. We deliver free, set up the playpen, and the starter kit covers your first week.
- 5
Licence done at purchase
We complete the AVS dog licence paperwork for you; the first licence tier is $13.50. First-time owners also take the short AVS pet ownership course. Course details are on the AVS pet ownership course page.
- 6
Settle in, with backup
The first week home runs on the playpen, the pee tray and short calm introductions. You get 5-day bring-back-if-sick support, free boarding up to 1 month after deposit, and ongoing care advice whenever you message.
Who a Shih Tzu is NOT for
I think the kindest thing a pet shop can do is say no early. After 2+ years matching puppies to Singapore families, we would rather talk you out of the wrong breed than sell you the wrong dog, and the Shih Tzu is honestly wrong for some homes.
If any line in the checklist sounds like you, message us anyway; we will point you to a breed that fits better, generically and without a sales pitch. That is not lost business to us, it is the reason families trust the shop.
Skip this breed if you...
- Will not budget $900 to $1,400 a year for the groomer
- Want a jogging or midday-walk partner in Singapore heat
- Expect fast, eager-to-please obedience and quick housetraining
- Are out of the house most of the day, every day
- Are shopping for a "teacup" price tag rather than a healthy dog
Explore the full Shih Tzu guide library
Still researching? Good; that is the buyer we built this site for. Every honesty pillar has its own deep guide, from the HDB paperwork to the grooming ledger to how the lion dog stacks up against the other HDB-approved toys, and the puppies will still be here when the numbers make sense.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a Shih Tzu cost in Singapore?
From an AVS licensed shop like ours, $3,888 to $4,888 all-in: puppy, vaccinations, microchip, 30-item starter kit, delivery and setup, first professional groom, training lesson and licensing. Market listings run roughly $2,400 to $7,000, often excluding those items.
Are Shih Tzus HDB approved?
Yes. The Shih Tzu is item 48 on HDB’s approved small-breed list. One approved dog per flat, an AVS licence is mandatory, and keeping a non-approved dog risks a fine of up to $4,000. We complete the licensing at purchase.
How much is Shih Tzu grooming in Singapore?
Budget $75 to $120 per salon session, every 4 to 6 weeks, which is about $900 to $1,400 a year, plus daily brushing at home. We tell every buyer this before we talk price, and the first professional groom is included.
Do Shih Tzus shed?
Very little. They have hair, not fur, so shedding is low. The trade is labour: that coat mats without daily brushing and a regular professional groom. Low-shedding does not mean low-maintenance.
Is a mini or teacup Shih Tzu a real breed?
No. Mini, imperial and teacup are marketing labels, not breeds, and deliberately undersized dogs carry extra health risk. We do not sell or label them, and we explain why before you buy anywhere.
Are Shih Tzus good with children and the elderly?
Yes, they are one of the friendliest small breeds for families: sturdy for their size, affectionate and calm indoors. Supervise as with any dog, and teach children to handle the prominent eyes gently.
How do I know your shop is legitimate?
Check us on the AVS public registry of licensed pet shops: licence AS24J00046, under Curious Tails at 2 Balestier Road. Any shop that cannot show a registry listing is not licensed to sell.
Can I visit before deciding?
Yes, and we encourage it. We are at 2 Balestier Road #01-701, weekdays 12pm to 6pm and weekends 10am to 6pm. Message us first on WhatsApp so we can have puppies ready to meet.
Meet your Shih Tzu
Come say hello at Balestier
2 Balestier Road #01-701, Singapore 320002 · Weekdays 12pm–6pm · Weekends 10am–6pm. Or message us first: tell us about your home and routine, and we'll tell you honestly if a Shih Tzu fits.
Still deciding?
Start with the price guide: the whole $3,888 to $4,888 band, itemised, no surprises at the shop.
See the price guide