How much does a Shih Tzu cost?
A Shih Tzu costs $1,500–$3,000 in its first year across the 51 US cities we have costed, then $120–$250 a month. The purchase price sits on top of that and varies far more, because it depends on the breeder, the paperwork behind the litter and whether you buy or adopt.
Every number here is a planning estimate built from breed data and local cost-of-living and veterinary indices, not a quote from a vet or an insurer. How we build them and who writes them.
Shih Tzu puppy price
We have not verified a current purchase price for the Shih Tzu, so this page publishes none rather than a guess. What we can tell you is what happens next: the first year of owning a Shih Tzu runs $1,500–$3,000 depending on the city, and that number is the one that decides whether the dog is affordable. A purchase price is paid once. The rest is paid every month for 10–16 years.
Purchase prices move on things that have nothing to do with the dog you take home. A litter from parents screened for the conditions Shih Tzus are known for — Brachycephalic Obstructive Airway Syndrome, Eye Problems, Kidney Disease — costs the breeder money before a single puppy is sold, and that shows up in the price. Waiting lists, coat colours that are in fashion this year, and transport from another state push it further. A cheap listing with no health paperwork is usually the most expensive option in the end, because the screening you skipped becomes a vet bill you pay.
Weigh the purchase against the total. Over 10–16 years, the money you spend feeding, insuring and treating a Shih Tzu dwarfs whatever you paid to bring one home, so a few hundred dollars of difference at the start matters much less than the monthly figure further down this page.
Shih Tzu first-year cost by city
The first year with a Shih Tzu costs $1,500–$3,000 depending on where you live. Year one is the expensive one: the vaccination course, neutering or spaying, microchipping, a crate, a bed, a lead and the first round of preventatives all land inside twelve months and never repeat.
Albuquerque is the cheapest city on this list for a Shih Tzu and Wilmington the most expensive, a spread driven almost entirely by local veterinary rates and what a groomer charges — the dog is identical.
Looking for one city rather than one breed? The cost hub lists every city we have costed, with all breeds on a single page.
Monthly cost of a Shih Tzu
A Shih Tzu costs $120–$250 a month once the first year is behind you. That covers food, flea and worm preventatives, an insurance premium and routine grooming, spread evenly — it does not cover an emergency, which is what the separate emergency fund on each city page is for.
The monthly figure is the one you actually live with for the next 10–16 years. Food is the line that scales with the dog: a 9–16 lb Shih Tzu eats in proportion to bodyweight, so the small size class sets the floor. Preventatives are dosed by weight too, which is why the same tick treatment costs more for a heavier dog. Grooming is very high for this breed, and where that means a professional appointment rather than a brush at home, it is the line most likely to surprise a first-time owner.
Insurance is the fourth line, and unlike the others it gets more expensive as the dog ages. Premiums quoted for a puppy are the cheapest they will ever be, so budgeting from the first quote you receive will understate the cost of the later years of a Shih Tzu's life.
How Shih Tzu costs compare with published US benchmarks
The widest published US frame comes from Rover, which put a puppy's first year of care at $1,460–$6,745 and each adult year at $1,930–$5,305 in 2026, purchase price excluded. Those are national bounds covering every dog from a Chihuahua to a Great Dane, so they are not a Shih Tzu figure — they are the frame the $1,500–$3,000 numbers above sit inside, and a sanity check on any quote that falls outside them.
The only breed-specific ownership study we can cite for the Shih Tzu is five years old. In 2021 it put the first year at $1,720 excluding the purchase price, each adult year at $1,180, and the whole life of the dog at $17,910. Read those as 2021 money: veterinary fees, food and insurance have all moved since, which is why our own figures are rebuilt from current component prices rather than inflated from this one.
| Benchmark | 2021 figure |
|---|---|
| First year, excluding the purchase price | $1,720 |
| Each adult year after that | $1,180 |
| Lifetime total, as the study reported it | $17,910 |
Sources: Rover — the cost of dog parenthood (2026), PetBudget dog cost study (2021). Neither is our own measurement, and neither is a quote for your dog.
What drives Shih Tzu costs
Three things set what a Shih Tzu costs: size, health risk and grooming. Size decides food and drug doses, the breed's documented health risks decide the insurance premium and the odds of a large bill, and the coat decides whether grooming is a brush at home or a booked appointment every few weeks.
- Size. The Shih Tzu is a small breed at 9–16 lb. Food, flea and worm treatments, anaesthesia and boarding are all priced by weight, so this single fact moves most of the running cost.
- Health risk. Shih Tzus are documented for Brachycephalic Obstructive Airway Syndrome, Eye Problems, Kidney Disease. Insurers price the breed on exactly this list, and it is also where a four-figure bill is most likely to come from.
- Grooming. Grooming need is very high for a Shih Tzu. A coat that needs professional clipping adds a recurring appointment to the monthly figure; one that needs brushing adds a brush.
Full temperament, exercise and health detail lives on the Shih Tzu breed page.
Is pet insurance worth it for a Shih Tzu?
Pet insurance is worth it for a Shih Tzu when a sudden four-figure bill would go on a credit card. That is the whole test. If you could absorb an emergency out of savings, a dedicated fund usually beats premiums; if you could not, insurance converts an unpredictable bill into a predictable monthly one.
For scale, the US average premium for dog accident-and-illness cover was $749.29 a year — $62.44 a month — in 2024, the most recent year the industry association reports. That is an average across every breed, age and state, not a Shih Tzu quote. A real premium moves with the dog's age, your ZIP code, the deductible, the reimbursement rate and the annual limit you choose, and only a carrier can tell you what a Shih Tzu costs to insure where you live. NAPHIA State of the Industry 2025.
Read the exclusions before you read the price. Brachycephalic Obstructive Airway Syndrome is on the Shih Tzu's documented list, and anything a vet has already noted counts as pre-existing and will not be covered — which is why buying early, before the first symptom, is what makes a breed-risk policy work at all.
Take the insurance fit quiz to see whether a policy or a savings buffer suits your situation better.
Budget tools
Two calculators turn the ranges on this page into your number. The cost calculator takes a breed and a city and returns a first-year and monthly estimate for that combination; the comparison tool puts a Shih Tzu next to other breeds you are considering, side by side.
- Dog cost calculator — first-year and monthly estimate for one breed in one city.
- Breed cost comparison — the Shih Tzu against the other breeds on your shortlist.
Shih Tzu cost: frequently asked questions
How much does a Shih Tzu cost?
A Shih Tzu costs $1,500–$3,000 in the first year and $120–$250 a month after that, across the 51 US cities on this page. Those totals cover food, routine veterinary care, preventatives, grooming and insurance. The purchase price is separate and depends on where the dog comes from.
How much is a Shih Tzu puppy?
We do not publish a Shih Tzu puppy price, because we have not verified one against a source we trust. What is reliable is the direction: a breeder who screens the parents charges more than one who does not, and a rescue charges least. The running costs above are identical either way.
How much does a Shih Tzu cost per month?
A Shih Tzu costs $120–$250 a month after the first year, depending on the city. That figure covers food, flea and worm preventatives, an insurance premium and routine grooming. It excludes emergencies, which each city page budgets for separately as a recommended emergency fund.
Is a Shih Tzu expensive to own?
The Shih Tzu is more expensive than average to run compared with the other breeds we cost. At 9–16 lb, size sets the food and medication bill, very high grooming need sets the appointment cost, and the breed's documented health risks set the insurance premium. Where you live moves the total as much as the breed does.
What does a Shih Tzu cost over its lifetime?
The one breed-specific study we can cite put the whole-life cost of a Shih Tzu at $17,910, built from $1,720 in the first year excluding the purchase price and $1,180 for every adult year after it. Those are 2021 figures and today's equivalents are higher, so treat the number as the shape of the commitment — a five-figure total spread over 10–16 years — rather than as this year's budget.
How much is pet insurance for a Shih Tzu?
No published figure exists for insuring a Shih Tzu specifically. The US average across all dogs was $749.29 a year, or $62.44 a month, for accident-and-illness cover in 2024. Your own premium depends on the dog's age, your ZIP code, the deductible, the reimbursement rate and the annual limit, and a breed with documented hereditary conditions usually prices above that average. Only a carrier quote is a real number.
What is the cheapest way to get a Shih Tzu?
Adoption is the cheapest way to get a Shih Tzu: shelter and breed-specific rescue fees are well below breeder prices and usually include vaccination, microchipping and neutering already done, which removes several first-year line items. Breed rescues also take surrendered adults, so a specific breed is realistic through them.
The cheapest listing, by contrast, is rarely the cheapest dog. Skipping health screening moves cost from the purchase price into the vet bills, and for a breed with documented risks that is a bad trade.