Posted by Waste Happy on September 10, 2026

How Much Does a Shih Tzu Poop?

Quick answer: an adult Shih Tzu weighs 9 to 16 pounds and produces roughly 1.2 to 3.3 ounces of stool a day on dry kibble. That is about 0.7 to 1.9 ounces per pile, and 28 to 75 pounds a year.

How we worked that out

How much a dog produces tracks how much it eats, and how much it eats scales with body weight, but not in a straight line. Vets estimate a dog's daily energy need as 70 times its weight in kilograms raised to the 0.75 power, which means small dogs eat more per pound than big ones, and so produce more per pound too. We ran each breed's weight range through that formula, divided by the energy in typical dry kibble, and applied the measured ratio of stool to food eaten. As a check, the model predicts 62 to 105 grams a day for a 19 pound beagle, and lab beagles of that weight on kibble measured 90 grams.

For a Shih Tzu, that comes to about 0.8 to 1.36 percent of body weight a day. How often a dog goes does not really depend on breed. Most adult dogs go about once a day, and two or three times is normal (PetMD). Diet and fiber drive frequency far more than breed does. So a big breed does not need more bags than a small one. It needs bigger, tougher ones.

Diet moves the numbers a lot. In one study of lab beagles, dogs on fresh cooked food produced about 38 percent less stool than on kibble, and dogs on raw diets about 56 to 59 percent less (source). Every figure on this page assumes dry kibble.

What Shih Tzu owners should know

Enteropathy: in UK primary care, gastrointestinal disease (enteropathy) affected 10.5% of Shih Tzus in one year and was tied for the most common cause of death (7.9%). (source)
Anal sac disorders: Shih Tzus had increased odds vs crossbreds; brachycephalic dogs overall had 2.6 times the odds of dolichocephalic dogs. (source)
UK primary-care study of acute diarrhea (2019): Shih Tzus OR 0.97 (95% CI 0.72-1.31) vs crossbreeds, not statistically different. (source)

Any sudden change in your dog's stool, especially with vomiting, lethargy or blood, is a reason to call your vet rather than wait. Our dog poop color chart covers what the common changes can mean.

Real Shih Tzus weigh more than the standard

Breed standards describe the ideal dog, not the average pet. A large study of Shih Tzus under UK veterinary care recorded mean 7.9 kg (17.4 lb); males 8.5 kg, females 7.3 kg (source). At that real-world weight, the same model gives about 2.0 to 3.5 ounces a day. The same study recorded diarrhea 2.9% one-year prevalence (95% CI 2.3-3.7); grouped enteropathy 10.5%; anal sac disorder 8.7%.

Cleanup with a Shih Tzu

AKC standard explicitly allows trimming 'feet, bottom of coat, and anus' for neatness. The long, flowing double coat is the textbook case for a sanitary trim.

How the Shih Tzu compares

Of the 60 breeds we covered, the Shih Tzu ranks #53 for daily output. Here it is beside the breeds closest to it in size:

Breed	Adult weight	Daily output
Havanese	7 to 13 lb	1.0 to 2.8 oz
Italian Greyhound	7 to 14 lb	1.0 to 3.0 oz
Russell Terrier	9 to 15 lb	1.2 to 3.1 oz
Shih Tzu	9 to 16 lb	1.2 to 3.3 oz
Bichon Frise	12 to 18 lb	1.5 to 3.6 oz

What that means for the bag

Size is not the issue for a Shih Tzu. Any bag fits. Small dogs tend toward firmer, drier stool, so pickup is usually easy. What matters day to day is a bag that opens fast with one hand and tears cleanly off the roll while the other hand holds the leash.

For your own number of bags, the bag quiz gives it to you, and how many poop bags you need shows the math.

Common questions