Is this typical shitzu behavior?

Yes to all of your questions! We have a shih tzu and they are wonderful companions... I highly recommend them! They prefer company, but don't mind if you leave them at home. Since we've adopted ours, she's never had an accident in the house. Shih Tzus can be stubborn but are generally wonderful dogs. Ours is wonderful with my son who has special needs. They do require regular grooming. If you keep their hair long, then you'll need to brush them daily (or every other day at least) to avoid matting. You can keep them shorter which is easier to maintain.

Our puppy loves the sound of his own bark :P so he barks quite often. His watchdog-ness has just recently started showing as well - he's 5 months a bit. If someone comes to the door or through the house without greeting him he stands and do, what i call, chicken barks - short 'ruff's and barks as if he were a large breed dog! He is very attached and we barely leave him anywhere. Small dog breeds are supposed to be harder to housebreak however as someone is in our house usually 24 hours a day our puppy was near enough housebroken from the beginning. He had a couple of accidents the first couple of days home but after that he was let outside regularly and now tells us when he wants to go out. They are intelligent dogs so teaching trick commands is fairly easy - all of the Shih Tzu i know can do many tricks. They do require daily washing of the eyes and regular grooming, especially if owners cut off their moustache hair (it grows very quickly and if gotten in the eyes can result in eye ulsers - our shih tzu has his moustache and top knot, makes him more oriental looking and is my prefered look). Shih Tzu are known to be a very social breed that love humans and animals too - we have a cat and he gets on fine with him :]

His name means little lion, but there's nothing fierce about this dog. The Shih Tzu is a lover, not a hunter. Bred solely to be a companion, the Shih Tzu is an affectionate, happy, outgoing housedog who loves nothing more than to follow his people from room to room. In recent years, however, owners have started taking the Shih Tzu off their laps and into dog sports, training him for obedience, rally, and agility competitions.

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we had a shih tzu for a long time and he was a great dog. That sounds like normal behavior to me. Shih tzu's aren't big on barking, and are very easy to train. Mine had really bad skin allergies, so that was a pain...also, since they are long haired they need to be brushed/groomed regularly, we kept ours clipped just because of the skin issues. All in all, a great dog to have!!!

I have a Shih-Poo (Shih Tzo Poodle mix) and you could be describing him to a Tee! However, you need to keep in mind that all dogs have their own personality and while certain traits may be dominant in a breed, each will be their own "person". Proper training has a tremendous impact on a dog's behavior.

yes i am getting a dog and i was goin to get a yorkie but i heard so muchgood things about a shih tzu i might get one

They're awesome dogs. They sometimes keep to themselves. I have one and she does her own thing. She plays with my jack russell a lot. They don't shed, they love to play and they're small so you can take them out with you.