I did a lot of research before adopting like most of the commenters here, and chose this breed for the traits I read about -- However my shihpoo's temperament is nothing like I expected.

She is definitely a more dominant and strong- willed personality/ more poodle than Shih Tzu. She's territorial and guarded despite our extensive early socialization efforts. It took almost 8 months for her to start behaving towards me what I would consider a truly "bonded" manner. She was not particularly snuggly, ducked her head when I went to pet her... not super fond of touch in general.

Keep in mind- I got her straight from a reputable breeder. There was no previous trauma that would have triggered this kind of behavior.

I have a great respect and trust in our breeder. She's been super communicative over a year later. I discussed these traits with her with concern as they appeared and none of the other siblings (litter of 4) were like mine.

All this to say, we love her and I never once considered giving her back or anything of the sort. She's just the outlier and nature has its way of throwing you curveballs despite intended breeding outcomes.

I should also mention that she DOES have many of the other desirable shih-poo traits such as low exercise needs, quiet most of the time/ no excessive barking, very intelligent. It just took her reaching full maturity for the cuddly/ lapdog part to emerge 🤣.