"Imperial" Shih Tzu

I took my pups to doggie daycare today and there was a cute little puppy in the little dog room that looked like a shih tzu puppy. I asked the lady who worked there if it was indeed a shih, and she said the owners had said he is an "Imperial" shih tzu. Basically a shih that is bred smaller and costs more! The owners probably think the dog is a special breed and all . Anybody here ever heard of an Imperial Shih Tzu?

It's a fancy name for a tiny or "tea cup" version of the breed. It's not recognized in any clubs.....

^^ yep
ive heard of them i hate those words

Yes I've heard of them. The imperials are actually smaller than the tea cups. They cost a fortune and have tons and tons of health issues. Most importantly the eyes. It's a large, buggy eyed breed to begin with (I should know I've owned them my entire life and LOVE shih tzus) When you have those eyes in a smaller skull it spells disaster.
I've seen cases where the tea cup and imperials will just sneeze and dislodge an eye. And by dislodge I mean it falls out of their head and has to be removed surgically.
I saw one at the dog park, and was horrified, I at first went up to the dog started petting it and asked the lady how many months old it was and she said "Tiny is 13!" I was like "Oh, why so small, was it a resuce from a puppy mill? poor little thing" The owner was less than impressed.

a mate at my school told me he got a miniature prince dexter maltese which is a special breed of maltese and i'm like theres only one type of maltese and then he was like, you don't no anything about dogs and i was like, at least i didnt pay extra for a dog just because of its name lol

The things people will do for a buck and 'bragging rights'.