Titles: American Champion, Canadian Champion, Philippine Hall of Fame, #2 National Dog of the Year 2006 & 2007; The Philippines’ Top Winning SHIH TZU of ALL TIME (39 All Breed BEST IN SHOW wins and over 100 BEST IN SHOW placements).
Sire: Am & Can Ch Kaishi & Symarun’s Konstant
Dam: Am & Can Ch Symarun’s Apache Rose
Breeder: Carol & Carrie Randle

“The most talked about Shih Tzu in the Philippines” is the best phrase to describe this dog. This is another dog I co-owned with the Luys. I had to travel more than 24 hours across the sea to get him from Thunderbay, Ontario, Canada, where I spent five of the most memorable days of my life in the company of the Randle family, one of the nicest people I have met in the dog world. I was very impressed with the way mother Carol and daughter Carrie cared for their dogs. The kennel was immaculate and
everything so organized that it became a personal dream to have a kennel like SYMARUN.

Ricardo was a multiple Group 1 winner in Canada and as a puppy won BEST PUPPY IN SHOW at the American Shih Tzu Club’s National Specialty. He went back the following year and got an AWARD OF MERIT at the American Nationals following the footsteps of both his sire and dam who both won the same award during their time.

In his first show in the Philippines, Ricardo won an All-Breed BEST IN SHOW award. This was the first of many more awards to come. It took him a while to adjust to his new home as he missed his “mommy” Carrie. I had to work hard on him because he was so homesick he refused to eat. Every meal was a chore; hand feeding him everyday just to keep his weight on. Show-ring competitors started nasty rumors about him not being the “real” Ricardo. A ridiculous rumor which was going to straighten out by the great dog himself. As the months went on, he slowly accepted me as his “new mommy.” And when that special bond was established, he started to show his stuff. That was the time when the party really started. Winning a BEST IN SHOW placement became so easy that for Ricardo and I, it was just another day at the show. He was a show dog par excellence. In two-and-a-half years of showing, Ricardo garnered 39 All-Breed BEST IN SHOW
wins with over a hundred Best in Show placements (Runner-Up & BIS — 3) that we stopped counting the group wins. The Luy’s trophy room was filled and trophies, festooning the hallway leading to their office. To date, Ricardo is still the Philippines’ No. 1 All-Time Top-Winning Shih Tzu, while Cookie, is the No. 2 All- Time Top-Winning Shih Tzu. Words are not enough to describe this dog and how he influenced the dog scene. Because of the
dominance the breed in the show ring, the Shih Tzu (as of February 2010) is now the most popular breed in the Philippines four straight years in a row.