Short stretches and cool air: the route a flat face needs
A Shih Tzu's evacuation route should be measured in short, cool stages, because that flat face breathes poorly in heat and stress. Plan two routes in different directions, break each into modest driving stretches, and mark shaded stops where he can step out, drink, and cool down. Keep the car itself cool throughout, with air flowing to the back seat where his carrier rides secured, and never leave him in a parked vehicle in warm weather while you run an errand. Practise both routes on mild days with the carrier in place, so the journey is familiar and his first long ride does not coincide with smoke, sirens, and a household in a hurry.
Shelter judged on air conditioning and indoor housing
For this breed, the shelter question is whether he will sleep in cooled, indoor space with people nearby. Relatives outside the risk zone make the best first option, particularly anyone he already visits happily. Hotels that take small dogs come next; confirm he stays in your room, since a Shih Tzu left alone in a strange room tends to bark and scratch at the door. Kennels need direct questions: are toy breeds housed indoors with cooling, will staff wipe his face and keep the hair out of his eyes daily, and what happens to flat-faced dogs during a power cut?
The coat and eyes are care tasks, not cosmetics
A Shih Tzu in a full or even a trimmed coat picks up the emergency in his hair: dust, burrs, matting under the harness, and damp that works into tangles within days. Pack his brush, a comb, and the wipes you use for his face, and put a ten-minute daily groom into his shelter routine so whoever hosts him treats it as care, not fussiness. His eyes need the fringe kept clear and any discharge wiped away gently each day. Note his normal grooming rhythm on his information sheet, including how he is held for it, because a dog who stands sweetly for a familiar routine may wriggle and snap at a stranger doing it wrong.
His kit: small bag, specific contents
Keep his go-bag beside his carrier: his usual food in daily portions, since toy stomachs rebel at sudden changes, water and a shallow bowl, harness rather than a collar for walks, lead and spare, waste bags, and a blanket from his own bed. Add a spare topknot band or clips if he wears them, a towel for a wet belly and feet, his records, microchip number, and a photograph that shows his face and markings with the hair tied up and down, because a found Shih Tzu's appearance changes dramatically with grooming. Tape your phone number and his breathing warning to the carrier: if he pants noisily or struggles for air in heat, he needs cool air and a veterinarian, fast.
Breathing trouble outranks the destination
During any evacuation with a Shih Tzu, noisy breathing at rest, a tongue turning dusky, frantic panting that does not ease in cool air, or collapse are not problems to monitor on the way; they mean stop, cool him, and get veterinary help immediately, even if the planned shelter is close. Build emergency clinic locations along both routes into the written plan so that decision takes seconds. If separation happens instead (a shelter that cannot take him, a hospital detour), act locally and at once, because a small, friendly dog is usually picked up by someone nearby. KinsLe's Circle of Love puts those nearby pet lovers on free accounts into one local network, which is how word of a lost or temporarily fostered Shih Tzu travels faster than a poster on a single lamppost.