Description

The Chinese Shar Pei is a medium sized dog with wrinkled skin, sturdy build, alert and dignified stature. The wrinkled skin on its face and body makes it stand out from the crowd, along with its expression which is filled with sulkiness and crossness. It even looks positively mournful sometimes, due to its skin and face wrinkles. It is compact with a square profile and a broad, flat head. Its head is slightly larger in proportion to the body, but not excessively. Its tongue is blue black n color, while the teeth meet in a scissors bite. It has small, sunken, almond shaped eyes which are dark generally but can be lighter in dogs with dilute colored coats. It has a high set triangular ear which is quite small and even round at the tips. The very high set tail makes its up tilted anus visible and is quite thick at the base and tapers to a point and curls over to both side of the back which is one of the most characterized features of the breed. The dewclaws are removed sometimes. The breed has both small headed dogs with tight skins and heavily wrinkled dogs with large heads. The puppies in this breed have more wrinkles than the adults, and the Shar Pei loses it as it grows older except the wrinkles on the head, neck and withers. The muscular and well set sloping shoulder display a broad and deep chest with the brisket extending to the elbow and then rising a bit under the loin. The hindquarters the Shar Pei is very muscular and the hocks are short and perpendicular to the ground and are also parallel to each other when viewed from the back. When the dog moves at a very high speed, the feet seem to converge into a center line. It has good forward reach along with a strong drive from the hindquarters.

Coat

The coat of the Shar-Pei is short, straight, and close fitting. It has three different varieties of coat:

The horse coat: This coat is stiff and stands straight off of the body. It is quite unusual, rough, prickly, and off standing.

The brush coat: If the topcoat and undercoat does not exceed 1 inch anywhere on the body, it is called brush coat. It is long and quite smooth and can be of different colors like the black, red, silver, chocolate, sable, cream and fawn.

The bear coat: If the topcoat and undercoat exceed 1 inch and is a throwback to the Chow-Chow. It is quite rare and is not recognized by the American Kennel Club.  The main difference between the brush-coat and horse-coat is its tail. The presence of a "snake-tail" is a horse-coat while that of a "brush tail" is a brush-coat

History

The Chinese Shar-Pei is believed to have existed in the southern provinces of China for centuries and can be traced back to Kwung Tung’s province. It is known as the dog of peasants and helped the peasants to guard the family and home, helped in cattle herding, protecting stock and was also a qualified hunter of wild pigs mainly. Its rough and prickly coat proved to be excellent in dog fighting pits because it allowed it to wiggle out of the grasp of the opponent. In China it is referred as fighting dogs while in Canada and the United States it is referred to as guard dogs, both reflecting the same idea that the dog was used for protection. It is believed that the Shar-Pei shares a common origin with the Chow Chow, due to its blue black mouth and tongue and the Great Pyrenees due to the double dewclaws, and also the Tibetan Mastiff. Along with this, it is believed that the first Shar-Pei appeared as a mutation. Before the establishment of the People's Republic of China as a communist nation, the Shar Pei’s population was virtually wiped out.  Matgo Law, a Hong Kong businessman, with his dedication to the breed acquired a small number of these dogs and brought them to the United States in the 1960's and 1970's and attracted people’s attention with the help of an American magazine. The Chinese Shar-Pei was first recognized by the American Kennel Club in 1992.

Temperament

The Chinese Shar-Pei is a highly intelligent, playful, active, dominant, brave, dignified, independent and snobbish dog. It can be standoffish with strangers but remains devoted and dedicated to its family. Due to its history as herders and guard dogs, it is extremely alert and has a confident stature. Despite its frowning and scowling expression, it is a very calm and easy going dog. The Shar-Pei is an excellent family dog and is always devoted to its family and owners and also makes an excellent companion and watch dog. It generally does well with children and other pets around them if socialized when young and so it is very important for this breed to be socialized around with other dogs.  Shar-Pei is extremely dominant and independent natured and thus it is necessary that it has a confident owner who can show the dog who is the boss. If the handler is uncertain, inconsistent, too soft, or mild, in the dog's eyes, it will take over as boss and become very dominant. It is suggested that Shar-Pei needs good experienced dog owners and will refuse commands and instructions from family members who do not have an established level of dominance over it. Also, if it is not taken for daily pack walks, it will begin to display a wide range of behavioral issues. It is an easy going breed, and can be friendly when well socialized, but can also be fiercely aloof and independent. It has a history of being involved in the dog fight pits and therefore can be aggressive towards other dogs.

The Shar-Pei highly dislikes water and tends to avoid it for baths, but is known to enter ponds, lakes, rivers, oceans etc. depending on its wish. However, it is an excellent house pet because it is considered to be very clean. Despite its desire for cleanliness, it does shed some and tends to drool and slobber especially when in pain.

Health Problems

The Shar Pei has a few major health problems to look out for. It is prone to kidney failure (amolydosis) which can cause swollen hocks syndrome and fever. Some Shar Pei also have skin problems, which is hereditary and not because of the wrinkles. It can also get affected with entropion, cancer, thyroid problems, HD, autoimmune problems, bloat, and is quite sensitive to chemicals and medications. It also has complications like hypothyroidism, vomiting, diarrhea, and also a painful swelling of the muzzle. The life expectancy of the Chinese Shar-Pei is about 7-12 years, but they rarely live over the age of 10.

Grooming

The Chinese Shar Pei requires low or minimal grooming and does need require to be brushed regularly to remove its dead hair and is brushed daily during the shedding season to minimize the amount of shedding. Despite the low maintenance, special attention needs to be given to the ears of the Shar-Pei and it is quite essential to never wash its head. If water enters the ear of the Shar Pei, it can cause serious problem for it. It has very tiny ear canals, and thus water in it can cause ear infections. Some even tend to pick up a lot of dirt and wax and this should be cleaned prior to bathing. It should be bathed once a month, and it is useful to use rubber brush to get rid of some of the shed. Skin problem is prevalent in this breed, and so human shampoos should not be used and special dog shampoos should be used instead. Special attention should be given to the skin between the folds and drying them completely after bathe is also very essential. It should be dried with drier on moderate heat and a light amount of special grooming powder can be used in the folds for ensuring that the dampness is gone. Many a times it becomes difficult to groom the Shar Pei by the owner due to its affinity to water and hence professional grooming is required.  The harsh coat of the Shar Pei can sometimes cause problems to people who are prone to allergies.

Exercise

The Shar-Pei needs a considerable amount of exercise. The head of a Shar Pei is padded and is quite sensitive to heat and so it is pretty important to make sure that it gets access to water and shade when outdoors. When outdoor, over exercise should be avoided if it is really hot outside. Due to its sensitive ear, it should be made sure that water does not get into its ears. Due it tendency to adapt better in cold weathers than in warm weathers, it is an excellent dog for moderate or cooler climates.

Training

Training the Shar-Pei is very important right from a young age. It is very important to socialize it at an early age. Due to its attitude of getting aggressive with other dogs, other animals should be brought close to it from a young age to reduce this. It will protect and defend its owner if it feels that there is a threat and adjusts very well to being a family dog and is loyal to the family.

The dominant and stubborn nature of the Shar Pei makes training quite difficult and so, it’s important for the trainer to have a strong, direct, and consistent training. If the handler is soft, mild, inconsistent in their commands and training, the Shar-Pei will take an upper hand and become dominant and bossy. Thus, firm handling is the best way for this dog and along with that, it is important that the dog, in a family setting gets trained to respond to all the members of the family in the same way.