Videos Chinese Shar Pei Breed Information
Alternative names -
Shar Pei,
Chinese Fighting Dog
Country of origin -
China
Classification and breed standards
AKC:|Non-Sporting|Stds
ANKC:|Group 7
(Non-Sporting)|Stds
CKC:|Group
6 - Non-Sporting|Stds
KC
(UK):|Utility|Stds
NZKC:|Non-sporting|Stds
UKC:|Northern
Breeds|Stds
The Shar Pei is a breed of dog that
originated in China and has the distinctive
features of deep wrinkles and a blue-black tongue. The name (??,
pinyin: sha pí; English name probably
derived from British spelling of Cantonese equivalent sa pčih)
translates to "sand skin," and refers to the texture of
its short, rough coat. As puppies, Shar Pei have lots of wrinkles, but as they mature, the wrinkles
disappear as they "grow into their skin". Shar pei's
were once named as one of the world's rarest dog breeds by
Time magazine and the Guinness Book of World
Records, and the American Kennel Club did not
recognize the breed until 1991.
1. Appearance
Shar Pei come in many colors: red (rose), sand, cream, black,
and blue, and have the same characteristic blue-black tongue of the
Chow Chow. Loose skin and wrinkles
cover the head, neck, and body of puppies, but adult Shar Pei most
often grow into their skin so that these features are limited to
the head, neck and whithers.
Shar Pei usually come in two varieties: one is covered in large
folds of wrinkles, even into adulthood (the Western type), and the
other variation's skin seems tighter on its body, with wrinkles
just on the face and at the whithers (the original type).
Small, triangular ears, a muzzle shaped like that of a hippopotamus, and a high set tail also give
the Shar Pei a unique look. For show standard, "the tail is
thick and round at the base, tapering to a fine point" (AKC
standard February 28, 1998).
The Shar Pei also comes in three coat types, Horse, Brush and
Bear Coat.
The Horse Coat has short bristly hair and is closer to the
original Shar Pei breed in looks and coat type than the Brush or
Bear Coat. The Horse Coat is generally thought to be more active
than the Brush Coat.
Brush Coats have a slightly longer coat and are softer to the
touch than the Horse Coat. The Brush Coat is generally thought to
be more of a 'couch potato' than the Horse Coat.
Unlike the two coat types above, the Bear Coat does not meet
breed standards and therefore cannot be shown. The coat is much
longer than the Brush and Horse Coat, so much so, in most cases you
can't see the famous wrinkles. A Bear Coat can occur in any
litter.
The plural of Shar Pei is actually Shar Pei.
2. Health
The Shar Pei is prone to health issues. A common problem caused
by irresponsible breeding is a painful eye condition, entropion, in which the eyelashes curl inward,
irritating the eye. Untreated, it can cause blindness. This
condition can be fixed by surgery ("tacking" the eyelids
up so they will not roll onto the eyeball for puppies or surgically
removing extra skin in adolescent and older Shar Pei). Allergy-induced skin infections can be a problem in this
breed caused by poorly selected breeding stock. Shar Pei fever is also a serious problem
for the breed. The disease causes short fevers lasting up to 24
hours, after which there may be no recurrence or they may recur at
more frequent intervals and become more serious. A possibly related
disease is called amyloidosis, and is
caused by unprocessed amyloid proteins depositing in the organs,
most often in the kidneys or liver, leading to renal failure. At
this time there is no test for these seemingly prevalent
diseases.
Recently, dry foods have been formulated that are specifically
made for breeds such as the Chinese Shar Pei that are prone to skin
allergies or sores. Shar Pei whose food intake is restricted to
these allergy-free dry foods and receive an antihistamine or two
daily will enjoy much healthier lives with little or no skin
irritation, itching, or sores common to the breed. In
addition, feeding dry/wet foods that do not contain any wheat or
wheat gluten products may help prevent allergies from
developing.
3. Temperament
The Shar-Pei is known for being a naturally independent and
reserved breed. Shar-Peis are often suspicious of strangers, which
is related to their origins as guard dogs. Nevertheless, the
Shar-Pei is extremely devoted, loyal and affectionate to its
family, and is amenable to accepting strangers given time and
proper introduction. If poorly socialized or trained, it can become
especially territorial and aggressive. Even friendly and
well-socialized individuals will retain the breed's watch dog proclivities (such as barking at
strangers). Chinese Shar-Pei were originally bred for fighting in
China. Whilst this breed is adorable it is also very protective of
its home and family, a powerful dog that is willing to guard its
family members at all costs. The breed is amenable to training, but
can get bored from repetition. Overall, the Shar-Pei is a dog that
is loyal and loving to its family while being very protective &
independent.
4. History
The Shar Pei breed comes from the Guangdong province of China where it was
well-known as a fighting and guard dog.
The original Shar-pei from China looked very different from the
breed now popular in the West. People in southern China, Hong Kong,
and Macau differentiate the Western type and the original type by
calling them respectively "meat-mouth" and
"bone-mouth" Shar-pei.
Originally, the intense loyalty of the Shar Pei defined its work
-- guarding the Chinese royal family.
The dogs are ideally suited for defense; the small ears and
deep-set eyes are tough to grab and if grabbed on the skin, the
wrinkles enable the dog to turn around and bite back. At one point
they were close to extinction, and
were listed in the Guinness Book of World
Records as "The rarest dog in the world". Since
then, however, the Shar Pei has begun to thrive in many parts of
the world as an excellent family dog, due to their loving and
devoted nature, suggesting they may have originally been a utility
and companion breed rather than a fighting breed. A nickname for
the breed is "Golden Lion", referring to dogs who have a
light brown coat.
DNA analysis has concluded that
the Shar Pei is one of the most ancient dog breeds.
5. Famous Shar-Pei
* Lao-Tzu, Martin Prince's dog in The Simpsons, appeared in two episodes;
"Bart's Dog Gets an
F" and "Two Dozen and One
Greyhounds".
* Fu Dog from the Disney cartoon
American Dragon: Jake
Long is a Shar Pei.
* Satchel, from the syndicated comic strip Get Fuzzy, is half black lab and half Shar
Pei.
* Malcolm and Derek, from the TV version of Creature Comforts.
* A Shar Pei appears in the television show Lost as character Sun Kwon's pet, Bpo Bpo.
* In a British television advert for a 'Garnier' beauty
product, a Shar Pei puppy is featured. The 'Garnier' advert
is promoting an anti-wrinkle cream.
* Sharpay is a character in High School Musical who is rich and
pretty. Her name is a homonym of Shar Pei. "I mean, come on,
they named me after a flabby dog!" is a line stated by Sharpay
in the stage version
of "High School Musical"
* New Kids on the Block member Jonathon Knight had a Shar Pei
named Nikko that went on tour with him and appeared in many
magazine articles and pictures focused on the group.
* In Australia and New Zealand, a Shar Pei puppy named Toilet has been used for many years in television
commercials for Purex toilet paper.
* Popeye, a Shar Pei dog that appeared in Hong Kong TVB comedy shows.
* Zac Lichman from Big Brother had a Shar Pei
named Molly, who undertook a task on Day 55, and was also
reunited.
* Mikey (bassist of My Chemical
Romance) and Alicia Way have two Shar Peis named Piglet Tree
and Puddles.
* In a recent episode of BBC3 Reality
series Dog Borstal a Shar Pei named
Mia appeared, exhibiting virtually every negative aspect of the
breed including Shar Pei fever.
Trainer Robert Alleyne said of the
Shar Pei breed that they are "a genetic
disaster".
Copyright (c) 2008 Kitt Killion Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".
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