The Chinese Shar-pei is a very interesting looking dog that can be very loyal to it's owners although it is not particularly good with children.

Description

The Chinese Shar pei is a medium sized dog known for it's wrinkled skin. This dog was a popular breed owned by up and coming professionals in the 1980s but it's popularity has waned somewhat. Standing at 18-20 inches high and weighing in at between 40-55 pounds it is a very sturdy looking dog.
The Shar-pei has a broad flat head and wide muzzle. It's tongue is blue black and it's dark eyes are small, deep set, and almond shaped. It has small high set rectangle shaped ears and it's tail is thick at the base but tapers to a fine point at the end.

Puppies look cute and comical with their vast wrinkling folds much of the wrinkles are lost as the dog grows into adulthood though in most cases the face remains highly wrinkled. The Shar-pei's coat comes in 3 varieties: horse, brush and bear. The bear coat is the rarest coat for the Shar-pei and is not recognized By the AKC.

Personality

The Shar-pei is a highly intelligent, playful, brave dog that is very dominant. Anyone who owns this dog needs to assert their role as leader or problems will develop. For this reason this breed is not considered to be good with children as they can give way to their more aggressive tendencies with anyone they feel they can dominate. Obedience training for this dog is strongly advised for both the dog to learn his proper role and the owner to learn how to maintain the upper hand.

While this dog does have a very strong personality and needs a strong and firm handed master he can be extremely loyal and protective to those who he adores. He will also need someone with a lot of patience to become properly socialized and may if not supervised cause harm to other pets and even humans.

Training and socializing should begin early in puppy hood before this dog becomes too domineering and set in his ways.

Grooming

This dog requires daily brushing and weakly bathing as well as normal and proper dental and nail care. The most serious illness that may affect this breed of dog is that he is prone to kidney failure and sensitive to warm weather.

A Chinese Shar-pei can be the idea dog for someone who has experience raising dogs and knows how to train them properly and has the time to properly supervise this dog. He needs normal exercise and while he can live in an apartment he needs to have a daily exercise to remain healthy and happy.

It is best not to own this dog if you have small children or grandchildren that visit frequently as this dog will tend to ride roughshod over them and can become aggressive. When out in public this dog should be kept on a leash at all times if there are other animals or children around.