Five Things You May Not Know About the Shar Pei
21 Sep 2009
Many centuries ago, a Chinese standard for dog breeding illustrated the appearance of the ideal shar pei. The eloquent and poetic text sketched the shar-pei as having a "grandmotherly face, water-buffalo neck, horse’s buttocks and dragon’s legs, clamshell ears, butterfly nose, melon-shaped head." Unusual as it may sound, the shar pei indeed seem to still fit the description after around two thousand years! Which of these five have you noticed or observed in a shar pei you know?
1. The coat of the sharpei dog is a source of many interesting details already. For example, touching the tough, brush-like hair on the main trunk of the body produces a tingling sensation. The coat style can vary from dog to dog according to three classifications, namely: horse coat, brush coat, and bear coat. This last one does not meet breed standards and therefore is not shown.
With regard to the coat color, the AKC actually recognizes up to fourteen different colors! Non-solid color sharpeis are disqualified from competitions by the club.
2. A very important behavior issue that cannot miss any discussion is shar pei aggression, which is manifested in improperly bred and reared dogs. These seem like echoes of the dark days of the breed when it was once in a while bred to be recreational fighting dogs. In an untrained dog, this is observed when it is near other dogs, or other smaller animals.
3. Have you observed a link between the dog's coat and its relative need for shar pei training? The nature of the breed's behavior and temperament indicate that the breed will benefit tremendously from early training. But the horse coat will need it the most in the form of early socialization with visitors, children, and other animals. Otherwise, the horse coat shar pei fails to mature properly, and grows into stubborn, very independent minded, and highly territorial dogs. All these traits are the conditions for a host of even more serious behavior issues later on.
{4. The second coat type is the brush coat. This sibling of the horse coat grows into a well-built, powerful dog. Such a state of adulthood is enough reason for this coat type to deserve early socialization and training! The brush coat is not as high-energy, as strong willed or as territorial as its sibling, and will be often seen lazing around.}
5. Despite what most of popular media have said about the shar pei breed, there is really not much weight in supporting the idea of shar peis being bred to be well-known fighting dogs. A Hongkong breeder once even wrote that those who bred fighting shar peis in the seventies will vouch for the inability of most of their wards to master the bull terrier or the staffordshire bull terrier. If at that time there were shar peis worth remembering as champions, these were however the exceptions.
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