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Shar Peis are also at an increased risk of demodicosis, a disease which happens when Demodex canis mites proliferate and cause skin irritation, inflammation and infection. Dogs with allergic skin disease often get allergy-induced skin infections. Ĭompared to other breeds, Shar Peis have an increased risk of developing atopic dermatitis, a chronic allergic skin disease. The American breed club states that few Shar Peis reach the age of 10 and it has a longevity program recording those dogs that live to 10 years or more. This resulted in not only a dramatically different look for the Shar Pei (as its most distinctive features, including its wrinkles and rounded snout, were exaggerated), but also many health problems. Health īecause of its popularity after being introduced to North America in the 1970s, the breed suffered much inexperienced or rushed breeding. The breed has straight, well boned, muscular legs below sloping shoulders and a medium length broad tail that is curled over their back in a manner typical of spitz-type dogs. The breed's head is relatively large compared to its body with a broad muzzle that usually darker than the rest of the coat and well padded causing a bulge at its base, the ears are set wide apart and are small and triangular, and the eyes are set very deeply into the folds of skin on the head. The Chinese breed standard states they have clam-shell ears, butterfly nose, melon-shaped head, grandmotherly face, water buffalo neck, horse's buttocks and dragon's legs. Īdult Shar Peis typically stand between 44 and 51 centimetres (17 and 20 in) and weigh between 16 and 20 kilograms (35 and 44 lb), they have a short, very harsh coat that can be any solid colour except white, although black, red, fawn and cream are the most common. This dog falls within the same genetic group as the Chow Chow, the Akita, the Shiba Inu, the Malamute and the Greenland dog. This is most clearly seen with the two breeds both possessing unique blue-black tongues. The breed resembles many dog breeds from the mastiff family however, it is most closely related to spitz breeds, with the Chow Chow being its closest relative. The Shar Pei is a short-coated medium-sized breed of dog, renowned for its excessively wrinkled skin. "Meat-mouth" Shar Pei showing the blue-black tongue Standing to a maximum 40 centimetres (16 in), the Miniature Shar Pei is bred for both for its smaller size and increased wrinkles. In the United States, a number of breeders have selectively bred Shar Peis for a smaller size, creating what they call the Miniature Shar Pei, much to the opposition of many breeders of traditionally sized Shar Peis. Some breeders in Hong Kong maintain the traditional bone-mouth type, although it is estimated only 50 to 100 examples of this type remain. The cause of saving the breed was taken up in the United States by enthusiastic breeders using the dogs smuggled there in the 1970s, a breed club was founded and it received American Kennel Club recognition in 1992, with breed standard specifying a meat-mouth type dog. The results of the crossings led to a dog with a much fleshier mouth than the original breed, these dogs became known as "meat-mouth" Shar Peis, whilst the original dogs are called "bone-mouth" Shar Peis. The resultant publicity led to great demand in the United States for examples of the breed, and unscrupulous breeders in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan took to crossing their remaining purebred animals with other breeds including the Bull Terrier, Pug and Bulldog, and selling the offspring to unwitting American buyers. In 1973 a Hong Kong businessman named Matgo Law appealed to the international community, in particular the American Kennel Club, to help save the breed by 1978 the breed was named by The Guinness Book of Records as the world’s rarest breed, with only 60 remaining. The Shar Pei was once very popular, but the political turmoil in China in the 20th century was to take its toll on the breed and by the 1970s it was close to extinction.
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The breed has been identified as a basal breed that predates the emergence of the modern breeds in the 19th century.
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There are no records indicating the origins of the Shar Pei, although it closely resembles effigies of an un-wrinkled type of guard dog kept in southern China during the Han dynasty some believe the modern breed, along with the Chow Chow, descends from these dogs.