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The others have a temperament which varies from wary to insanely paranoid …

On my consulting room table this week is Humphrey the Sharpei, there are only a couple of them in the practice, the others have a temperament which varies from wary to insanely paranoid but Humphrey is an exception,he is friendly to a fault. This is an unusual breed with a long history, I am told by friends who speak Cantonese as a first language that the two words shar pei probably means yellow skin or sand skin, there is no plural in Cantonese so you have one Sharpei and many Sharpei, must be a confusing language! Records relating to this breed go back to the Han Dynasty meaning about 200 BC, in any case statues which resemble the modern Sharpei have been found dating from that period. In olden times they were used as guard dogs, herding dogs and they were also a delicacy, as you will know dogs are eaten to this day in parts of China and Asia. They were also used as fighting dogs as the Chinese are great gamblers but an influx of mastiffs and other large western breeds in the eighteenth century stopped this as the smaller Sharpei was no match for the larger imported western fighting dogs. They may be related in some way to the Chow another Chinese breed as both dogs have blue tongues. The Sharpei’s origin as a fighting breed is shown today in his short fuse temperament, tiny ears, and of course the very large jaws and teeth as well as his trademark wrinkles. This breed is so wrinkled that it is said that if another dogs bites it on its rear end it can turn inside its owns skin and and bite its attacker, the puppies have the most wrinkles and this feature of the breed reduces somewhat as they get older.

In the middle of the last century the People’s Republic of China was a very strict communist nation and the dog population of China was almost eliminated as the result of political directives. A few Sharpei remained in Hong Kong and Taiwan but the population was so reduced that The Guiness Book of Records named them as the worlds rarest dog breed at that time and they were close to extinction. However some breed enthusiasts sent breeding pairs to America, interest in the dogs grew and over the last forty years the breed has become more popular and their numbers, all over the world, are increasing all the time.

It’s been said that if you feel like supporting your local vet by providing him with loads of money then get a Sharpei! The breed suffers from a lot of inherited problems. This includes eye problems such as entropion which is an in turning of the eyelids which causes eye ulceration, they also get skin diseases such as demodex and kidney disease, hip problems are common to. The large number of wrinkles predisposes to eczemas as you get infections in the folds. The ear canals and folded ear flaps limit air circulation in the ear and this can lead to infections. Ear smells and shaking the head or scratching at the ear are early indications of infection so owners should check ears frequently so that these symptoms don’t get a hold. Another endearing quality of this breed is that they grunt and snort when awake and snore loudly when they sleep, also they can be very expensive to buy. Having said all this would I recommend anyone to get a Sharpei pup? well who am I to dictate which dog breed a person should buy, that is up to the individual. Clearly the Sharpei is not every one’s cup of tea but Humphrey is a good ambassador for his breed.