What’s a Shar Pei?

These dogs are easily recognizable and most people know them as those “wrinkly face dogs”. The Chinese Shar Pei is a very cute dog, and today I am going to focus on various aspects of the breed to get you better acquainted with them! Happy reading!

Physical Description of the Shar Pei:

Height: around 20 inches

Weight: between 40 and 55 lbs

Life Expectancy: 10 years

The Shar Pei is considered a medium sized dog who is easily distinguished by his incredibly wrinkly skin. The skin can be tight or loosely wrinkled, and their fur falls into two major categories: the brush-coat and the horse-coat. The brush-coat is longer, and is softer to the touch than the horse-coat. The horse-coat fur is short and prickly to touch. The coat can be any solid color, and another cute feature of the Shar Pei is his curly tail - bearing close resemblance to a pig’s!

Personality of the Shar Pei:

The Shar Pei is very playful and will bond extremely close to his owners and shy around strangers. They are very loyal and the key to good training lies with the trainer! You must be confident in your role with your Shar Pei, otherwise he will become the boss. They can be stubborn at times, but will respond with firm, gentle training methods.

A strange quirk of the Shar Pei is their hatred of water! They will do anything they can to avoid getting wet. One great thing about the Shar Pei: they are incredibly easy to housetrain, and almost have the ability to train themselves!

Exercising Your Shar Pei:

As with all other dogs, the Shar Pei needs to be taken on a daily walk. This will drain him of energy and make him easier to handle. Shar Peis have a padded head which makes them incredibly sensitive to the heat. If you are walking him on a hot day be sure he has plenty of shade and water to drink…..MAKE SURE HE DOES NOT OVERHEAT!!

Living Requirements for a Shar Pei:

The Shar Pei will do well in a home or apartment (if in an apartment make sure he gets plenty of exercise). Also, he will do well in an environment with or without a large yard. As stated above, make sure your yard has plenty of shade and that he has fresh water at all times to ensure he is comfortable in the summer months!

Common Health Issues of the Shar Pei:

It has long been thought the skin of the Shar Pei increases his risk for skin conditions, this is not the case. Skin conditions are a hereditary disease and you should have your Shar Pei tested before purchasing. Symptoms of kidney failure include fevers with no distinguishable cause or origin, and swollen hocks syndrome. If you see signs of these, contact your veterinarian at once!!

If you have pictures of your Shar Pei, please send them to: dsheffler@petstrong.com

Thanks for reading! As always your participation in comments and discussions are encouraged and greatly appreciated!!