Meet the Shar-Pei

We Shar-Pei dogs are an ancient breed from China, and have been around since 200 B.C. That’s, like, furever! We were originally bred for hunting, guarding, and fighting, and we still act as family guard dogs to this day. 2,000 years ago, we were kept primarily as herding dogs by peasant farmers living in the southern provinces of China, until our popularity grew throughout the country and world. We were good boar hunters, and because of the skin over our eyes, it looked like we had a “warrior scowl” to better intimidate potential intruders. A long time ago, we were also kept by gamblers who used us as fighting dogs. This involved feeding us alcohol, training us to be aggressive, and encouraging us to fight with other dogs for sport. Over the years, other large dog breeds were introduced to China, and we slowly, thankfully stopped being used for dog fights. Now we’re family dogs!

During the Han Dynasty, we were so popular that many clay statues were made of our likeness. That just goes to show how long we’ve been around! Today some of the statues can be seen in places like the Louvre and the British Museum. As royal dogs, we were protectors of the rich and famous for many centuries. But after Mao Zedong came to power, we became less common. This is because we were heavily taxed as a noble luxury purchase. A few of us were transported to Taiwan and Hong Kong, so we survived, but we became so uncommon, in fact, that we almost became extinct - even holding a spot in the Guiness Book of World Records as the “World’s Rarest Dog Breed.” Lucky for you, that hasn’t been the case since 1978, and you can find plenty of Shar-Pei pups to parent today. We’re the 134th breed recognized by the American Kennel Club, but you know we’ve been around a lot longer than that.