shar peis oh so cute, but good idea or bad idea ?

[stokemeaclipper]

myself and DH have decided we want a dog, both have been around dogs, but never owned one.

I have had a lot of experience helping train other peoples dogs and have worked on farms with sheep dogs. And love walking dogs, even my friends staff, that pulls with everyone except me.

Dh has been around alot of family dogs, but never really in charge or them.

We work shifts, but have family and friends close by that are retired and would love a dog to walk. and have agreed to help us out, if we will be out for any long periods of time, though hopefully i will be working from home eventually.

So we can cope with being a strong dog owners as i have read shar peis can be dominant. I have read up on crate training and will be doing puppy classes to socialise the dog from 6 months.

Any advice on the breed, or for a new dog owner.

[Samvet]

I cannot advise you strongly enough NOT to do this. I am a very experienced vet and dog owner and these are some of the most aggressive dogs I have ever dealt with. As a new grad I remember having to use a dog catcher on a 6 month old one to sedate it for a spay. Why you should not not not not

1. They are very aggressive, socialized or not. It is genetic. Even the puppies. Totally unsafe with children.
   
2. Multiple multiple multiple health problems - you say you will 'look after' the skin. Doesn't mean anything I am afraid, the majority (all) need surgery to remove skin, eye problems (entropion) severe ear problems. This is both very expensive and not fair on the dogs. They are bred with faults causing health issues.
   
3. They stink and their hair is odd and digs into your skin, you find it hours after dealing with one, like tiny splinters. Yep yeast infections everywhere, and nail bed infections etc.
   

You are not experienced owners - I cannot stress enough what an enormous mistake this would be, plus ethically - these dogs are bred to look a certain way that results in chronic pain from multiple health issues (oh and they are predisposed to auto immune disease too- shar pei fever).
I hope for your sake you listen to the posters.
Btw of course a breeder will dispute all the above, oh and charge you what £1000 for a puppy?

[Samvet]

Ps as a previous poster says - as a dog lover why would you get a dog you KNOW has such serious health issues it is being considered by the kennel club regards standards. You state 'all digs have something' you have a point about pure breeds but there is a difference between a cavalier getting heart issues later in life and dogs bred so their ears are virtually sealed so they have chronic otitis. Most of them are maybe such bastards as they have ear ache 24-7.

[xmasevebundle]

I think from where i live we have a mixed dog community, all the staffys i meet have been very very nasty.

Its the owners i think it comes down too and how the dogs are treated/rasied.

There is a shar pei, i walk past when i go to my local shop sometimes with there owner. I always stop (must piss the owner off a treat) and stroke her, shes so friendly.

I love the breed so much, i do want one in the future.

Is healthy problems etc, you get good and bad 'dogs' in each breed.

[theodorakis]

Op, why don't you get a rescue as other people have suggested? I know you mentioned the staffie with behavioral issues but I don't mean that. What I am asking is why not go for a non designer breed of rescue that isn't bred for fighting. Learn how to love a dog by getting a retired Greyhound or a Heinz 57

[theodorakis]

And Pugs don't count, in my experience people who chuck out their pit bulls, staffie a and huskies get because they are small. They either dump them or they get so fat they drop dead.

[beautifulgirls]

Another vet here strongly suggesting you don't do this. Choose another type of dog. Your posts worry me. You ask for advice and no-one here has said anything along the lines of yeah great breed. You still however want to wait until you see the puppies before you decide. Despite saying you will not let emotion make the decision it is quite clear from your posts your emotion is already clouding your thoughts as people are telling you not to do this but your thoughts are still with this breed.
Health issues in this breed affect nearly 100% of individuals in one way or another, often in multiple ways.
Behaviour issues, specifically agression are very high risk. You can tell some pups from a young age yes, but many do not show these behaviours until they are growing up
Are you aware how many people react to the touch of sharpei fur? Most of the staff I have ever worked with come up with itchy rashes just from touching these dogs.

[CalamityKate]

Breeds like this should just be allowed to die out. They serve precisely one purpose and to my mind, "looking cute on the end of a lead" isn't enough to justify all the health/temperament problems outlined on here by people who know what they're talking about.

I agree with Beautifulgirls above though - you're clearly going to ignore all advice and get one anyway.

[OatyBeatie]

I was surprised to read on this thread that they were an aggressive breed. The ones I have met have not been at all aggressive. A neighbour had one and it was very prone to skin problems, a constant issue for it.

Also, she said that other dogs seemed to dislike her dog instinctively, and she mentioned that she's been told that the very unusual appearance of these dogs' faces made them hard for other dogs to "read" so that there was extra tension in their socialising. Don't know if that is true or not, but certainly my dog HATED the shar pei with a passion. Poor shar pei did nothing at all to deserve the hatred.

[OatyBeatie]

Just to be clear, although I didn't personally experience aggression in the breed, it's clear from the thread that it is an issue. I wouldn't dream of getting a dog that has been developed to have such an unnatural appearance with such clear and serious health consequences.

[CalamityKate]

Yes my dog loathes them too. I think it's a combination of several things. Their faces are so heavily wrinkled that their expression is hard to read. Ditto their eyes. They've got a very upright stance which could be read as confrontational by other dogs; my dog dislikes Boxers for the same reason I think.

[OatyBeatie]

Yes, I think my dog finds boxers difficult in that way too.

With shar peis I guess that you are right that the obscuring of the eyes is part of what makes other dogs mistrust them. My dog is very very sensitive to eye gaze in his interaction with me, and probably is looking for cues from the eyes of other dogs too.

[hellymelly]

Agree on the "hard to read". (My dogs have hated boxers for instance, and my vet said that most dogs do, because their natural expression and "bristley" stance makes other dogs think they are being threatening). Honestly op you sound like the last person who should get any dog frankly, there are three VETS on this thread saying do not get a shar pei and you are still considering it. I think breeding these dogs is cruel, no-one who does it can care for a dog's welfare , and the fact that you have read this thread full of people with decades of experience with dogs and still say that you are considering this breed is just beyond me. Not all dog problems are down to how you rear and socialise a puppy, as I said earlier and another poster clearly stated, these dogs are bred to be aggressive, that is their makeup, and I also wonder how much of the aggression is down to their terribly configured and torturous skin and hair. Poor dogs. . And yet you would be happy to perpetuate this kind of suffering? shame on you.

[sunflowerseeds]

My dog hates a hairy little terrier we meet, I'm sure because his face is covered with long hair and you can't tell whether he's coming or going.
Perhaps shar peis were bred deliberately to antagonise other dogs as they were fighting dogs. Why would you want a fighting dog as a pet, even if it wasn't hideously ugly and doomed to a life of suffering?

[toboldlygo]

pedigreedogsexposed.blogspot.co.uk/2010/12/meat-and-bones.html

pedigreedogsexposed.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/the-original-shar-pei-new-style-icon.html

pedigreedogsexposed.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/sharpei-will-wrinkles-have-to-go.html

As problematic as I found some aspects of Pedigree Dogs Exposed (not all pedigree dogs are sick, lame deathtraps), you can't argue with what they've written here about sharpeis. These dogs are bred to be deformed.

[yummumto3girls]

My Shar Pei died last year, I got him when I was on maternity leave with my first DD. I have 3 DD's and he was brilliant with all of them, never aggressive. In fact it was always him that got attacked, several times by snappy little dogs.

He was hard to train, thought he was the alpha male for a while but correct training techniques put a stop to that!

He did suffer with lots of health problems which is the biggest turn off, hard to insure but I buy another one tomorrow. I certainly would not get a Staffie, far more aggressive!

[Blackballoon]

I'm sorry but Staffies more aggressive than shar peis!?! Hah whatever!

[Morloth]

I think I would be pretty bloody angry if I was bred to have as many problems as a Shar Pei.

Constant pain and problems would piss anyone off.

I don't post on here much, but OP just don't. Really, just don't.

[multipoodles]

IF... IF you won't be convinced to look at another breed, then you must do your homework very very very well. Don't go to the first breeder you see, a breeder with dog and bitch is not usually a breeder with the breeds best interest in heart but one breeding for money. A breeder who is devoted to the breed will show or work their dogs (in this case show as I've never seen one do agility or obedience), health test to the hilt, breed only when they require a puppy not you, choose a stud dog that will complement their bitch and that stud dog could be hundreds of miles away, even in a different county. The litter will be planned long in advance, you will go onto a waiting list and be extensively vetted. The breeder will select their puppy and match one to your needs.

In the meantime go to some dog shows, meet the exhibitors, look at the dogs. Buy a catalogue, spend the day at the ringside, each dog will be listed in the catalogue along with the breeding. You should be able to see dogs that you like better than others, in this breed I'd look at the less wrinkled, and there is coat type to concider too. Once you like a particular line, then talk to some exhibitors, go to a few more shows, join the breed club and do your research very carefully. Breeders of Shar Pei are used to people cooing over their dogs, they won't take you serious as a potential owner if all you can say is you like the look of them, you need to prove that it is all aspects of the breed you like and will be prepared to take on.

Sorry this post is so long, but you must go into this with your eyes OPEN.

www.spcgb.org/index.php gives you a lot of information on the breed.

[issey6cats]

god i am so glad i came across this thread by the way everyone hello, i was considering adopting a shar pei from a dog rescue in cyprus that is in trouble financially he looked a lovely dog and is supposed to be friendly, for one reason or another i didnt adopt him, mainly because he had interest from experienced shar pei owners,

instead i have adopted an eight year old coonhound bitch who was used as a puppy farm mommy before being dumped outside the rescue, and all i can say is she is the sweetest, most grateful dog i have ever owned, and its not just big dogs who hate every other dog, the cairn terrier i had for 15 years loved, people , cats and kids but hated every dog who was bigger than him, always had to ask people to put thier dog on a lead (he was always lead walked) as i couldnt garuntee he wouldnt want to kill thier dog but in every other respect he was a fabulous little dog and i miss him still 9 years after he went

[VeganCow]

This is the only breed I dont like.
My dog was attacked by one and it had just minutes before attacked another dog. The way it was fighting was not like any other dog scrap i have seen, it was like a mad thing.
Think they are unattractive too.

Plenty calmer breeds for you, especially as you have never had a dog before.

[Kath282]

I have readed so much rubbish. Just want to say i own a shai pei and oh my he is nothing as most say above. He is really good with other dogs and is good with children as i have three, two of them being young he is excellent with them, cant fault him what so ever.

[Scuttlebutter]

I'm friends with several vets and vet nurses, and spend all my spare time involved in dog rescue/dog training. I wouldn't touch one with a bargepole. They are a walking vet's bill, and you'd have to be pretty heartless to deliberately choose a dog that has so many health problems built in from birth - eye issues, and constant skin infections. Can you honestly imagine how painful and irritating that must be? Temperamentally, I've never met one that's any good, and vet/vet nurse friends also mention this, along with the spiky hairs that create terrible rashes/sensitivity when you handle them.

Sadly, you sound determined to go ahead but I'd honestly ask you - please reconsider this, and don't get one.

[babyblackbird]

This post is over 4 years old .......

[gareth53]

This is a very old thread, but I read it to the end and it saddened me, so I thought I'd throw a little light to counteract the shade...

I live with a 5yo Sharpei-Cross (she has a little Staffie in there too). We met her at the RSPCA and took her home as our first dog. We initially showed interest in some smaller terriers but RSPCA staff thought they would be difficult first dogs and steered us towards this one.

She'd been rescued from a puppy farm, rehomed once but that didn't work out so she was back at the RSPCA again.

She was very wary and probably depressed when we first got her but soon blossomed into an amazing part of our family. Very loving, sometimes a little demanding of attention, great with children.

Contrary to what a lot of posters have suggested, Sharpei are not fighting dogs - they were bred as guard dogs and we do see that she's very territorial and goes nuts when the doorbell goes.

As far as other dogs go, she's not that friendly, but not aggressive either. Most of the time we see indifference or a desire to play.

Healthwise, we have to keep her ears clean, but that's all. She donated blood every 3 months so has regular checkups and has always got a clean bill of health :)

Despite being ~2yo when we got her we went to puppy training classes and she was one of the stars of the show - very receptive to training.

A few contributors to this thread have recommended adopting through the RSPCA and I'd +1 that ... staff at my local centre were incredibly considerate, knowledgeable and thoughtful when helping us find a dog.

[mrsjoyfulprizeforraffiawork]

I see a lot of people are saying how nasty Sharpeis are. I must say that I have met several Sharpeis, only once when I was without my own dog. I met one in Battersea when I was looking for a new dog. He was kennelled right next and opposite to various barky dogs and was not acting in an aggressive way towards any of them and the Battersea summary of his character did not indicate he had any problem with other dogs. There are several sharpeis in my area and my dog and I have had no aggression from them. One chap has two sharpeis, one of which he "took off a drug dealer". The dog had been a status symbol for the drug dealer and not trained to behave. The new owner had a hard time training him (as the dog did want to dominate) but did succeed in the end he's had both his dogs for several years now. Now, both sharpeis he has are fine, off and on lead and mildly friendly (but sharpeis are quite reserved so they mostly have a look and then ignore) to passing dogs. These two are very well behaved.