The breed characteristics of the Shar-Pei
Typical are the strongly wrinkled head and the small, folded down ears. These special breed characteristics probably go back to its time as a fighting dog. Because of the big folds, bites did not get through so easily. The ears could also not be injured so quickly due to their small size.
The distinctiveness of the wrinkles depends on the breeding line. Many young Shar-Peis only have a very wrinkled head and an otherwise very athletically built torso. With increasing age, the wrinkles can become more pronounced.
At the low times of Shar-Pei breeding, the number of wrinkles was so high, especially in puppies, that the fur over their ears had to be stitched together. Otherwise it would have covered the eyes completely. At times, breeding lines had formed in the USA, which let this noble dog degenerate to an accumulation of greasy skin bulges. This course has been corrected until now.
Dedicated Shar-Pei breeders helped the dog to regain its original natural characteristics through a modified breeding selection. Since the 1990s, stricter breed standards have been in place to avoid torture breeding. The FCI lists the Shar-Pei in Group 2, Section 2 Mollossoids and further under 2.1 Great Dane dogs.
- medium sized dog with many wrinkles
- small triangular ears that fold downwards
- eyes sometimes disappear under the wrinkles
- officially belongs to the category of Mollossoids
Appearance and coat of the Shar Pei
The Shar Pei is an expressive medium-sized dog. Over here, you mostly come across the short-haired type. There are also long-haired breeding lines with a hair length of up to 3 cm. "Shar Pei" means "dog with sand skin", which is an allusion to the rough coat. The coat colour can be creamy brown, silver-grey, blue-black or brown. This dog even exists in the colour white, even if this is extremely rare.
Their physique is stable and looks very sublime thanks to the long legs. The torso shows off its muscular build. This dog always carries its tail curled up over their back. From the Chow-Chow it has inherited the blue or slightly purple tongue.
Size, weight and life expectancy of the Shar Pei
The Shar Pei is a medium sized dog. The differences between sexes is very little pronounced in this breed.
- Shoulder height males approx. 46 to 51 cm
- Weight males approx. 20 to 27 kg
- Shoulder height bitches approx. 44 to 48 cm
- Weight bitches approx. 18 to 25 kg
- Life expectancy 9 to 11 years