Did anybody read the article in the Daily Mail Last week on the Shar-pei breed by the editor of a current dog magazine, which was inspired by the Beckhams having bought a puppy.  I have never heared such a load of rubbish as to what was written by this woman. I have owned two Shar-pei ( dog & bitch ) for 8 years and have not had any more health problems than any other dog owner might have.  To say that you have to clean their wrinkles daily to prevent open sores appearing and that they have endless eye problems with ingrowing eyelashes, etc etc.

My two have a bath once a month with a antibacterial shampoo and apart from ear cleaning and all the usuall checks that one should make thats all they need. As they are not dogs that like to roll on the ground they always look in great shape. I would love to meet this woman face to face to find out just where she got her facts from as she has obviously never owned or had anything to do with a shar-pei in her life!! maybe she should consider changing her job.

We all like to think we know a lot about dogs in general, but , lets face it every breed has its own problems and you need to know the breed 100% not just a little bit ,to go blabbing it in a Daily Paper.

I would be interested to hear from any other Shar-pei owners or breeders.

Mike

I think it also reflects those that are bred carefully avoiding such issues and those that are breeding to supply demand!! That happens in every breed.

Jesse

I did agree with her opinions on those who buy pups from pet shops and those who supply pups to them.
bye
Gwen

ive not had any problems with mine------casey is in the ring all year, shes never had a bad coat or been unsound, the ring is full of healthy sound dogs now, its time they caught up with the improvements breeders are making in the breed,like you ive  never cleaned a wrinkle etc-i keep there ears checked and also there nails, other than that theres very little to do with them.---------there was a pei on the tv this morning with a beckham look alike, i was hoping for good publicity, but it wasnt to be, they brought on a vet who told us how unsound the breed is because it goes back to 3 dogs, -they suffer from entropian etc, then he pulled up the wrinkle on the pups forhead to prove his point!!!  :(     the pup was sat there with perfectly normal wide and clear eyes, !!!!!!!!    the chinese crested was then brought on-a peke and a bergermasco [sp]     and there so called faults explained. ---- perhaps if they brought there experts to crufts and  bothered to find the healthy happy dogs there and asked there owners opinions they might get there facts right for once,

You always hope when they do something like this they'd actually educate the public as to where to buy a puppy from and condemn pet shops and mass breeders but they never do.

Jesse

I have no doubt that what you all say is correct but could this not be a positive thing in one way... it may put a few of the idiots off who would have rushed out and bought one just to be like the beckhams.
Archer

Hi Jesse,  In this particular article, however innaccurate the reporting about the breed problems may be, she did go all out putting the message out about NOT buyin pups this way, on impulse and from pet shops.
bye
Gwen

Yep, I heard that too Dizzy, and then he went onto say that the Bergamasco, having been bred true for many years had no health problems? Wonder what that says about cross breeds, very confusing logic or an inability to put his point across, who knows, but did not feel his contribution helped anything. When will people realise that just because some one qualified to be a vet a few years ago, that their knowledge of dogs is not so good and your average pet owner probably knows more about dogs. Sheep, well now that is a different matter, as far as I am concerned they are strange creatures who, should you say boo to them roll on their backs put their legs in the air and die just to spite you.

"Sheep, well now that is a different matter, as far as I am concerned they are strange creatures who, should you say boo to them roll on their backs put their legs in the air and die just to spite you."

LOL no they don't they discuss in depth each night which one of them is to drop dead the next day & leave you with triplets to hand rear :D 

That's what I meant MM, spiteful things do anything to drop you in it, and those who decide not to die, walk all over your feet to teach you not to be late with the food again, just because you have a kitchen full of lambs and a fridge full of bottles.

LOL :D

Hi Dizzy,
I have just read your comments and fully agree with you.
Why do they always pick on the Shar-pei spouting utter rubbish, when they are not fully experienced in the breed or up to speed on the latest developments that have taken place over the last few years in improving the quality of the dogs.    I can name quite a few breeds that have got problems and some of which have yet to be resolved, but I won't get into that one as thats another story. My dogs are under instructions to slobber her if we ever meet her.

Mike

A friend saw an advertisement, someone selling Shar-Pei's Advert said "KEEP UP WITH THE BECKHAMS"
:-( I just feel sorry for all the dogs and puppies that end up in rehoming centres when the Beckhams have got bored and move on to their next fashion accessoire. How much doe's this breed sell for? they are advertised at £700 have they increased the price or is this the usual price to pay?

Jenna

Hi Jenna,
Yes that is about the price although I was offered a pup the end of last year for £900-00 these prices have been this high for a couple of years now.

You can buy cheaper pups but usually without papers so you don't know what you are getting.

Also for your information Patsy Palmer has got a pei bitch which she has had for about 3 yrs and I met her to talk to when she had just got hers as a pup, but in her case she definitely did not get it as a fashion thing, as when I spoke to her she was really interested in the breed.

Mike.

I'm with you Dizzy and Ruby.

As Diz know's I don't have Shar-pei, but I have a friend who breeds and shows...so I've always taken an interest in the breed.
I didn't see this programme, but whoever this woman is sounds a complete idiot.  She certainly needs to get to know her breeds before she goes on TV to talk about them.
I know damn well that Shar-pei have a lot less health problems than a lot of other breeds.
I've also never heard of any Shar-pei owner or breeder cleaning in between their wrinkles!  That's ridiculous!
They're very clean as a breed, and don't need much of anything grooming wise.  Occasional brushing, and all the usual ear cleaning, teeth checking, nail clipping...and that's it.

Lisa (Sick to death of idiots talking about things they know  nothing
about :( )

One thing that worries me a little about shar-pei's is when i hear breeders refer to "pinning their eyes" or something to that effect???,what does this mean and why does it have to be done? I always thought a shar-pei owners had to clean inbetween the wrinkles daily to keep the dirt etc. from accumulating,this makes sense to me,but the only thing i know about shar-pei's is what i have seen on t.v,all of this could be propaganda for all i know :o
Pei's are sold for inbetween $800-$1000 here in Australia which equates to nearly 2000 pounds I must say i have never seen one in person,only on the t.v.

Christine :)

I know that in Bulldogs the wrinkles have to be cleaned, but that may have something to do with them being shirtnosed breed, so gunk from nose and eyes can get in the folds.

The eye tacking is something dizzy mentioned that is sometimes? needed when pups first open their eyes, as in a baby pup the wrinkling may cause some rubbing initially, and is done as a preventative to avoid trouble, but once the noses lengthen and heads grow into the skin then they are taken out.

Certainly the breed seem to be a far cry in the show ring that is from the early examples I saw in the early 90's when many had horrible sounding breathing and were not very sound in movement.  To a lay person they now seem fitter, less wrinkly, and no more snorty breathing.

Now the Pei I see in the street (as certainly they seem to be a craze around here) are not very good specimins, but still seem pretty healthy.

Hi Brainless

I know what you mean about being a craze in certain areas. The only time I ever saw a sharpei was at a show about 8 years ago and on the tele every now and again, then I went and moved onto a new housing estate and there are about five of them with one of them living a couple of doors down (he had the best bark ever, wondered what it was when I first heard him). Got talking to one of the owners and she said that before moving she had never seen another one either. : ) :

Hi Christine,

I have had a total of three shar-pei's over 8yrs and have never had to clean between the folds as they are not so close together as it looks, so when you seen a piocture of a pei it looks like the folds are almost air tight but most pictures show the dogs either sitting or laying down, which makes the folds closer together, but , when they stand up the folds open up, as I said before they are not dogs for rolling on the ground so apart for normal sweat which all dogs generate when running etc there is never any real problems.

I personally bath my dogs once a month and they have never had any skin problems or nasty smells, lets face it all dogs need to be kept clean so why pick on a shar-pei what about bulldogs or afghans with all that hair to worry about!! at the end of the day it is down to ignorence of the breed and lack of knowledge, its a good job we are not all gullible idiots otherwise the shar-pei would'nt exist.

Mike

Christine $800-$1200 works out at about £350-£500...the $ is always at least $2 to our £1.

Mike

All I have to say is would Beverly Cuddy, the stupid woman who did the article in the Daily Mail, do an article on Rottweillers when Posh & Becks got a matching pair a couple of years back? NO! She wouldn't have dared as although they have as many genetic problems as shar-pei do (maybe more), they also have a few thousand more owners who might just have something to say about it.

I believed all the press propaganda about shar-pei for a long time, but one day found out the truth when a met some in person. The press hypocrites. It's okay to accuse shar-pei breeders of being the next worst people to Dr Mengele, but when it comes to exploiting the breed by giving a skewed representation for their own agenda, that's fine. It's pathetically amusing in a way as it's the same cr*p as it's always been - cleaning wrinkles out, blah, blah.

I have two shar-pei and they have been pretty low maintainance and disease free. They are now 6 and 9 years old. The biggest thing that should put people off owning this breed is not the health (if you do your research and buy from a reputable breeder). That cute puppy grows to an adult that is very intelligent, think things out for itself and is very powerful and agile animal for it's size.