Hi everyone,

Afraid I was watching dog borstal (shame on me! It's really trashy but so compulsive) and there was a shar pei on it. During the programme the trainer noticed the dog had swollen ankles and the dog was diagnosed with shar pei fever. The announcer/narrator said that something like 1 in 5 shar peis develop it. Then the trainer said if he could he would ban the breed until it was improved as it was so unhealthy and had so many problems (heart, eye, ear, skin etc). The owner had no idea what she was doing and said she bought it because of one on the face cream commercial :rolleyes:

So to any shar pei owners/ breeders- are the breed really that prone to illness? If they are, is it not difficult to own them knowing they have the potential for such a short lifespan (I know any dog can potentially die any time but if a 1 in 5 statistic just for that one illness that can half their lifespan is true isn't it a gamble? I know I would be devastated and wouldn't take the risk)? Are there attempts being made to improve the health of the breed or is the situation now one for damage limitation and there is unlikely to be any real progress possible?

Also what exactly does shar pei fever do to the dog to shorten its lifespan so much? Do the dogs need to be put to sleep due to the severe arthritis or does it progress to something else that actively kills the dog?

Hope I'm not coming across as a shar pei basher, I was just slightly shocked by the statistic and wanted to know a little more about it and what people in the breed think about it.

Thanks for any replies in advance!

What does google bring up for you :-)  probably a lot of info on the health and club sites. Just a thought.

I've just had a nosy at google and good old wikipedia (I was feeling too lazy last night) and I've found out a bit more about the fever and the ailments the breed tend to be susceptible to... It's quite a long list! But I'm still interested to find out from owners/breeders (if there are any on this site) what experiences they've had or how they think the breed could be improved or what steps they've taken (importing? linebreeding? culling?) to try to improve the breed.

Also I didn't know they weren't supposed to have tails like that... Was it just the way she carried it that was unusual?

We do have a member who owns and shows Shar Pei, Peilady hopefully she will see this and give you some more information.

I think contacting the breed clubs may help you with your research.

There seems to be some issues in the club though, here is their website, doesn't mention health: http://www.showdogsireland.com/Group.asp

A site of disaffected club folk appears here: http://www.downtheplughole.com/index.html

I'd like to know why the dog was longcoated and had a feathered tail that stuck right up in the air.

I've never owned a Shar-pei, but a friend shows and breeds them.  I was aware there were a number of health problems with the breed, but hadn't a clue there were that many!

I couldn't get my head around Roberts comment about making them illegal until they're a healthier breed.  How would making them illegal make them healthier?   I would have thought that could only be done by dedicated, knowledgable breeders.

Lol, I'd like to know why it had that tail too Marianne.  I've seen long coat Shar-Pei before, but never with a tail like that!

Some people bandy words around to make a point, and i do hope that was what happened when he said 'making them illegal'. I would have thought from someone who is so 'up' with dogs he would have chosen his words more carefully, and indicated that the ones that are bred are more carefully and selectivly bred to breed out as many problems as possible, which of course could take many generations. To simply ban them, or make them illegal, is not curing the problem, simply losing the breed altogether.

As to the question in point, I know nowt about the breed so can't comment, but it would be interesting to see what someone who is experienced in the breed thinks.

The breed has made great strides in improving health matters, though sadly those breeding fro commercial gain will not have bothered to select for this.

when the breed first came to the UK the breathing of most that I met at shows was horrible, and you certainly don't hear that now.

As ever sadly with any fashionable/popular breed the ethical caring breeders are producing fewer puppies than the other kind.

HI there

I only caught the second half of the programme but I thought this was a sharpei cross.  Sharpei have short coats and their tail is held over their backs!!!!!  I did think on first looking at the dog that its eyes looked bad and may have needed attention.

I think a lot of breeds have suffered due to commercial gain.  Its very sad because I am sure there are lots of very responsible breeders who take time to breed from only sound dogs.  This must make them very angry.

I didnt hear the comments about the breed being made illegal but to be honest I take most things that are said on any general tv programmes with a pinch of salt.

They are on the one hand saying sharpei should be illegal and on the other showing a litter of puppies sired by the PRT to a JRT bitch.  There are so many dogs in this world needing homes I felt it was very irresponsible of the BBC to show this.

Spettadog

I own a Shar-Pei, Taz, He is coming up 2 now, and although still young we have never ever (touch wood!) had any major health problems with him. We knew that it was inevitable that his eyes would be tacked and they were and are now fine. He has never shown any signs of any other problems whether it be breed specific or not. I also saw this episode and was shocked at what Robert Alleyne said but that stupid women, really was irresponsible, feeding it chinese? there is no wonder it was ill with all the stupid things she was doing! And not only that she couldnt even discipline it, it ran rings around her!
On a lighter note you can get long haired Shar-Peis, its called a Bear coat, Taz's cousin was one and he was beautiful. Very expensive and from what I gather quite rare.

i saw the programme too and it was a pedigree shar pei and from what they said a very expensive one. it had loads of problems apart form the serious one and the owners were such the wrong people for that type of dog. the usual saw it in a book and thought they looked cute.