Where To Find Shar Pei Breeders

by Melissa Coleman

The original Chinese Shar Pei dates back to 200 B.C. Considered to be one of the fourteen ancient dog breeds, Shar Pei were originally bred to fight and to protect the Chinese royal family. Distinguishable by their wrinkled coats and blue-black tongues, Chinese Shar Peis grew out of their wrinkles as adults, retaining wrinkles only on the face, neck and shoulders. The current, western version of the Shar Pei keeps more of its wrinkles in adulthood. The breed also has a curly tail, short, coarse coat, sunken eyes and small ears. Coat colors can be red (rose), tan, white, grey or black. Coat length can be very short and coarse (horse coat), softer and up to one inch in length (brush coat), or long enough to cover the wrinkles (bear coat).

The Shar Pei is easily distinguished from other breeds by its unique wrinkled appearance and blue-black tongue. Shar Pei puppies have wrinkles all over their bodies when born but as adults grow into their wrinkles. The original Chinese Shar Pei grew out of its wrinkles almost completely so that the body was smooth and only the face and neck retained wrinkles. A modern Shar Pei breeder maintains a western version of the Shar Pei, which retains more wrinkles. A Shar Pei comes in many colors including red, tan, white, blue-grey and black. The breed’s coat comes in three types, horse, brush and bear. Shar Pei also have high-set, short, curly tails.

Buying from a Shar Pei breeder can be easy if a buyer follows certain steps. Because Shar Pei are rare, it may be more difficult to find readily-available puppies, so a buyer should go into the process with patience. Buyers should also research the breed before buying to ensure they have the tools to raise these dogs in healthy, happy environments.

Some traits to identify a good Shar Pei breeder include maintaining a kennel to whelp and raise healthy puppies, encourage visits to the kennel to see the puppies and mothers, the puppies are friendly, happy, and do not appear afraid of people and they also interview potential buyers to make sure dog and new owner are a good match.

Professional breeders are also affiliated with other animal support groups and rescue centers, recognized by the American Kennel Club and are able to provide references of other owners who have bought Shar Pei from them. Before turning over a puppy to a new owner an experienced breeder will have had the puppies evaluated for typical health conditions common to the Shar Pei breed, provide medical records and history of vaccinations and evaluations and provide pedigree information and registration papers

A good Shar Pei breeder will never sell Shar Pei to a pet store. There are several reasons for this. First, pet stores sell animals just like any other merchandise. Puppies are shipped from one place to another and put on display for hours at a time.

Backyard breeders or puppy mills mass produce puppies in unhealthy conditions. The puppies produced by these places are sickly, poorly bred. Then these puppies are shipped to pet stores all over the county to be locked up in display cases with very little exercise and not properly socialized for living with a family.

Lastly, pet stores do no follow-up on sold puppies. Breeders, on the other hand, usually keep one out of every litter for themselves and ask for buyers to return dogs to the breeder if owners cannot keep them for any reason. Pet stores cannot offer a real guarantee or warranty on health or pedigree since their merchandise comes from illegitimate backyard breeders. An ethical Shar Pei breeder offers pedigree information, registration papers and a warranty.

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