Pets

The Chinese Shar Pei most distinctive feature is deep wrinkles. The name literally translates to "Sand Skin," not because of their colourss, but because of their texture. As puppies, they are covered in of wrinkles, but as they mature, they disappear as they "grow into their skin" with the wrinkles appearing only as furrows on their brow. They were recognized by the American Kennel Club in 1991.

Appearance
The Chinese version of the  Shar Pei looks like a Doberman Pinscher with small floppy ears, long legs, and a narrow face. Coming in many colours, it has the same characteristic blue-black tongue of the Chow Chow. The wrinkles are seen only on the face and back. Through selective breeding, the American variety of Shar Pei has very short, stubby legs, many wrinkles covering all of its body, and a wide "hippo face". The tail curls up and rests on the back.

Health
Irresponsible inbreeding has caused instances of excessive wrinkling of the skin that causes an eye condition which turns the eyelashes inward, thus irritating the eye and causing infections. This condition is called entropion and can be fixed by surgery (removing the loose skin around the eyes). Skin infections are also common in this breed due to the folds and wrinkles, as is dry, flaky skin which can be remedied by frequent bathing using a special shampoo.

Curiously, as this breed developed in areas where feed was poor an scarce, they naturally developed an ability to live on a low protein diet, and now require same. Too much protein can cause skin problems in Shar Peis, as well as increasing the risk of a serious kidney disease called amyloidosis. The disease causes short fevers lasting 24 hours, after which there may be no further attacks; alternatively they may recur at more frequent intervals, becoming more serious, and eventually resulting in kidney or liver failure. Susceptibility to this disease is recessive, and surfaces when both of a dog's parents carry it.

History
The Shar Pei breed comes from the Guangzhou province of China where it was well-known as a fighting and guard dog. Originally though, it was an all-purpose companion/herding dog of poorer farmers and had fewer wrinkles. When the British introduced dog fighting to China in the late 19th century, it was the breed best suited for this purpose due to its size and strength.

The dogs were then bred with an increased number of wrinkles for their advantages in fighting; if the dog was bitten on a wrinkle, it could still turn around and bite back. At one point they were close to extinction, and were listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as ?The rarest dog in the world?.

Since then the Shar Pei has begun to thrive in many parts of the world as an excellent family dog, their fighting history a distant memory and not impacting on their current nature as loveable dogs.

Recent DNA analysis has concluded that the Shar Pei is one of the most ancient dog breeds.