I purchased my first Shar Pei in 1990 while I was living in Florida. His name was Winston (Sharwins Peiton), he was a black horse coat male. I must confess I knew nothing about the breed other than they were the cutest thing I had ever seen. If you have read the health problems of the Shar Pei, then Winston had most of them.
He had his eyes tacked as a puppy and then went on to have entropion surgery after that. He was then diagnosed with hip dysplasia and had to have hip surgery. Luckily living in Florida I was able to take him down to the beach to swim everyday so that he gained the use of the leg quicker.
When he was about 2 years old he had Shar Pei fever and spent several hours at the emergency vet in ice water to try and bring down his dangerously high temperature. He recovered very quickly from that and was never ill again apart from intermittent ear infections. At the ripe old age of 11 he was diagnosed with cancer and I made the sad decision to put him to sleep. He was the love of my life. He knew when I was sad and when I was happy. He was always attuned to my moods. He was a faithful friend and companion. He loved everyone and everyone loved him.
I have had several breeds of dogs share my home with me including a Chow Chow (Bear), Black Labrador (Shadow), American bulldog (Beulah), American bulldog (Chyna), Boxer (Bruno) and a whippet x named Olive. As much as I loved my other dogs, none compared to the Shar Pei and I always wanted another one.
Finally in May 2008 my husband bought me a chocolate horse coat bitch from Wrinkly dogs in Warrington, Cheshire. Margaret Wall is the breeder and has the same love of the breed as me. I now consider Margaret a friend and mentor and we keep in regular touch. Shortly after bringing Ripley home we lost our 6 year old whippet x Olive in a freak accident. Ripley and Olive collided in the park whilst running and Olive broke her neck and was paralyzed. Olive was put to sleep to end her suffering. Ripley now needed a new companion and so Bishop was purchased from a local breeder in November 2008. The two are now inseparable.
Shar Pei’s are wonderful, clean dogs. Faithful to the family that adopts them. They can be wary of strangers and make excellent guard dogs. My dogs are great with cats. Ripley can be a little standoffish until she gets to know you. Whereas Bishop is completely laid back and loves people.
I hope that I haven’t put you off owning a Shar Pei. I feel it is important for people to be informed about the breed. It is a huge decision to bring any pet into your life. Shar Pei bond strongly with their family and would be heartbroken to be given away after living with that family for a period of time. But once you have owned a Shar Pei, no other breed with ever compare. They are so unique both in personality and in looks.
Hopefully we will breed Ripley and Bishop when they are older and produce beautiful healthy, wrinkly, well socialized puppies for other people to enjoy and share their lives with.We will make sure that our dogs have no illnesses that would prevent them from breeding healthy puppies first.
I hope you have enjoyed this website and look forward to hearing from you in the near future. Please check back occasionally for any news.
