Search icon

Life

27th Apr 2018

Shar-pei… the wrinkly dogs that are just darling and we love them so

WE ADORE YOU, SHAR-PEI!

Gillian Fitzpatrick

Shar-pei – you may have heard of them. You may have not.

Irrespective, we wanted to give them a decent shout-out right now – because they are just darling and we reckon that they deserve a little bit of extra attention and praise.

Shar-pei are known for their adorable wrinkles. Fun fact: when they are puppies they are extra snuggly and wrinkly but as they grow they also grow into their wrinkles.

MAYDAY; SAVE US FROM THE CUTENESS!

Shar-pei also have a dark blue tongue and the breed originates from the Canton region of China.

The Kennel Club adds that the dog “probably shares some of the ancestry of the Chow Chow, descending from the ancient Han Dog, a guard dog in China 2000 years ago. The Shar-Pei was developed as a fighting dog and as a hunter.”

And apparently ‘shar-pei’ translates as ‘harsh sandy coat’ or ‘sand paper skin’. YAS!

We in particular liked this line on the animal’s temperament: “Shar-pei do not like to be alone, preferring to be close to their humans, often lying nearby in the same room.” OK so – we’ll allow you to snuggle up warm to us, shar-pei, snuggle up warm and we’ll be the very best of friends.

In honour of this vastly underappreciated wrinkly tiny bear dog, here are a selection of photographs for you to enjoy…