I am currently working on a comprehensive history of the Shar-Pei in Australia complete with pictures until this is finalised below is the interim information on the Shar-Pei History. Please check back for the updates.

The Shar-Pei dog has it’s origins in ancient china with statues being found dating back 200bc. They are one of the rare “original breeds” not manufactured by man. Given the age of the breed their exact place of origin is unclear....Tibet, Dah-Let or somewhere in Southern China as statues indicate. Nonetheless this is a very old , very special breed of dog that has held the hearts of it’s owners for over 2000 years. They were a basic farm dog used for herding and guarding by the Chinese people. When China became a communist country a tax was brought in which made the keeping of dogs a luxury and basically out of reach of the average farmer. In 1947 the tax was increased and breeding banned. Hard times were upon the Chinese people and this meant that many had to get rid of their dogs. Fortunately some hid their dogs (as we would) and the Shar-Pei managed to survive, by the 1950’s few Shar-Pei were left and then only in Taiwan, Macao & Hong Kong.

In the 1960’s Matgo Law wrote to a number of American Magazines, his letter clearly stated the fate of the Shar-Pei and pleaded for interested persons to help save this unusual breed which was almost wiped out. The American people took up the cause of the Shar-Pei and imported many dogs from Hong Kong. They set up a breed register and began the task of having the breed recognised by the American Kennel Control. In 1978 they featured in the Guinness Book of Records as the rarest dog breed in the world but by the early eighties several hundred had been bred in America. The first Shar-Pei came to England in 1981 and the first Shar-Pei to Australia in 1979. They were imported into Queensland from America but were refused ANKC registration as the breed was not recognised in Australia.

In 1981 the first registered imports came to Australia from England this female went to NSW. Subsequently a male was imported to the same kennels. An American bitch was imported in whelp and so came the first registered litter of Shar-Pei in Australia in 1985. The original dogs brought into Australia were very diverse in type and didn’t consistently produce the type of Shar-Pei that we now know of as typically American. The Americans choose to alter the breed from it’s original type accepting the longer brush coat and breeding for a heavier dog with a much broader muzzle than the type of dog Matgo Law introduced them to. Many imports have improved the quality of Shar-Pei now available in Australia. The Shar-Pei (meaning Sand Skin) is the original Chinese Fighting Dog....their features are meant to protect them in a fight & offput would be attackers. For this reason they have a prickly coat, small ears and sunken eyes..they are a muscular dog and should present as being athletic and healthy. Aside from the Chow (also from China) they are the only breed to have the blue-black tongue