| Shar pei Health Every breed of dog has health issues some more than others. The Shar-pei is rated as medium. Every effort is made by professional / responsible breeders to ensure that their Shar-pei and offspring are free from the common health issues related to the Shar-pei. Some of the most common health issues are, tight lip, entropian, amyloidosis, swollen hock syndrome, Shar-pei fever and skin allergies. I have listed a little information about each individually. None of our dogs at Chinadazzle have had any health issues and have only had visits to our Shar-pei friendly vet for general check ups and boosters. I believe this is due to us making every effort to use good breeding males and females and feeding our dogs the correct diet that they require and not to mention the tlc that they require to be happy healthy dogs. Temperament When choosing your puppy I recommend that you visit a number of breeders and viewing both parents is a must !!! As a bad tempered Shar-pei usually continues in its offspring!! A well socialised Shar-pei makes the most superb family pet who are devoted to their owners and children. Shar-pei are loyal , playful and active yet can be very strong headed! Shar-pei are highly intelligent dogs and pick things up fairly quickly , consistency whilst training is a must due to being very head strong. I recommend puppy classes for socialising your new puppy , your local vet will advertise this for all new puppy owners to come along. Also there is ring craft training which is used for training your dog / puppy for showing but is also a good way to get your puppy/ dog socialised. Tight Lip Tight lip is where the skin from the lower lip grows over the bottom teeth making it hard to eat , drink and chew. A very small minor operation is needed to cut away the excess skin that divides the lip from the teeth. If untreated this can cause an over bite. Swollen Hock Symptoms are swelling of the hocks and other joints. Reluctance to move Abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhoea swollen painful muzzle. Shar-pei fever Shar-pei that suffer from this fever can have one or more episodes of unexplained fevers, temp usually between 103-107 during a fever, fevers can start less than 18 months old, sometimes the first fever isn't unit adulthood. Fevers can last between 24-36 hrs and in most cases without treatment. The disorder is thought to be a result from an inability to regulate the immune system. Dogs that have experienced an episode of these symptoms above should not be used/ be removed from breeding program. Entropian / Eye tacking When a puppy reaches 2 weeks of age their eyes should be open , if this doesn't happen then eye tacking is required . The cause of this is due to an excessive heavy wrinkle above the eyes which causes the top eye lids and occasionally the bottom to roll inwards, this causes extreme discomfort for a puppy/ dog and if untreated can cause eye ulcers and in severe cases blindness. If your dog reaches 12 months of age before he/she suffers with eyelids rolling inwards then an entropian operation can be carried out , this is a straight forward minor procedure which 100% corrects the issue of entropian. Dangerous foods for Shar-pei Grapes - Raisins - Onions- Large doses can be toxic and have fatal consequences. If a large dose has been eaten seek veterinary help immediately. Allergies Some shar-pei like other breeds and even us humans suffer allergies from hay fever to dust allergies all of which can be kept under control by Piriton, Benadryl or Clarytin tablets . Then there are skin allergies and not every Shar-pei that has a skin allergy has Demodex mange !!!! So many vets- mainly Shar-pei none friendly !! Wrongly diagnose and treat a simple skin allergy as Demodex due to lack of knowledge about the breed. This just prolongs the situation. Diet and supplements can help with most allergies as its usually down to a low immune systems which usually causes an allergy to flare up I use these supplements myself just to keep my dogs healthy on a day to day basis even though my dogs are all fit and healthy I feel that the added supplements really give my dogs a healthy look. All below boost your dogs immune system. Can be used on other animals too ie, Horses 1. Natural seaweed 2. Probiotics 3. Apple cidar vinegar 4. Oil of evening primrose capsules |