The lion dog of the Chinese court
Nothing about a Pekingese is accidental. The breed was made inside the imperial palace in Peking, over a very long stretch of time, to resemble the guardian lions carved at the gates of Chinese temples: broad and heavy in front, maned across the shoulders, short in the face, and entirely unbothered by anything. There is a legend the breed carries with it, that a lion fell in love with a marmoset and asked the Buddha to shrink him down so the two could be together, and that the Pekingese is what came of it. It is a good story, and it describes the dog well.
For centuries these dogs belonged to the imperial family and could not really be owned by anybody else. They were bred by the palace eunuchs, carried in sleeves, and treated as members of the court rather than as pets.
The breed left China in 1860, at the end of the Second Opium War, when British and French troops entered the Old Summer Palace. Five Pekingese were found there and taken back to England. One was presented to Queen Victoria, who named her Looty, and the Western history of the breed starts with those five dogs. The Dowager Empress Cixi kept Pekingese through the decades that followed and was closely associated with them, and the American Kennel Club recognized the breed in 1906.
All of that is still legible in the dog in front of you. A Pekingese does not behave like a small dog that happened to end up in a palace. It behaves like a dog the palace was arranged around.
Built like a lion, and it moves like one
The standard asks for a small dog that is surprisingly heavy in the hand, and the weight is the first thing people notice when they pick one up. An adult stands around six to nine inches at the shoulder and weighs up to about fourteen pounds. The body is pear-shaped, with a broad, deep front and well-sprung ribs narrowing to lighter hindquarters, which is the outline of a lion and exactly the point.
The forelegs are short, thick and a little bowed, and they give the breed its signature gait: a slow, dignified roll, front end swinging, absolutely unhurried. The standard calls for it in as many words. Watching a Pekingese cross a room is one of the pleasures of the breed, and there has never been a way to hurry one along.
The head is broad and flat between the ears, wide rather than round, with large dark eyes set well apart, a short broad muzzle and a wrinkle rolling across the nose. The ears are heart-shaped, set at the front corners of the skull, and carry long fringes that frame the face and make the head look wider still. The tail is set high and carried over the back, with a plume of long hair falling to one side.
The coat, the mane and the colours
A Pekingese carries a long, coarse-textured outer coat that stands away from the body over a thick, soft undercoat. The mane over the neck and shoulders is the feature, a proper cape of longer hair that ends in a line behind the front legs, and there is heavy feathering behind the legs, on the toes, on the ears and along the tail.
Colour is wide open. Red, fawn, cream, gold, black, black and tan, sable, grey, white and particolour are all part of the breed, and a dark mask across the face with lighter markings around the eyes is common and much admired. Puppy coat changes a great deal as the adult coat and the mane come through, so an eight-week-old is showing you neither its final colour nor its final outline.
The coat routine is a ritual and most owners come to enjoy it. Lay the dog on its side, work through in layers with a pin brush and then a comb, right down to the skin rather than over the top, and give the mane, the trousers behind the legs and the ear fringes the extra minute they want. A few times a week is plenty. Wipe the nose wrinkle and around the eyes with a soft damp cloth in the same session; it takes seconds, and the dog usually enjoys the attention on its head.
Plenty of owners in a warm climate keep the coat trimmed shorter, an inch or two all over with the face left round and the ears and tail left long. It is a genuinely good look, it drops the brushing to a comb-through twice a week, and neither length is more correct than the other. Baths every few weeks with a thorough dry afterwards, because that undercoat holds water. Nails every few weeks, ears wiped when you groom, teeth brushed as a matter of routine.
A small dog with a large sense of itself
The breed standard asks for an image of dignity, courage and self-esteem rather than daintiness, and once you have met one you will not read that as marketing copy. A Pekingese is calm, self-possessed and entirely certain of its own standing. It is affectionate on its own terms and devoted to its own people, and most of them pick one person early and consider the matter settled.
They are not busy dogs. A Pekingese would rather sit beside you than on top of you, would rather observe the room than run laps around it, and is perfectly content in a household that operates at a moderate volume. That makes the breed unusually good company for anyone who wants a dog in the room rather than a dog underfoot.
With visitors they are polite and a little formal, warming up once introductions have been made properly. The way in is to sit down and let the dog approach, which it will, at its own speed and not a moment sooner. With children, the ones who sit on the floor and wait get the best of a Pekingese.
They will tell you when someone is at the door, and then go straight back to whatever they were doing.
Training, and the shape of a day
A Pekingese has a mind of its own, the same independence the palace selected for, and it responds beautifully once you have found its currency. That currency is usually food and always dignity. Ask rather than drill. Keep sessions to three minutes, pay generously, and finish while the dog still wants another round. Repetition gets you a Pekingese who lies down and waits for you to be finished; a pocket of diced chicken gets you one who follows you about asking what is next.
House-training runs on a schedule rather than on a signal. Out often, out with the puppy so you can reward the right thing in the right place, and think in months rather than weeks. A crate with a soft bed gives a puppy somewhere of its own and makes the schedule far easier to hold to.
The day itself is gentle, and it suits people who like a gentle day. A short walk in the cool part of the morning, taken at the dog’s pace with plenty of stopping to be admired, is the main event. The middle of the day is for a nap on the coolest tile in the house, and Pekingese are experts at it. Afternoons want five minutes of brain work: a snuffle mat, a food puzzle, a treat hidden under one of three cups. Evenings are the sofa, a chew, and a small maned dog arranged against somebody’s leg. In a Florida or Tennessee summer, walking early and late and keeping the middle of the day indoors suits both of you.
Coming to meet the Pekingese puppies
A Pekingese puppy is not a small version of the adult. The mane has not arrived yet, the coat is soft rather than standing off, the colour is going to change, and the famous roll takes a few months to arrive. What is already there is the character, and it is unmistakable inside the first minute.
Our Pekingese puppies come from our network of licensed breeders, and our team can talk you through the coat routine at either length and tell you what a particular puppy’s parents were like. We have a store in Orlando and one in Nashville, and you are welcome to sit with a puppy for as long as you like before deciding anything. Find directions and hours, and ask about financing while you are here. Every puppy here goes home with its vet records, its vaccination history and a health warranty, and our team will walk you through what those cover.