A non-profit organisation set up to rescue and re-home shar peis in need.

My Own Rescue Family

Update: Our Mallard duck returned during the breeding season and had 7 ducklings but sadly over the weeks she lost six. Only one was reared to adulthood. The lambs are now big, almost sheep and will soon go back to the farmer, probably October time. Eric, who's growth was stunted because of milk aspiration and pnuemonia now sports a lovely set of horns and though small, will make a very handsome Ram!

Since moving to Somerset we have had a few transient members of our family. One was a young, female malard found on the side of the road having been hit by a car. She was placed in the kennels and given time and love to heal. After being set free, she has returned to nest on our side of the Reem and proudly swims around with her ducklings. Then there are the chickens, very valuable members of the clan and finally...the lambs! Three little orphans needing feeding round the clock. Soon these little creatures will also be on their way, back to the farm, but till then...we will all enjoy their company!

In the last month we were contacted about a little female shar pei in Wales . She had been wandering for about a month managing to evade the dog warden, but eventually gave herself up through hunger. She was held for 21 days, far longer than normal, because they were convinced somebody would claim her , however that didn't happen. We took her in and realised that she was going to be very expensive for any new owner because she needed to be spayed, had to have both top and bottom entropean on both eyes and a minor face lift, as well as getting her ears and skin right. The cost of her surgery may be why nobody came to claim her?

Anyway, she has now undergone all surgery and managed to wriggle herself into the 'pack' as if she had been here all her life..so i guess she will be! She's roughly 15 months old, manages to get ALL the dogs playing (including grumpy Charlie) and has won over Neill's heart with her cute ways and adoration of him. She's not daft and i think she spotted early on, who it was she had to get around; so Nita is the fourth shar pei to join the household bringing the dog total here back up to five again!

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Pucheen

1 st April. 1999 - 2011

We lost Pucheen today. Without her there would never have been

Shar Pei Rescue and Welfare UK.

She was our inspiration and held our hearts in her paws. So often we have to find the words for other peoples loss; in this instance we have no words. Whatever we say will be too much…and not enough…

This photo was taken the day before she died. I still can't get over losing her

Pucheen was a lovely friendly girl who I only got to know when she was already quite elderly . She always came for a cuddle and what I remember most was the way she used to purr. She introduced herself to my very shy and quite nervous boy and then ignored him ! Just what he needed to quickly know his place. Just wish we had known her a lot longer. Much love and rest in peace. All our love. Nina and kendo

We're all so terribly sad to hear about Pucheen's passing. She was such a sweet girl, I was really taken by her. She reminded me of Sumo's mum, Tully. Please don't feel bad about not being with her, lots of souls hang on until they're alone before they pass to spirit. Perhaps Pucheen hung on until Sumo had arrived to heal your hearts over Dillon. She knew it'd be too much for you if she left you too.

Emma & family

I am so sad to hear about Pucheen. All our thoughts are with you and
Neill. I know the pain will never go away but I hope that we can soon take comfort in remembering how beautiful and special she was.

Take care. Carine

You have to just remember the wonderful life you gave her. She truly was one in a million.
Jay x I just logged onto your site to see how you are all doing and saw the devastating news about Pucheen's passing. I am so sorry, my heart goes out to you and Neill. I can only imagine the heartache you are suffering losing one of your babies. Pucheen was so lucky to have you as her mum taking care of her needs day and night. She sounds like she was a wonderful dog being your inspiration for Shar pei Rescue, which has led to you being a hero to Shar pei's everywhere. My Shar pei's are my inspiration too and have guided me through the darkest of days. My thoughts are with you, keep strong.
Love Lisa, Kitty & Kimbo x

Sumo

When we lost Dillon I confess I missed him so badly that it was like carrying around a great weight. He was such a special boy and my heart aches and I still cry when I think of him. Sumo had been on our site for nearly six months and there was something about him which reminded me of Dillon, so I contacted his mum and we decided to give him a home ourselves. When he first arrived we had the usual problems, but in the short time he's been living here, he has come on in leaps and bounds.

He now accepts other dogs coming into the home, realises he can not eat the chickens, barks incessantly at the cattle, cries when I feed the lambs and sleeps in bed with me (like the others do).

He also protects me with his life but has learnt that if I say someone is ‘safe', he accepts it. He's a lovely boy and really does have a lot of Dillon's funny characteristics. I feel honoured to have been given the chance to love him and hope that he has a long and happy life with us.

KETTA

In view of our recent losses when we heard about Ketta's plight, we opened our doors. Ketta is a 3 month old Rottweiler and was abandoned in a London park ending up in Battersea dog and cat's home. She was diagnosed with a serious heart condition and may only live to two years of age. The pain of losing our animals is devastating but everyone of them deserves love, for however long. She has settled well within the family and is very well behaved for someone so young. She was housetrained within 24 hours, learnt to ignore the chickens within 48 and is getting better at remaining clam when the cattle peer at us over the reem. She walks well on a lead and we are socialising her at every opportunity. Rottie's have had a bad press of late and because of her breed was at risk of being euthanized. We're giving her a chance and I feel sure she will, like my other dogs, be a kind and valuable member of society. She gets bigger by the day! We'll keep you in touch x x x

4 th October 2010

Sadly we lost Dillon to kidney failure.
He was an amazing dog. He was brain damaged by somebody battering him over the head and blind in his right eye. He was a testament to the wonderful love that dogs have inherently. To be able to forget how humans had treated him and love us the way he did, was amazing. He was always afraid of the dark but was happiest snuggled under our duvet at night, in-between us. His death was at home, in our arms. He was ready to go and snored himself into the next life...We miss him so much,
Love Roma and Neill

19/4/2010

Dooray sadly passed over the rainbow bridge with our help. We knew she was ill and had agreed that if she started to suffer we would help her leave. She was such a kindly, happy girl and leaves a huge, Bordeaux sized hole in our lives. We will all miss her and are at present raw with grief. You were the love of your dads life and he will always love you. R.I.P. Dooray. Goodbye Sweetheart.

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It's been quite a while since I updated my family, so I really thought it was time.

Like myself, all the dogs are older. Dillon and Pucheen are nudging eleven, Charlie is seven this year, the 'baby' Chichi is not a baby anymore at four and our Douge de Bordeaux Dooray is nine in April. As you may be aware, both Charlie and Chichi suffer from FSF and swollen hock syndrome and so I decided to take it upon myself to try to give them a longer life by making my own food. (If you would like my diet please do email). Despite the work involved, I find feeding them a natural diet both rewarding, in the pleasure it gives them. but also the obvious health benefits. Dooray developed epilepsy at the end of last year (Pucheen has always been epileptic) as well as other problems, such as peeing on our bed, which has tested our love for her! However despite being unable to find the cause we have now regulated the fits and despite some 'not so lovely' changes in behaviour, she'll be with us for as long as God allows. Also last year we noticed that Pucheen had a swollen toe. We took her to the vet and she was initially diagnosed with Arthiritis, however despite the usual medications I could see that though the toe was no larger, it had started to cause her some discomfort. To cut to the chase, after another consultation and x-rays, it was discovered that she had bone cancer. As there were no metastases in her other joins and more importantly nothing in the lungs, we had her left back leg amputated on Christmas eve. Her progress has been remarkable since the op. She doesn't even seem to notice, though occasionally she's forgotten and given paw on the wrong side and slowly keeled over and she has charged towards me in joy and discovered that she's gone sideways instead of straight ahead! Nothing has changed and we love her as much as ever. One rather strange thing.her fur won't grow back!! I've thought about using hair restorer cos she gets such a cold bum, but my dad who is as bald as a coot, and a testament to the fact that it doesn't work. So onto Dillon, our beautiful, cuddly boy who is brain damaged and was such a monster when we first took him on. He's as fit as ever despite the odd ache when he's been laying on a leg for too long and has developed the most beautiful grey chest and muzzle. We can not imagine our lives without our family, but like all dog owners we have to accept that their lives are shorter than ours and that at some point we are going to have to say goodbye. Despite the pain of loss, I wouldn't change a thing. The joy, love, cuddles and loyalty these animals give me are my reason to get up each day and face the world. Thank you my 'puppies', I love you all.

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I have had rescue dogs all my life and been privileged enough, whilst travelling, to care for and be bitten by, several wild animals..none of whom meant it, I'm sure.

The first rescue Pei we adopted came about because my partner had always wanted a Shar Pei. He had read every book available and was prepared to buy a puppy when finances allowed, however I found Pucheen in a local magazine, supposedly abandoned in kennels by her previous owners.

My first memory of Pucheen is that her nose was badly scuffed.and I thought she was deaf!

We paid the kennel bill of £300 and took our first Shar Pei home with us, much to the irritation of our deerhound/greyhound cross called Bruno. At that time we also had a rescue Chihuahua called Ethel and a Chihuahua cross Lancashire Heeler called Pippa.

Bruno taught Pucheen her manners and how to be a good little Shar Pei . When we got home we bathed her, cleaned her ears and discovered she could hear, however it took some time before she completely moulded to the family because, although I do not believe she had been ill treated, she had been ignored. Something which I now understand, that for a Shar Pei, is extremely damaging.

Within a very short time we were hooked!

When Bruno, my very special boy died, I was completely devastated and my partner, out of love for me, bought me Charlie, a beautiful little Shar Pei puppy and I guess that sealed my complete infatuation with the breed.

When we heard about Dillon in a local shelter we originally just went to help the Sanctuary deal with him, as he was showing aggression. We contacted the various people we had met in the Shar Pei 'world' and they just weren't interested, so despite his terrible past, we took him on.

It wasn't at all easy and I was very grateful that years before I had worked as an aggression trainer, but Dillon is now a testament to how this fabulous breed, can be turned around; and how much love and reward you can achieve with a Shar Pei.

Whilst visiting Battersea Dogs Home, to assess a Shar Pei, we also ended up adopting a very silly, loveable Dogue de Bordeaux and so our family grew.

I have recently realised that the latest addition to our family has not been added to this page..perhaps that's because she settled in rather quickly so it's as if she's been here forever!

Her name is Chi and she came to us with a skin condition at the age of seven months. After fostering her we re-homed her to a family with another young dog, however for various reasons she was returned to us within the week!

She was so loving and cuddly and persistent that for the first time ever, Dillon learned to play. It was very much against his nature but she sat patiently bopping him on the nose until she got a reaction and gradually she taught him the game. We did find her another loving home, but the night before she was due to leave, both Neill and I ended up in tears at the thought of parting with her.

Thankfully, the lady she was due to go to, was really understanding..so she stayed!

She's been with us now nearly a year and we couldn't be without her. She's funny, feisty and eats faster than any dog I've ever known. When she's not licking you or bouncing about, she loves cuddles and has definitely found her place in the bed with the others. She also l,oves watching the television, especially programmes about dogs.She's just great and we love her to bits!

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I guess Pucheen and her wonderfully gentle, though stubborn, nature was really the inspiration of

Shar Pei Rescue & Welfare UK

We approached breed clubs, Shar Pei breeders and the Kennel Club and offered our help to rescue. Sadly we were informed that if we didn't breed or show, we really didn't know what we were talking about and had nothing to offer.

Then those who had encouraged us at the beginning, decided to shun us because we felt that a couple who had accidentally had a litter from an unregistered female of only twelve months old, were not to be pilloried. They loved their dogs, had had no desire to breed and sold the puppies at a reasonable price. In refusing to ostracise this couple we were ostracised ourselves.

Feeling bruised but still committed, we decided that if we re-homed two dogs per year, we were at least doing something that we believed in. Since deciding to go it alone we have achieved more than we could ever have imagined and we have good reason to be proud of what we have achieved.

Despite continued harassment, from those who we initially thought had the same aims, the same commitment and were our friends, we have managed to gain a reputation Nationwide as an organisation that really cares.

Even today, we are constantly denigrated by those that feel, because we will take dogs without papers, dogs that should be 'gunned', (though no representative of any other organisation has ever assessed them), and take animals into our own home to re-train them..BUT, do not breed or show...we do not have the knowledge or importance to love and re-home these dogs...?

WE are still here.

Thank you to all those who have supported us.

On the 5^th November 2004, Little Ethel had to be helped to shuffle off this mortal coil, to go and join Bruno and all those other wonderful dogs I've known over the years, who wait for us on the other side.