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Your StoriesPlease send us your stories regarding you and your shar peis. You can email them to admin@shar-pei-rescue.co.uk Whilst we can't guarantee that you contributions will be published here, you can be assured that they will be greatly received.
My story of our rescue Shar Pei dogs. We missed him so much but Marvee seemed to fill this gap I then decided to logon to The Shar Pei Rescue website and this is where I spotted Ralph I was put into contact with his foster parent Juliet and after hearing how many times he had been moved about and cast out I thought it was time that he had a loving home. We made arrangements to go and see Ralph it was about a 2 hour drive away from our house but after chatting to his owner I could see that we needed to move fast and agreed to take him home that day. Ralph took a while to take to my Husband I think he had been ill treated by men but after a couple of months he was fine. I was very worried that Ralph would not take to Marvee being they are both male dogs but we introduced them over the local Park and they sniffed at each other and decided they would be friends. We have had Ralph eight months now - I wave good bye to him as he looks out of the hall landing window each morning when I go to work and he knows when its time for me to come home as he is looking ou of the window for me. I have managed to get him to walk nicely on the lead now but I haven't let him off on his own yet. He still has a bit of an aggressive thing with other dogs and strangers so I think it may take a bit longer.
CHLOE My husband Andrew had wanted a Shar Pei for about 20 years. We were advised that Shar Pei don't mix with small children, so shelved the idea. Last year we rescued a dog from a nursing home, when her owner died. She was about 13 years old, and we knew we wouldn't have her long. She was with us for about 9 months before she died, but it was so rewarding to give this old lady a happy loving last few months that we decided to look for another older dog. As our children were older we thought again about a Shar Pei, which is when we got in touch with Roma. Roma told us about a 6 year old girl who had been used as a puppy factory. She emailed us some photos, which really did not do Chloe justice. She didn't look like a Shar Pei in the photos, she looked sad, dejected and unloved. We couldn't resist. Unfortunately Chloe was nearly 300 miles away, and transport proved to be a stumbling block, but by then we already thought of Chloe as our dog, and so off we went to Yorkshire , from Kent , for a day out! When we met Chloe in the kennels it was love at first sight. She looked so different to her photos I wasn't sure we had the right dog. She was total classic Shar Pei , small soft, wrinkly. At first Chloe seemed confused and bewildered at these strange people making a fuss of her. We gave her time to have a good sniff, and then off we went, completely strange dog, in a car for 300 miles home. She was the perfect lady on the journey. She let us know she wanted to stop for a wee, and cried for the children when they went into a service station to wash their hands. When we got home she sniffed everything in the house, laid down next to me in front of the fire and went to sleep. She has fitted our family like a glove. She is so soft, gentle and loving, it is amazing. She sleeps on my daughter's bed, and if we go out without her we get the most enthusiastic tail wagging greeting when we come back. We were warned that Chloe might have behavioural problems as she had been kept in a shed, and neglected. But she is obedient, gentle and clean. She just needed loving. I hope we will have Chloe for many years, but even if she had been much older we would have taken her. Older dogs are just as rewarding as younger ones, in fact I think more so. To think you have given a dog who has had a miserable life, the love and joy that they deserve in their twilight, is very rewarding. They don't have to be part of your life for long to leave a paw print on your heart forever. When we collected Chloe she had two 'breasts' which we were assured were mastitis due to being constantly bred, and that they would go down in time. When we took her to the SPR&W.UK vet it transpired that it was not mastitis, but a double hernia, caused by a defect in the abdominal wall, but made worse by breeding. Chloe had to have a very major op, comprising: being spayed, a double hernia repair, and a bladder repair as the vet discovered her bladder had slipped down into the hernia. She is just recovering as I write this. She is in pain and shaky and confused at what the hell happened, but she still wags her tail and wants to be cuddled. Because of the hernia repair she has to rest as much as we can get her to, and no walks for two weeks. To think that Chloe had to go through this because of a Kennel Club registered breeder's greed, makes me so angry. The breeder must have made thousands of pounds out of Chloe, and once she needed something in return she was cast away like an old boot. If I ever had the misfortune to meet Chloe's ex owner, I think I'd need restraining, 'cos that person is asking for a Hartlepool Handshake! Any one thinking of buying a puppy, please think carefully. Look for a dog that is loved and cared for; treated as a family pet, not kept in a shed or kennel and used as a money machine; because when the mum's useful days are over, if she's lucky she'll come to the attention of Roma and find a good and loving home, if not. who knows where she'll end up?
Hi there, My name is Rebecca. I'm 29 years old. I first fell in love with Shar Pei when I was about 9 yrs old and had spent many a weekend going to dog shows over the years with my parents, who kept Rottweilers. I finally got my dream come true with my 1st little baby boy when I was 19 years old. Ten years on, and with my 2nd little boy, and my love for this breed just keeps on growing - and I now have my fiancee totally hooked as well !! We could not imagine our home without one - and the snoring, the water trail through the house after he's been drinking, being squashed on the sofa whilst he tries to sit on us, the endless bouncing and sloppy licks & kisses when coming through the front door, wet nose smudge marks all over the car windows, and the list goes on. . . . . but we wouldn't have it any other way. I came across your web site and felt compelled to contact you. Reading through all the pages of your site has made me laugh and cry. You deserve so much praise and recognition for the excellent work you do. Sadly, there are too many people who see the breed and buy a puppy purely based on its cute appearance & they have none or very limited knowledge of the breed, so when they can't cope with an adult dog or health problems arise, then they hand the dog over or even worse abandon it. It drives me mad when I get approached when out walking with my dog, typically by young men, and the usual comments are something like, "oh your dog is wicked, isn't that a fighting dog, how much did it cost ?" They don't even know what sort of a dog he is and all their concerned about is looking macho with a big dog. They don't ever get the answers they are looking for from me. On reading the stories on the site, it is so good to see that there are people who are patient and caring, and allow for some of the typical traits shown in a distressed dog, and give a dog a chance rather than just put it to sleep. At the moment, we have one shar pei . He is a red fawn and his name is Coby and we have had him since he was 8 weeks old. He's going to be 4 next month. He is such a character and everybody who meets him falls in love with him. At the moment, it would not be practical to home another dog ( as much as I would like a little army of shar pei running about the place) , but I would like to make a donation to your resuce service. I'm sure there are plenty of things it could be spent on. Please can you advise of the correct payee name and the address to send the cheque to - I could not see details on the site - unless i missed them - apologies if I did. Keep up the good work !! We would love to be able to do something as special as what you do one day. I'm sure there are lots of shar pei angels in heaven cheering you on & glad to have crossed paths with you in life. Even if their lives were not as long as they should be, at least they all get to be happy & loved. Rebecca, Marvin & Coby.
To all those willing to adopt a Shar Pei I decided to write a few lines about the two Shar Pei I have adopted from Shar Pei Rescue & Welfare UK. Norman (previously known as Charlie) is easily summed up. After being rescued very late in the evening, from the most appalling conditions in a 'so called' approved shelter, he was fostered and gently brought back into the real world. He had over 100 stitches (hand stitched with everyday cotton thread) removed and his skin was so badly damaged it was like paper. He came to me still fragile and what can I say about him? Well, he's a true gent. Gentle, loving, well behaved and a now adored Teddy Bear. Then came Mr Barlow..Roma says he's a full Shar Pei , but full of what I'm not sure? Picture this; the head of a Shar Pei but the body of a pig ! At the moment he's got a work party of my other dogs organised doing a bit of work in the back garden. Three holes are being worked on at the moment. They don't seem to be following any actual plans but He hopes to be finished by Spring of 2007.. He climbs trees so that he can bark at the neighbours, has twice landed on the chicken shed, turning it upside down and sending chickens in all directions and occasionally argues with Norman , about who's going to lie in the washing basket. He has many party tricks. One of his favourites is watching the cat catch a mouse. He will then chase her till he can rob it. With great aplomb he flips it into his own mouth and then bounces into the kitchen and waits to be noticed. The trick, is what is hanging out of his lips? Is it a shoe lace? A piece of liquorice? A piece of string? No..it's the mouses tail ! Once, when trying to get him to drop the mouse I decided to tempt him with a piece of ham. In an amazing feat, he catapulted the mouse across the kitchen, grabbed the ham and in 0 to 60 seconds lept across the room and caught it again before it landed !!!! When he first came to us he was a right grumbler, but now he's as sweet as toffee, though mice don't think so. I love him dearly and our Norman . Thank you Shar Pei Rescue UK.
BeeLin's Story
I really wanted a dog for company and my family and I went around the local rescue and RSPCA shelters. Although there were some lovely dogs, none of them were good with children or other dogs, which is a must, as the dog would be working on the park with me. As you can imagine, I was very disappointed. My mum suggested I go on the Internet and we found the www.Shar-Pei-rescue.co.uk website. I saw lots of lovely dogs; I fell in love with Denzel who was on there at the time. We decided to Email Roma and told her of my plight. She was very honest and told us that Denzel did not get on with other dogs, but she would let us know if there were any other dogs available. She was soon back on the Email with details of a little girl that may be up for adoption, the owner lived in the South of the country and was very reluctant to let her go, but the owner had very good reasons for this. The owner of the dog wanted to meet us first and make sure I would be a good mum, so my Mum and Dad and myself travelled down to where the doggy lived. She was beautiful and I fell in love with her straight away. We must have fitted the bill as we brought Bee Ling back with us. The owner was very sad to let Bee go and we have fulfilled her wishes by emailing her periodically to let her know about Bee. We are now inseparable. She goes everywhere with me and is thoroughly spoiled with my Mum and Dad when she visits there. I feel we were meant for each other. She is very stubborn and hates water, I have never met a dog with such attitude before, I can't help but laugh at her, and I love her to pieces. Everyone who walks through the park knows Bee now and she has lots of friends, I have bought her a lovely diamante collar, which stands out wonderfully on her dark fur and also a sheepskin coat, as she hates the cold. She is a regular to the hotel that backs onto the park. The landlord and landlady are sorry they encouraged her in as she is never out now in the cold weather; she even pinched the cat food and waits by the kitchen for the chef to find her!! - very embarrassing, who says these dogs are not intelligent! Any problems I had to start with, I contacted Roma who put me right. I filled in all the relevant forms and got things sorted correctly. Roma still keeps in touch now and it is lovely to catch up, she is so funny. How she has the time to do what she does and look after all her dogs and a home and partner - in that order I think, I do not know. It is nice to know that people do care so much about the dogs that are adopted and that they get to the right people. Thank you Shar-pei-rescue & welfare UK
The Story of my flower, Daisy
There were all sorts of complications getting Daisy to me, as she had to come from the other side of the country. There were several abortive attempts, involving all sorts of people and I'd already got several things ready for her homecoming, including a bed. Things got hairy because after three attempts at getting her to me, I knew her owners were discussing putting her to sleep but thankfully Roma got her 'mum' to call me direct. After another couple of abortive trips I finally got a call from her 'dad', and this time he turned up! I had fallen in love with Daisy even before she arrived and when I saw her, overweight, in bad condition, skin problems, terrible ears and eyes, I couldn't help myself.I loved her even more! When we reached our home I introduced her to my three other babies, all Yorkshire Terriers. Binky, fearless as always, just trotted up, had a good sniff and then trotted off. My thirteen week old puppy, Willow, just brought Daisy alive! She struggled to play, wobbling on her three good legs, but Simba, who is less socialised, bit her on the end of her nose.the start of ever blooming friendships! She was very worried about coming in the house. She stayed next to the door and ultimately became a bit grumbly, so we left her to it and gave her some time to settle in. Sure enough, at four in the morning I heard her struggling up the stairs to join me in my room and we've never looked back! I learnt a lot about Daisy's early life and what a well travelled dog she was. The blackness on her skin is more or less gone. She no longer smells. Her ears and eyes are good, she's down to 22 kg and she now sleeps beside me on my bed. This Christmas brought me nothing but joy with her and she's even playing with teddies now! So altogether this story is nothing other than the story of my year. It's taken me and a lot of other people time and trouble to get to this point, but Daisy is here and she loves it..and so do I !
The lovely Max
A couple of days later, I went with my brother to pick Max up - Kerrie watched us load him into the boot of my hatchback and my brother sat on the backseat to keep him company. On the way home, he seemed to relax a bit and somehow managed to climb over the backseat on to my brother's lap for cuddles - looking in the rearview mirror, his face was so cute, fascinated by the journey's going-on .. I knew he was the one for me! 2 hours later we arrived home and I brought out Max's step-sister Magic (or more like grand-mother as she's 6 yrs older than him), a German Shepherd to meet him; but they didn't seem interested in each other at all - they had a very brief sniff then completely ignored each other! I didn't complain as it was better than them arguing, so we took them for a walk in the fields together (and even let them off the lead). We got back, he sniffed his way round the garden and every inch of the house and then lay down and relaxed in the lounge - the rest is history.. and I have never looked back! It didn't take long for Max to become part of the family and he and Magic get on really well. They love winding each other up with Max pulling Magic's long fur and Magic grabbing Max's legs so he falls over - a typical brother and sister relationship! Although Max thinks he's the boss with his deep, scary growls, we all know he's not really.. he's all talk (like a lot of men) and not much action - Magic puts him in his place when she has to! Training Max has been interesting. When I first got Max home I'm not actually convinced he knew any English, as the Spanish word "sientate" for 'sit' seemed to be all he would respond to but that may have been coincidence. He knows his basic commands now in English but it's funny to go through them with him. He's like a stroppy teenager He really doesn't want to do it, but he's so desperate for the treat that he goes through every command he knows, throwing both paws at me, until he gets the right one! Either that or he will make a point of doing it in his own time, making sure he's telling me about his reservations vocally! I'm not sure I will ever be able to train him on recall - when I call his name, he pretends he can't hear me or stops still and pretends he doesn't realise who's calling his name. He looks in all directions pretending he doesn't know which direction his name is coming from! He then carries on running and sniffing.... Once, he herded up about 10 cows in a field, except it backfired when the cows turned on him and started trotting after him in a long line. He came running back to me followed by these cows, so of course I had to run too (it's alright for Max he could outrun them!!)... Luckily the cows gave up in the end. Max loves anybody and everybody and goes bounding up to anyone that walks through the front door no matter who they are! When we're out for walks I always get stopped so people can say hello to him (although I have to make them say hello to Magic too otherwise she gets jealous!). Max has a cheeky streak too and likes to think he's still a puppy - he knows he's cute and uses it to his advantage. His favourite pastimes are food, going for walks, playing 'ragger' with Magic, curling up under the duvet on my bed, having his belly tickled, stealing tissues and chewing them up. He also loves sucking on people's hands (if they let him because it is very slimy) and does mouth a lot, although he is ever so gentle! Max also has an awful lot of energy - he has these funny moments every now and again where he races round and round the house and garden (and you have to let him get on with it - there's no stopping him!). Magic looks at him as if he's weird! But once he's tired, he will go upstairs and put himself to bed. Max also has a fascination with birds: he loves watching and chasing the geese that fly over the nearby fields. Unfortunately he also likes eating the remains of dead ones, and I once found a dead blackbird in my toilet!! I'm presuming Max put it there! Lovely.... (Maybe he thinks he's a cat?) Overall, Max has to be the friendliest, happiest, cheekiest and most talkative Shar Pei I've ever met; his tail is always wagging happily and I'm proud to be his owner. Max is gorgeous and I love him to bits (and his silly quirks)!! Thank you Shar-Pei-Rescue & Welfare UK for giving me the opportunity to look after him - I wouldn't give Max up to anyone now (including you Roma)!
Benson and Lucy My name is Dodie and for 14 years I had wanted a Shar Pei. Thanks to Roma, I got more than a Shar Pei. I got two of the cutest and loving dogs I have ever known. I remember the day Roma telephoned telling me she had a female, aged five, fawn horsecoat that was in need of a loving home. I was so happy I couldn't wait to pick her up and a week later my husband and I went to get her. The first thing I thought was 'how can such a small thing have such a loud bark?' After an hour she finally stopped (very stubborn was my second thought). We got her home and she didn't want to know us, so we left her alone. At night I would put her in our room and for three days she continued ignoring us. On the fourth night I turned out the light and very gently, she jumped up onto the bed. Hehe! I screamed so loudly someone listening may have thought we'd been broken into. Ever since that night she has been my shadow and I love her so very much. About six months later Benson came to live with us. He is about four years younger than Lucy and very, very handsome. He's typically stubborn, very playful and hates having a bath. The first bath I ever gave him I literally had to fight him, but thankfully I won! Benny and Lucy are very close now. They had their moments in the beginning, but nothing too bad and when he thinks no-one is watching, Benny licks Lucy's face. Awww. I think they are in love? Both my husband and I love the two of them very much. Everybody who reads this
should know that Lucy and Benson have made me so happy and it's also a good
feeling to know that I am giving them a life where they can feel safe and loved.
I'd like to thank Roma for what she has given me and my family but most
of all I'd like to thank her for sticking by these wonderful dogs.
ERRMMM.well I couldn't see outside!
Please, help more Shar Pei's in need by fostering, adopting or a small donation. Every little helps.
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Testamonials Sue Morrisey : We are all well, and Jake is the most affable dog. He is getting more loveable every day and he is so-o-o-o well behaved. Thank you so much for everthing you have done for us. My dream has been to own a Shar-Pei, and thanks to your rescue service, I finally have my Jake. It is like finding my soulmate. You give so much, yet ask so little in return, I don't know how you do it, but I am very glad you do. There are so many that see these dogs and think "money", it's reassuring to know there are people like you who think "Welfare". Jake and I owe you a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid, so thank you, and keep doing what you do. Shar-Pei Rescue and Welfare is a much needed service. I can not speak well enough of you and your hard work on behalf of the Shar Pei population. I don't know what we adoptive parents would do without you. Love and "woofs", Sue and Jake and family . Lidd We are very happy with our dog that is called Xena. She has settled in very well and is a great pet. We have Roma at Shar Pei Rescue and Welfare UK, to thank for the dog. Long may the rescue continue. Denis and Joan Hoggart. Minnie is a lovely dog and is settling down very well. We are very happy with your services. How you handled the adoption, the back up and after care we have received from you, is amazing. We love her so much. We both fell in love at first sight. We will back you to the hilt. Dee and Francisco. Essex I truly believe you are doing a great job for the breed Shar Pei. If it wasn't for you the Shar Pei I was fostering, would not have found such a wonderful home. Cara. Canvey Island The work Roma and Neill do for Shar Pei Rescue is invaluable, so please don't ever consider giving it up. Jane. Lancs We will always give you our support for the wonderful work you do. The Shar Pei rescue needs people who are as dedicated as you are. Best wishes. Adam and Tracey. Kent I can't thank you enough for all the hard work and dedication you have shown in helping me adopt Daisy. I fully support everything you do for these dogs and I will help you in any way I can. Good luck with everything Roma. Kaylee. Northumberland
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My
name is Nicola and I am a gardener in Carr Bank Park, Mansfield,
Nottinghamshire. Earlier this year I moved into a flat on the park and I felt
very lonely as I am used to having dogs around my family home with my mum, dad
and sister. 
Finding
and joining Shar-Pei-rescue & welfare UK was the beginning of a destined
friendship. When I got 'the call' and heard about a 3 legged, 10 year old female
nobody else wanted, Roma verbally "sold" her to me and I couldn't say No.
I
fell in love with shar-peis when I saw one for the very first time at about the
age of 12, and since then I have always wanted to own one. After having not
much luck with suitable shar-peis, I was so excited when I was told by Roma in
April this year that there was a possible Shar Pei available for me to home..
She had been told it was a male, 2 years old, albino colouring, very friendly,
gets on with other dogs and his name was Max. It turned out he was actually 18
months and more like cream coloured rather than albino and his previous owner
was being deported back to Colombia. Roma fell in love with him as soon as she
met him! I was told I could go and collect Max (preferably sooner rather than
later as shar-peis do not have a good reputation when it comes to vets and
animal shelters.)
