Kennel Club Group	Toy
Lifespan	11 - 13 Years
Height (at the withers)	Males and Females 6in - 9in
Weight	Males and Females up to 14lb
Coat	Long, straight hair with a distinct mane. Their top coat is quite thick and coarse. The undercoat is much softer.
Color	Black, Black & Tan, Black & White, Brindle Black Mask, Cream, Cream Black Mask, Fawn, Fawn & Black, Fawn Black Mask, Fawn Brindle, Fawn Brindle Black Mask, Grey Brindle, Light Red, Particolor, Red, Red Black Mask, Red Brindle, Red Brindle Black Mask, Red Fawn, Red Fawn Black Mask, Silver, Silver Brindle, Silver Fawn, Silver Fawn Black Mask, White
Eye color	Dog
Common health issues	Hereditary and congenital deafness, Back problems more especially Intervertebral Disc Disease (IVVD), Eye issues and disorders, Heart problems, Breathing issues more especially due to stenotic nares and pinched nostrils, Pyometra, Dystocia
Other Names	Peke, Peking lion dog, Peking Palasthund, Lion Dog, Chinese Spaniel, Pelchie Dog, Peking Palasthund

The Pekingese breed is well-known for their sweet and affectionate natures. They are also very playful and comical and absolutely love hoomans. They don't like to be left by themselves and in some cases can suffer from separation anxiety, where they can become depressed and destructive. Therefore, one person would need to be home for most of the day. They are very sociable, and although slightly shy around new people, there is rarely a person they won't get on with! They make ideal pets for older people and first-time owners as they are such a delight to be around. They have the potential to make a lovely family pet and would provide you with years of love and joy!

A Chinese legend says the Pekingese was created by the Buddha, who shrunk a lion down to dog size. The breed is of such antiquity that we will never know its true beginnings, but the fanciful origin myth does contain a grain of probable truth. The Peke was likely bred down to toy size from a larger dog, not by the Buddha, of course, but by his earthly servants, the Chinese emperors and their courtiers. For many centuries, Chinese nobles were preoccupied with the breeding of flat-faced lapdogs. The Peke, Pug, and Shih Tzu are surviving samples of their handiwork. It is said that stealing one of these dogs was a crime punishable by death.

Pekes were unknown to the West until 1860, when British troops invaded Peking (Beijing) during the Opium Wars. As the Brits stormed the emperor’s magnificent summer palace with the intention of looting and burning it, the royal family killed their Pekes rather than see them fall into enemy hands. A British captain discovered the emperor’s aunt dead, a suicide, but five of her Pekes were still alive, hiding behind a drapery. The dogs were returned to England as a gift for a delighted Queen Victoria, and the breed quickly caught on among her subjects.

By the late 1890s, Pekes had arrived in America. They were first registered by the AKC in 1906. Six years later, the breed made headlines when a Pekingese was one of only three dogs to survive the sinking of the Titanic.