Breed Profiles

I spent two hundred pounds on a "lion dog" because the breeder used the words "imperial" and "throne," and I was young enough to think that meant something about the dog. It meant something about the dog's ancestors and nothing about his ability to rule my flat, which he did anyway.

The Pekingese was bred in imperial China to live in the palaces of the Tang and later the Forbidden City, carried in the sleeves of courtiers and treated as a living charm against evil, a small lion with the heart of one. The breed is built on that contradiction: a dog shaped to look like a protective lion, sized to fit in a lap, and temperamentally convinced it is the larger of the two. Mine, Bao, never met a visitor he did not immediately assess for worthiness, and he failed most of them.

The face is the giveaway and the catch. A flat, broad muzzle, enormous eyes set wide, a mane of longer hair around the neck that reads as a lion's ruff, and a body low and long for the size. The coat is double, long, and straight, in gold, red, black, white, or sable, and it is glorious and it is work. Bao needed a daily brush or the ruff matted into clumps, and the folds around the eyes needed a wipe or they wept and stained. A Pekingese left ungroomed becomes a sad tangle, and the grooming is not a luxury, it is the difference between a dog that looks regal and one that looks abandoned.

A cat in a dog suit, with a king's temper

People expect a toy breed to be eager to please. The Pekingese is the opposite, a dog with the aloof self-possession of a cat and the stubbornness of a mule that has read its own history. Bao chose when to be affectionate, which was mostly at night, on his terms, and he treated daytime requests as beneath him. This is not a breed for someone who wants a dog that comes when called the first time. It is a breed for someone who finds the refusal funny.

What I underestimated was the courage. A Pekingese will square up to a dog ten times its weight because it does not compute the size difference; the imperial lion did not flinch, so neither does he. That bravery is endearing until it is dangerous, which is why a reliable recall and a lead in public are non-negotiable, and why socialisation with bigger dogs, done gently and early, matters more than the breed's size suggests. A small dog with no fear is a small dog in frequent trouble, and the owner's job is to be the sense he lacks.

The breathing you have to take seriously

The flat face that makes the breed look like a miniature lion is also the source of its main health tax. Brachycephalic airways mean many Pekingese snort, snore, and struggle in heat, and the cute snuffle is sometimes a dog that cannot move air well. Bao panted hard after the shortest walk in summer, and the vet's advice was blunt: keep him slim, keep him cool, keep the walks short and early. Eye injury is a constant risk because the eyes sit so far forward, and a scratched cornea in this breed is a same-day vet trip, not a wait-and-see.

They are also prone to a slipped kneecap, a spine that does not always sit straight, and teeth crowded in a small jaw that need real care. None of it is a reason to pass, only a reason to buy from a breeder who breeds for open airways over extreme flatness, because the show-ring extremes have pushed some lines toward faces that cannot breathe, and that is cruelty dressed as beauty.

Bao lived to fourteen, ruled the flat the whole time, and died believing he had done the imperial family proud. I laughed at the "throne" talk then, and I laugh now, because the joke was on me: he was always the one on the throne, and I was the courtier bringing the good food.

The exercise needs are modest, which suits a flat, but the companionship needs are not. A Pekingese left alone all day will not thrive; this is a dog that wants to be near you, preferably on you, and the separation is harder on him than the walk would be. Short, gentle strolls in cool weather, a bit of indoor play, and a warm lap do the job, and the breed's low exercise demand is a feature for the right owner and a trap for the one who wanted a hiking partner. He is not that dog, and pretending otherwise stresses both of you.

Feeding matters more than the size suggests. Those prominent eyes and that short face mean the breed can be a greedy little thing, and the weight piles on fast and worsens the breathing, so a measured bowl and a lean body are part of keeping him alive longer. I weighed Bao's food and ignored the begging, because the alternative was a heavier dog who could not breathe on warm days, and the begging was never about hunger, it was about the principle of the throne.