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Different people with different background tend to have different view on height. We can summarize the different views as follows:
"Chinese Fighting Dog" view
This is not to be misunderstood as people still breed this dog for this gladiator sport, but just being true to past history of this very special breed. People in this group, and definitely many bone mouth people, talk about how the old days had been and what people in those old days had been looking for in this breed. One thing certain is that in those days when people want to win in the fighting ring, size did matter and testimony of many older person still living today who had been in those situation all swear to heaven that they had seen much larger size Shar-pei than what we see today. Again, we must be caution here that we are talking about a very loosely defined "functional breed" concept, in contrast to what we are familiar with today of a "breeding breed" concept.
With such strong and unquestioned selective force to maintain body size, it is not surprising that dogs in those days could have been much bigger in size.
Actual measurement in China
When Eric T. Omura judged in the Nanhai Shar-Pei Specialty Show in China on April 23, 2000, he actually measured individually the height of each Shar-Pei participated in the show. The measurement is to test the height of Shar-Pei in China against the breed standards. Three more subsequent measurements in shows in China, namely, Xiqiao (November 26, 2000), Guangzhou (February 18, 2001), and Dali (March 19, 2005) revealed more or less the same height distribution that the Shar-Pei today seldom get over 20 inches.
The result of Nanhai measurement was published in The Dog Place website library section on Shar-Pei Height data in China
In reality, on average, it is difficult to see dog reaching above 20 inches. The tallest Eric T. Omura measured so far was an adult male meaty-bone mouth (tweener) in the Guangzhou Shar-Pei Specialty Show (February 18, 2001) of 20 5/8 inches.
Height standards of Shar-Pei in different clubs around the world
| Name of kennel club |
Height standards |
Effective date |
| FCI-Standard |
19 - 23 ins. (48.26 - 58.42 cm at withers ). |
N° 309 / 25. 01. 1994 |
| Kennel Club, UK |
18 - 20 ins. (46 - 51 cm) at withers. |
March 27, 1985 |
| AKC |
18 to 20 inches at the withers. |
February 28, 1998 |
| Kennel Club, UK |
46-51 cm (18 - 20 in) at withers. |
September, 1998 |
| FCI-Standard |
44 - 51 cm at withers (17.5 - 20 ins). |
N° 309 / 09. 08. 1999 |
| The Shar-Pei Club of Great Britain |
46-51 cm (18-20 in) at withers. |
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| Sharpei Club Hong Kong |
19-23 inches at withers |
October 8, 1995 |
The Sharpei Club Hong Kong website has also interesting article on the Height and the Weight of the Shar-Pei. It mentioned possibility to reach up to 23 inches according to some description.
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Introduction
Height of Shar-Pei
