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Breed guide · Dogs
He was bred for a Chinese palace. I keep ours air-conditioned for him.
Last updated 14 October 2026
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What they brought with them.
Tap a card to see what is going on.
At home
Call them and they look at you, consider it, and arrive in their own time.
What's going onA Pekingese was kept to be admired, not to take orders. Patience works better than asking twice, and it suits their breathing too.
At home
Two streets out, they sit down and will not move.
What's going onPet parents call it royalty. In a flat-faced dog under a heavy coat, it is often their breathing. Pick them up, head home, and mention it to your vet if it keeps happening.
At home
Snoring at night, and snorting when they are excited.
What's going onIt can be the sound of air squeezing through a narrow airway. If it is getting louder, or they are noisy while resting, film it and show your vet.
At home
A slow, rolling waddle that says the floor should feel honoured.
What's going onIt is part of their charm. Watch for a change in it: a skipped step on a back leg or a sudden reluctance to jump can be their knees or their back. If you see it, contact your vet the same day.
At home
They pick their spot on the sofa and hold it.
What's going onUsually this is dignity. A yelp when you move them is a reason to contact your vet the same day. Stiffness getting up is worth mentioning to your vet.
At home
In summer they lie spread on the coolest floor they can find, coat and all.
What's going onThey are pushing heat out through their belly. Give them that spot, and keep the room cold.
The bit nobody tells you.
Their day
Built for: A lap, and an indoor life with their people.
In Dubai: Company in a flat or villa, kept cool.
Their face
Built for: A short, flat face.
In Dubai: A narrow airway, in a summer that runs from May to September.
Their coat
Built for: A long, heavy double coat.
In Dubai: A coat that holds heat and damp against the skin.
In Dubai, it is their breathing that ends the walk.
Some of what reads as attitude, stopping on the pavement or refusing to hurry, can be their body telling you it has had enough. The ten things below are how you plan their day around it.
Your plan is built around their breed: the risks on a Pekingese's record at every age, and the care that goes with each one.
Join the founding families. AED 1,999 of essential care for AED 199.
Ten things that make their life better.
Heat is what their body handles worst, and their coat holds it in.
Every age, most of all puppies and from 7 years
Why
Heat is what their body handles worst, and their coat holds it in.
What to do
From May to September, walk before sunrise and after dark only, and keep it short. When they sit down, let them, or carry them. Put the back of your hand on the pavement for five seconds. If you cannot keep it there, they cannot walk on it. Never leave them in the car.
A cool floor against their belly takes out heat that their coat would hold in.
Every age, most of all puppies and from 7 years
Why
A cool floor against their belly takes out heat that their coat would hold in.
What to do
Keep their room air-conditioned from May to September. Leave them a tiled spot or a cooling mat, and water in two places. Put their bed where they always end up.
Mats hold heat and damp against the skin. Their eyes sit exposed, and the breed's health record lists eye ulcers (sores on the surface of the eye) from puppyhood.
Every age
Why
Mats hold heat and damp against the skin. Their eyes sit exposed, and the breed's health record lists eye ulcers (sores on the surface of the eye) from puppyhood.
What to do
Brush right through to the skin every day, and brush their teeth too. Avoid a full short summer cut, because theirs is a double coat. They can have a scissor trim that leaves a moderate length, with de-shedding, undercoat removal, brushing and bathing. Keep their face clean and dry. If they squint, rub an eye, or it looks wet, red or cloudy, contact your vet the same day. An ophthalmic evaluation (eye exam) is in your plan from six months to four years.
Snoring and restless sleep are easy to take as character, and easy to miss as signs that their airway is working too hard.
Every age, and again each year
Why
Snoring and restless sleep are easy to take as character, and easy to miss as signs that their airway is working too hard.
What to do
One night, film two minutes of them asleep with the sound on. Watch for snoring, pauses in their breathing, or waking with a start. Show the video to your vet, and film again once a year to compare.
Extra weight makes breathing harder.
Every age, most of all from 6 months to 7 years
Why
Extra weight makes breathing harder.
What to do
Weigh them every month. Measure their meals and count treats as food. Under all that coat you will not see their waist, so feel for their ribs with your hands.
A collar pulls on the part of them that already struggles.
Every age, refitted as they grow
Why
A collar pulls on the part of them that already struggles.
What to do
Use a harness that sits across their chest, fitted under the coat so it does not mat. Keep a collar for their tag if you like, and never clip the lead to it.
When they do decide to play, they will go past the point their airway can manage.
Every age, most of all puppies and young dogs
Why
When they do decide to play, they will go past the point their airway can manage.
What to do
A few minutes of play indoors, then a rest. Gentle games on the floor suit them better than chasing.
The breed's health record lists Intervertebral Disc Disease (IVDD, a slipped disc in the back) and Patellar Luxation (PL, a slipping kneecap) from puppyhood. Jumping off the sofa, again and again, adds up on a low-built dog.
Every age, from puppyhood
Why
The breed's health record lists Intervertebral Disc Disease (IVDD, a slipped disc in the back) and Patellar Luxation (PL, a slipping kneecap) from puppyhood. Jumping off the sofa, again and again, adds up on a low-built dog.
What to do
Put a ramp up to the sofa and bed, and lift them down. Carry them with one hand under the chest and one under the back end. If they suddenly will not jump, yelp when lifted, or skip on a back leg, contact your vet the same day. An orthopaedic evaluation (a joint and bone exam) is in your plan from six months old.
A short nose, short legs and a coat that soaks up water. They are not built to swim.
Every age, most of all puppies and older dogs
Why
A short nose, short legs and a coat that soaks up water. They are not built to swim.
What to do
Fence the pool or keep them out of the pool area. Near water, put them in a dog life jacket with a handle, and keep hold of it.
Pushing a Pekingese gets you nowhere and gets them breathing hard. Short and patient works.
Every age, starting in the first weeks
Why
Pushing a Pekingese gets you nowhere and gets them breathing hard. Short and patient works.
What to do
Two or three minutes at a time, indoors in the cool. Tiny rewards, taken out of their daily food. Teach them early to be brushed, lifted and have their face wiped. They will need all three for life.
Four of these are in your plan. The rest you can do at home.
Join the founding families. AED 1,999 of essential care for AED 199.
Their health, at every age.
How old are they?
Their age
the first six months
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
6 months to 2 years
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
2 to 4 years
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
4 to 7 years
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
7 to 10 years
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
10 years and over
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Breed predispositions indicate an increased risk rather than certainty of disease. What is right for them always comes from their own history and an evaluation.
Before they come home.
One type
There is one Pekingese: small, low to the ground and compact, at up to 6.4 kg, and surprisingly heavy when you lift them. Show dogs and family dogs are the same breed, under the same long double coat, with the same face to care for.
Colours
A white Pekingese, a black one, a red or fawn one with a dark mask: every colour and marking turns up, and all of them are cared for the same way.
The first six months
Their full vaccination course, microchip and Dubai Municipality registration come first, with baseline airway screening. Start a two-minute brush every evening, with a treat at the end. You are teaching them to enjoy it for life.
Puppy health, 0 to 6 months
Getting the home ready
Put a ramp up to the sofa and bed, leave a tiled spot or a cooling mat in an air-conditioned room, buy a harness rather than a collar to walk on, and keep them out of the pool area.
Ten things that make their life better
Before you commit
Look for a visible muzzle and open nostrils, and ask the breeder how the parents breathe on a warm day. Breathing, eyes, knees and back are the first risks on a young Pekingese's record.
Before the clinics open
AED 1,999 of essential care for AED 199. No payment now.
For a new puppy: First 30 days with a new puppy · Puppy vaccinations in the UAE · Heatstroke in dogs
When it is not behaviour.
Keep the palace cool. If they struggle for breath in it anyway, contact your vet now.
Before they were yours.
The beginning
The Pekingese comes from China, a small, flat-faced, long-coated dog kept indoors with people.
What they still carryThe lap, the face and the coat.
1860 to 1906
In 1860 British and French troops looted the Old Summer Palace outside Beijing. A British officer took a small Pekingese home to Queen Victoria, who named the little dog Looty. More followed, and the American Kennel Club recognised the breed in 1906.
What they still carryA dog that arrived in the West as a rarity, and expects to be admired.
The twentieth century
The Pekingese became a leading show breed in Britain and America. Breeders kept choosing a flatter face and a heavier coat.
What they still carryThe narrow airway, the exposed eyes and the heavy coat.
2008
In 2008 the Kennel Club in Britain rewrote the breed's standard to ask for a visible muzzle, after public criticism of how flat the face had become.
What they still carryA reason to ask a breeder about the parents' breathing.
Today
More than 1,000 Pekingese live in Dubai, by Paws & Co's estimate, most of them in flats and villas.
What they still carryA flat-faced dog in a heavy coat, in a city built for air conditioning.
The ones you type at midnight.
If the Pekingese suits you, so might these.
Shih TzuThe same kind of dog: a long-coated, flat-faced companion from China, a little more playful.
Japanese ChinAnother flat-faced lap dog from the East, lighter, with a long silky coat.
Lhasa ApsoThe same dignified, independent temperament and reserve with strangers, in a Tibetan dog with a face that copes better with heat.
PugA similar size and the same care in the heat, in a short-coated dog that loves meeting new people.
