Pekingese

Loyal at home, aloof with strangers, can be stubborn.
A Pekingese
Photo: Lilly M
Adult male
3–5 kg
6.6–11 lb
Adult female
3–5.4 kg
6.6–12 lb
Lifespan
13.3 yrs
Class · Lap dog
also Companion

What it's like

The Pekingese is affectionate and loyal with its own people but dignified and aloof with strangers. It is independent and can be stubborn, yet shows real courage for its size. A Pekingese named Sun Yat Sen was one of the few dogs to survive the sinking of the Titanic.

Day to day
Activity
Happy with modest walks
Intelligence
Easy-going, simple routines
Handler demand
Needs steady training
With people
Affection
Affectionate on its own terms
Loyalty
Sticks close to its people
Independence
Decides for itself
Around the home
Sensitivity
Average
Voice
Barks to alert, then settles
Prey drive
Usually fine with small pets
Breed explains only about 9% of how individual dogs differ in behaviour1. Meet the dog. A good breeder breeds for temperament as well as health, and matches each puppy's personality to the right home2,3.
Is a Pekingese right for you?
Take the breed matcher

Living with one

It has a long coat. Most of the shedding comes when the seasons change. Plan on daily brushing. It needs a modest amount of exercise compared with other breeds.

Size and growth

A Pekingese is a toy dog, heavier than a Chihuahua and lighter than a Yorkshire Terrier. Females run heavier than males.

The breed is compact and pear-shaped, with a heavy front, lighter hindquarters and a broad, flat face framed by a lion-like mane. Short, slightly bowed forelegs give it a distinctive rolling gait. The long, straight coat has a dense undercoat, heavy feathering on the ears, legs and toes, and a plumed tail carried over the back. Many colours are seen, often with a black mask.

Puppy growth

Reference curve · community data appears as owners log
Pekingese dogs reach half their adult weight at about 4 months. They grow fastest between 3 and 4 months old.
Fully grown
10 mo
Both sexes, at 99% of adult weight6
Male
Female
Shaded: expected range
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Age
Male
Female
2 months
1.0–1.6 kg 2.2–3.5 lb
1.1–1.9 kg 2.4–4.2 lb
3 months
1.2–2.0 kg 2.6–4.4 lb
1.3–2.3 kg 2.9–5.1 lb
4 months
1.6–2.7 kg 3.5–6.0 lb
1.7–3.0 kg 3.7–6.6 lb
5 months
1.9–3.1 kg 4.2–6.8 lb
1.9–3.4 kg 4.2–7.5 lb
6 months
2.1–3.5 kg 4.6–7.7 lb
2.1–3.8 kg 4.6–8.4 lb
7 months
2.3–3.8 kg 5.1–8.4 lb
2.3–4.1 kg 5.1–9.0 lb
8 months
2.4–4.1 kg 5.3–9.0 lb
2.4–4.3 kg 5.3–9.5 lb
9 months
2.5–4.2 kg 5.5–9.3 lb
2.5–4.4 kg 5.5–9.7 lb
10 months
2.6–4.4 kg 5.7–9.7 lb
2.6–4.6 kg 5.7–10.1 lb
11 months
2.7–4.5 kg 6.0–9.9 lb
2.6–4.7 kg 5.7–10.4 lb
12 months
2.7–4.5 kg 6.0–9.9 lb
2.7–4.8 kg 6.0–10.6 lb
15 months
2.9–4.8 kg 6.4–10.6 lb
2.8–5.1 kg 6.2–11.2 lb
18 months
3.0–4.9 kg 6.6–10.8 lb
2.9–5.3 kg 6.4–11.7 lb

Health and lifespan

In UK lab records, mouth melanoma turns up more often in Pekingese dogs than in crossbreeds: it is much more likely. It can shorten a life. These are figures for the breed as a whole, not a prediction for your dog.
Listed by likelihood level, highest first, then by how serious it is, then by name.
  • Mouth melanoma
    Lab-confirmed cases
    Much more likely
    Impact: life-limiting
Lab-confirmed: compares dogs whose tumour samples went to a lab with dogs seen in general practice, so the figures run higher than vet-record ones.

Flat face and breathing

The Pekingese is one of the flat-faced breeds. In UK vet records, flat-faced dogs were more likely to have breathing and airway problems than dogs with a medium-length muzzle, and lived shorter lives on average. Noisy breathing at rest is worth raising with a vet.

Lifespan

In UK vet records, the typical Pekingese lived to about 13 and a half years, about average for a toy breed.

Where it comes from

The Pekingese was a passion of China's emperors and their courts; toy-dog breeding in the imperial kennels was at its peak by 1821, and court artists painted the top dogs in Imperial dog books. The first in England were five looted when British and French troops stormed the Summer Palace in 1860; one, Looty, was presented to Queen Victoria. Chinese legend pairs a lion and a marmoset as its parents10,11.

The Pekingese reached the West in greater numbers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, as dogs left China with Western diplomats and visitors, some of them gifts from the Empress Dowager Cixi, who was devoted to the breed. British breeders took it up keenly, and specialist clubs formed in the early twentieth century shaped the show dog seen today. It was bred chiefly as a palace companion. The smallest court dogs were called sleeve dogs, reputedly carried in the wide sleeves of a courtier's robe.

Breed standard

The Pekingese is judged against standard no. 207, in group 9, Companion and Toy Dogs4.

Questions people ask

General guidance for dogs rather than a measured Pekingese figure: most females have a first season somewhere between six and fifteen months, and cycles then settle to roughly every 180 days. Smaller breeds tend to start earlier and larger ones later, so a toy breed is most likely at the early end.

Compare with related

Tibetan Spaniel
Companion & toy · Small
Japanese Chin
Companion & toy · Toy
Shih Tzu
Companion & toy · Small
Maltese
Companion & toy · Toy
Or compare the Pekingese with any breed you choose
Track your own Pekingese
Log a minute a day and watch them sit on these curves. Free.

Sources

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Parts of this page were written by AI ·