Q: What is the best shampoo to use on a Shar-Pei?

A: Some people like Murphy's Oil Soap to bathe their Shar-Pei. I never tried it so I can't recommend it, however, Gayle Gold of House of Gold Shar-Pei, a person who has been in the breed since the beginning, recommended Head and Shoulders for dry scalp. She maintains that it kills adult fleas, but wont repel fleas. Flea control is a separate tip and I will cover what I do there. I can't say that the Head and Shoulders kills fleas, but if you buy the shampoo with the conditioner with it, it leaves the dog's coat silky and smooth and smelling good. It is a fairly cheap shampoo that seems to do the job for me. I buy it at Wal-Mart for around $4.50 for a 25 ounce bottle.

Q: How often should I bathe my Shar-Pei?

A: I have found that each dog is different. I have 6 dogs at the present time and one needs to be bathed every week, one every other week and the others every four weeks. To determine when my Pei need a bath, I stroke their coat with my hand for 30 seconds. If my hand comes away feeling sticky and greasy, then a bath is warranted. My personal experience is that the more wrinkled a Pei is, the more often they need to be bathed. My theory on this is that the fluid under the skin, called Mucin, which causes the wrinkles and meat mouths, oozes out of their skin like our own skin oil. This oil, if not removed, will trap the old skin that is sloughing off the dog and does not allow the new skin to breathe. Since the skin can't breathe the dog will scratch incessantly and this can lead to staph infections. This trapped skin can clog the skin pores causing other problems.