On 5/19/2017 1:29 PM, David B. wrote:
On 5/19/2017 6:13 PM, PAS wrote:
[....]
My wife and I have been, thankfully, spared the loss of a child. But
we have lost some dogs over the years. My wife was not always the
dog lover I am. We got our first dog when our youngest of two sons
was an infant so she had her priorities and it wasn't a new dog, that
was mine. Fast forward about 26 years and we got a dog after going
about five years without one. My wife named her Maya and she was an
awesome dog. She was a bear-coat Shar Pei which you don't see often

As a puppy: http://www.pete-the-greek.com/Pets/Maya/i-WNFH8Rd/A

Full-grown: http://www.pete-the-greek.com/Pets/Maya/i-fp8xSGf/A

Wow! :-) I've never seen such a dog! Thanks for sharing the photographs.

In the late 1970s, the Shar Pei was one of the rarest breeds. You had
to have a lot of money to afford one! After Mao took power in China, he
declared that ownership of dogs was not allowed and the breed dwindle to
the point it was almost extinct. A businessman names Matgo Law smuggled
about 200 Shar Peis from China to Hong Kong and then he appealed to
American breeders to help him in breeding them to avoid extinction. The
Shar Peis in the USA come mostly from those 200. Look-up "bone mouth
Shar Pei" to get a look at what they originally looked like versus the
"meat mouth Shar Pei" that is popular in the West.


Maya died two years ago at the age of 5 1/2. To say my wife was
devastated is an understatement. She was attached to that dog in a
way I had never seen. There are days where I still find her crying
over Maya.

I'm saddened to learn of your loss. I, too, have cried over the loss
of my pets over the years. They do, as you know, become a part of you.