Breed History
The history of the Pekingese dates back as far as 2000 BC, when the dogs were worshiped in Chinese temples and were a favorite pet of the emperor....
In the early 19th century breeding of the Pekingese reached its peak and although pedigrees were not kept, so-called Imperial Dog Books, used to illustrate ideal dogs, served as a standard. The Pekingese was first brought to England after the 1860 Allied occupation of Peking, when five of the dogs were found in the Summer Palace, surrounded by the bodies of their masters who had killed themselves to avoid capture. The unique breed received much attention in England, where one of the five original dogs was presented as a gift to Queen Victoria. An official standard for the Pekingese was composed in 1898 and the Pekingese Club of England was founded in 1904. The AKC first recognized the breed in 1898, eight years after its first recorded entry into the United States. Although the breed was welcomed with open arms abroad, its fate in China was far more tragic. After the death of Empress Dowager in 1911, Chinese officials began a widespread extermination of the breed to prevent them from falling into unworthy hands. Very few Chinese Pekingese escaped the massacre.