Appearance

The Pekingese breed is over 2000 years old and has hardly changed in all that time.

The Kennel Club of Great Britain describes the Pekingese dog as "small, well balanced, thick-set with great dignity and quality."

Despite their size and being categorised as a "toy dog", Pekes are muscular proud little dogs with a walk to match.

Pekingese dogs come in a variety of colours - red sable, black and tan, blonde, grey (blue), white - but all share the black face and deep brown eyes.

The coat of a Pekingese is long and straight and has a mane - just like a lion - around its neck and shoulders.

These little fellows should weigh in at no more than 5kg (11lbs) if dogs and 5.4 kgs (12 lbs) for bitches - not a lot, but given their size, a Peke should feel surprisingly heavy when lifted.

Some Pekingese dogs are less than 6lb in weight and are often called Sleeve Pekingese - tradition has it monks would keep such dogs up their sleeves to ward off attackers.