Dated back as one of the oldest dog breeds, showing evidence as far back as the 1400s, the Petit chien lion is a very unique breed. Seen in paintings even with Duchess Katharina von Mecklenburg in 1514, this small breed is nicknamed "The Lion Dog" due to their appearance. Still unknown today what exact breeds made up this special pup, it is known that they were from Belgium, France and parts of Germany. From back in the 1400s up until today, this breed is solely used for companionship.
As per the nickname "Lion Dog", the Petit chien lion has a unique appearance! Commonly groomed by their owners to resemble the tradition "Lion" look of the breed, their hind quarters are usually shaved down to their skin, while a small section of hair remains in the shape of a ball at the bottom of all 4 paws and the rest of their body covered in long hair. This breed is available in several colors including white, black, blonde and spotted coloring. Typically both males and females measure 10-13 inches in height and 9-18 pounds for weight. This small dog has shorter, thin legs with tiny feet, a high set tail that curls upwards, and long pendant shaped ears that hang along side of their broad head. Both nose and eyes on this breed are dark brown or black.
The Petit chien lion is a wonderful family addition to any family. Great with children, elderly and other pets, this dog is happy all of the time, loving, and affectionate. This breed does require positive reinforcement training methods only. This small breed has the common "small dog syndrome", and truely is fearless while believing he or she is much bigger in size than they actually are! It is important to take your Petit chien lion for a daily walk, and always keep your pup on a leash or within a properly safe fenced in yard. This breed is suitable for both apartment and country living.
Due to their long hair, the Petit chien lion needs to be brushed daily, perhaps twice a day to ensure knots and mats do not form within their coat. This breed does not shed, and commonly owners have their Petit chien lion professionally groomed every 4 months.
Please fully educate yourself about the Petit chien lion breed prior to adding one to your family to ensure that this is the correct breed for you and you are able to promise a life long commitment to your new pup! All dogs originate from wolves (Canis Lupus). Each breed of dog was originally created by mixing different breeds together in an effort to bring forth certain characteristics. Once a breeder has created acceptable “breed characteristics” within their bloodline and these “breed characteristics” have shown to be reliably reproduced in the offspring for three (3) generations, the bloodline may be upgraded from the category of “foundation stock” to “pure-bred”. The same “pure-bred” breed standards vary from different continents, countries, territories, regions, breed clubs, and canine pure-breed registries depending on the goals of their breeders. Dog DNA testing companies can have accurate results for a specific bloodline of a small colony of dogs. However, there are tens of thousands of different bloodlines in the world which have not yet been tested for marker baseline results by Dog DNA testing companies as of 2017. For this reason Dog DNA testing companies do not guarantee the 100% accuracy of their breed lineage results and will also show different marker results for the same pure-bred breed in different continents, countries, territories, regions, breed clubs, and canine pure-breed registries depending on the goals of their breeders.