Breed: French Bulldog-Shar-Pei-Pug crossbreed
Date of birth: 23/01/2025
Gender: Female
Neck circumference: 33cm
Chest circumference: 43cm
Base of neck to base of tail: 36cm
Height to shoulder: 23cm
Weight: 9kg

Peanut is the product of three of the world’s most characterful flat-faced breeds and the result is something genuinely singular. A Shar-Pei Pug cross with French Bulldog heritage, she carries the Shar-Pei’s ancient gravitas, the Pug’s expressive sociability and the French Bulldog’s irrepressible charm in a compact brown and tan form that stops people in their tracks. Her owner describes her as having a calm but fun personality with a great deal of affection to give. One look at her face and the description lands immediately.

The Shar-Pei is among the most historically significant and visually distinctive of all Asian breeds. Originating in southern China over two thousand years ago, the breed is distinguished by its deeply wrinkled skin and blue-black tongue and was prized by Chinese farmers as a hunter, herder and guard dog. By the 1970s it had nearly vanished entirely and was listed in the Guinness World Records as the world’s rarest breed; a celebrated appeal published in an international dog magazine in 1973 by breeder Matgo Law triggered a rescue effort that pulled it back from the edge of extinction. The Pug contributes its own imperial lineage to the blend, having served as a companion of Chinese emperors for more than two millennia, while the French Bulldog, descended from English dogs brought to France by lacemakers in the nineteenth century, has since become one of the most beloved breeds on the planet. Peanut distils all three legacies into a single, deeply compelling face.

Confident and affectionate from the outset, she is sociable with other animals once settled and has no documented dislikes, a straightforwardness that makes her entirely uncomplicated to plan around and a genuine pleasure to manage on set.

Peanut’s extraordinary face is a performance in its own right. The layered wrinkles and soulful expression inherited from her Shar-Pei lineage deliver a screen presence that no conventional crossbreed could replicate and her calm, attentive nature ensures every close-up counts. She sits, lies down, drops items and holds a stay with practised ease and her theatre experience confirms she is at home in a live performance setting as readily as in front of a camera.

She works effectively from a distance, maintains consistent eye contact throughout and is entirely ignorant of food distractions when directed, supplying productions with precise and dependable control over her behaviour. Her raise paw and lift both front paws together cues, paired with a kiss on command, give directors a suite of expressive and easily repeatable moments to structure scenes around.

Brown and tan colouring across Peanut’s textured, wrinkled coat creates a richly tonal visual quality that photographs with remarkable depth and warmth. Her compact silhouette and wholly distinctive appearance make her instantly recognisable in any frame she occupies.

She accepts clothing, accessories and a GoPro harness without difficulty, is patient through extended sessions and is entirely unfazed by studio lighting and flash. Pet lifestyle brands, luxury pet accessory labels and heritage-inspired campaigns would all find in her a model whose singular appearance and gentle temperament generate genuine engagement from the very first shot.