The Pekingese is a breed of toy dog that is very popular as a family pet. They are popular with the elderly, single families, and families with children. They are very loving affectionate dogs that will protect you with their lives in spite of their small size. As wonderful as they are as pets, they can also be very difficult dogs to own.
The Pekingese or Peke likes to think of himself as the boss of the household and will try to get away with as much as possible. Whereas all dogs need to be shown who the boss is, this is even more important with the Peke. They love attention and lots of it and expect it all the time. They are a very jealous dog and will often show jealousy when other people take their owner's attention away from them.
The Pekingese, being a one-person dog, will often show jealousy or aggression towards other family members if they are disciplining them or taking the attention away from them. The Peke loves being the center of attention in the family. Unless they've been properly socialized and raised with other dogs, they usually do not get along with them. Even with socialization, they sometimes tend to still fight with them for their owner's attention or treats, etc.
Many dog breeders try to sell the Pekingese to families that do not have small children, as the Peke will often nip at children, especially if they feel the children are too rough with them, as young children often unintentionally are. Socialization and close supervision is necessary with the Pekingese and children in the same house. Usually, once they get to know that the children are part of the family, they do become quite fond of them. The introductory period is usually the roughest.
The Peke tends to be aggressive towards strangers coming into "their" home and need to be shown that this behavior is unacceptable. Once they have consistency in their training, many of the aggressive traits are minimized. It is recommended that Pekingese be enrolled in some sort of basic obedience at a young age before bad habits have a chance to set in. It is much easier to train a young puppy to adapt to household rules than it is with an older dog.
While it's still very possible to reinforce and train an older Pekingese, this is often when you will see aggression in them. They do not like people trying to make them do something they don't want to do. They do like pleasing their owners, but only if they think there is something in it for them. So it's important to give them a lot of praise or treats or whatever it takes to make them want to do things your way.
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