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Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey

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Speaker 1: brain Stuff. Lauren Bogo Bam here looking for a dog

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Speaker 1: that will turn heads or stop passers by in their tracks.

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Speaker 1: Check out the sharp Pai with their unique loosened, wrinkled

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Speaker 1: or folded skin and hippopotamus shaped muzzle. Sharpai are a

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Speaker 1: unique member of the canine family, the stocky breed originated

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Speaker 1: in China. The name Sharpei literally translates to sand skin.

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Speaker 1: A full grown sharpay stands at about two feet that's

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Speaker 1: point six meters high and weighs between forty five and

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Speaker 1: sixty pounds or about seven kilo's and it lives up

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Speaker 1: to that sand skin name. The sharp pay coat is

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Speaker 1: short and coarse, falling in heavy folds around the dog's head, neck,

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Speaker 1: and shoulders. They're typically solidly fawn colored, but could come

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Speaker 1: in anything from white to red to brown to black,

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Speaker 1: with lighter or darker spots or points. In addition to

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Speaker 1: their prominent muzzle, Sharpei have small, deep set eyes and

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Speaker 1: tiny ears. Their tongues are blue black, which is a

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Speaker 1: rare trait in dogs. The only other breed that shows

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Speaker 1: it is the chow Chow, which is also originally from China.

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Speaker 1: This characteristic would seem to indicate a shared ancestor somewhere

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Speaker 1: in the canine family tree, but there's no evidence of

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Speaker 1: that ancestor to date. However, it is the wrinkles that

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Speaker 1: make the sharp pai so memorable. We spoke via email

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Speaker 1: Dr Kirsten Lynn blood Tow of Upsala University in Sweden.

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Speaker 1: They write that a sharp PA's wrinkles are caused by

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Speaker 1: a particular gene called hyaluronic acid synthase two or h

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Speaker 1: A S two quote HS two encodes an enzyme synthesizing

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Speaker 1: hylurinin a major component of the skin. The high larnin

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Speaker 1: is up regulated and accumulates in the thickened skin of

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Speaker 1: shar pei. In hyper Layman's terms, the high learning is

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Speaker 1: a sort of gel around the cells in the skin.

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Speaker 1: Among other things, it aids in hydration and elasticity in

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Speaker 1: the skin. In a sharp pai, the HS two gene

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Speaker 1: goes into overdrive, eating way too much high learning, and

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Speaker 1: that causes the trademark wrinkles, which are specially visible in

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Speaker 1: Sharpay puppies. By the time of Sharpay is fully grown,

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Speaker 1: its wrinkles have settled down and are typically just in

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Speaker 1: the face, head, and neck. The genetics of the Sharpe's

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Speaker 1: wrinkles helped Line blood Toe and other researchers uncover a

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Speaker 1: mystery when they used the breed is subjects in study

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Speaker 1: connecting Sharpai to a fairly common canine illness. To study

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Speaker 1: linked the h a S two gene with a tendency

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Speaker 1: of Sharpay to fall ill with periodic fever disease, sometimes

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Speaker 1: referred to as familial Sharpay. Fever. Symptoms include episodes of

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Speaker 1: fever that appear to rise out of nowhere and overall listlessness.

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Speaker 1: Linn blood Toe says that high learning is to blame

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Speaker 1: for periodic fever disease in Sharpei, and the team's research

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Speaker 1: bears it out. First, they compared the sharp paid genome

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Speaker 1: with other dog breeds and then compared the genome of

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Speaker 1: healthy and six Sharpai, searching for the mutation that was

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Speaker 1: causing the fever, and each time they came to the

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Speaker 1: same conclusion. And blood Toe said in the study, a

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Speaker 1: mutation in a strand of DNA affecting both the fever

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Speaker 1: syndrome and the wrinkled skin was found. There are other

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Speaker 1: health issues that can be challenging to Sharpei because of

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Speaker 1: the folds and sharp pay skin. They're susceptible to certain

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Speaker 1: skin problems and a serious eye disorder called entropion, when

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Speaker 1: the eyelid, usually the lower lid folds inwards, causing irritation

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Speaker 1: to the cornea. Centuries of breeding and inbreeding for specific

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Speaker 1: physical traits leaves many pure bred dogs susceptible to particular problems.

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Speaker 1: If you have a Sharpay in your life, talk to

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Speaker 1: your veterinarian about what sort of screenings they recommend. But

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Speaker 1: are Sharpay good family dogs. That depends on what you're

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Speaker 1: looking for. The American Kennel Club suggests that Sharpay puppies

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Speaker 1: are better with older children, but older dogs may be

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Speaker 1: okay with younger kids. They were initially bred as guard

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Speaker 1: dogs and hunters, and the breed tends to be intelligent

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Speaker 1: and independent, but with a fierce loyalty to their owners.

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Speaker 1: Your Sharpai will need a firm hand plan to invest

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Speaker 1: in obedience, ing in socialization, because as much as your

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Speaker 1: sharp Pai loves you, they're not great with strangers or

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Speaker 1: other dogs, and don't mistake their natural calm for not caring.

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Speaker 1: If they believe their territory is under threat, they'll protect

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Speaker 1: it with determination. Sharpai enjoy a leisurely walk, just not

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Speaker 1: too often, usually once or twice a day will do

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Speaker 1: and watch out during the summer months. Sharpai don't tolerate

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Speaker 1: the heat well. Owners would do well to take a

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Speaker 1: look at the Chinese Sharpay Club of America website. It's

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Speaker 1: chock full of information about the breed, everything from those

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Speaker 1: health issues to training to showing standards. Today's episode was

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Speaker 1: written by Patty Resumusin and produced by Tyler Clang. Brain

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Speaker 1: Stuff is a production of iHeart Radio's How Stuff Works.

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Speaker 1: For more in this and lots of other topics with

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Speaker 1: lots of wrinkles, visit our home Planet has to Works

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Speaker 1: dot com and for more podcast from my heart Radio,

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Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.