Paris Hilton, move over, hon, you weren’t the first to love your dog and have it seen as a fashion statement.  Back in the 19th century, the Dowager Empress Tzu Hsi penned a standard for the Pekingese in which she wrote: “Pekingese colors should be a golden sable to go with a yellow robe, or the color of a red bear, or of a black bear, or a white bear, or striped like a dragon, so that there may be dogs appropriate to each of the Imperial robes.”

Would have the Empress been “put out” that today’s AKC’s standard allows only 10 colors and 3 markings?  We can’t hazard a guess, but while “golden” isn’t one of them, “sable” appears three times, and “white, “black” and “red” each show up.  “Stripes?” Not at all.

Pekingese – Worded Art Print by Marlene Watson in a whole lot of formats you can find here