As everyone knows, while at the Studio, recording tracks for her new; at the time; album, "Subject to Change", Vanessa's dog Gaston escaped and was killed in traffic. Now, Vanessa loves her dogs as other people love their children. Needless to say she was heartbroken, and dedicated the Album to Gaston.
For Vanessa's next birthday, her Love and Life Mate, Lionel, bought her a new dog, Gaspard, a Chinese Shar-Pei. Several times, when asked what was most important to her, she has always said,"My dog!"
Now. on this January 3rd, I, myself received a pure bred, pedigree Chinese Shar-Pei! His name is Hercules. He is in one of the rarest of colors, "Blue".....Now they call it Blue, but he sure looks Gray to me!
Having read eight books on the Shar-Pei, I have found that this breed of dog was almost extinct! But a few Breeders in Hong Kong, in the 1960's, rescued it and brought it back. It goes back over 2000 years. It was the guard dogs of the Emperors of China. It was also known as The Chinese Fighting Dog. It will give up its life to defend its owner. A very good choice for Vanessa-Mae......and my Family too!
Here are a few photos of my Shar-Pei, Hercules. They are taken in my Family Room and Library:
CX
PS: The last image is of the front of my Shar-Pei T-Shirt!
dog-18 by jrmclemore1, on Flickr
dog-19 by jrmclemore1, on Flickr
dog-8 by jrmclemore1, on Flickr
img521 by jrmclemore1, on Flickr
img533 by jrmclemore1, on Flickr