As the Year of the Dog in Chinese lunar calendar beckons, a dog-raising craze has spread in China and Taiwan. Since last November, the price for pet dogs in Shenzhen has increased by 30 percent, and the boom is expected to last for several months.

 

"This Chow Chow is now worth of 3,200 yuan (C$459), while two months ago you could buy at 2,200," said Wang Zhongping, owner of a pet shop on Yanhe Road, where the city’s largest dog market lies.

 

According to Wang, thoroughbred dogs are the most popular among buyers, including King Charles Spaniels, Pomeranians and Tibet Dogs. Many species of thoroughbred dogs have been sold out in Shenzhen. "We have to spend a couple of months training the dogs before we can sell them. As the demand for well-bred dogs rises, stores are emptying out of their cuddly canines quickly. Another wave of dog sales is yet to come, and the prices are expected to rise," Wang told Chinese media.

 

Dog paraphernalia is also becoming more expensive. The price of dog food in several parts of China has increased twice since late November, with the increase reaching 10 percent. Dogs under 40 days old are bestsellers in Shenzhen’s canine market. These pups don’t require milk feeding, which makes it easier for new owners to raise them, and are much cheaper than the older dogs.

 

In Taiwan pet store owners are already feeling some new year’s cheer. Pet sellers estimate that on average more than NT$20 billion (C$58,000) is spent on 1.6 million pet dogs and related products in Taiwan every year. But with the "Year of the Dog" soon to arrive, pet store owners have seen their sales increase by at least 20 percent so far. Dogs that are cute remain the most popular animals in the pet market.

 

The Red Toy Poodle, the recipient of widespread media exposure in Taiwan because popular model Lin Chih-ling owns one, tops the list as the best-selling breed of dog, according to the Taipei Pet Commerce Association. It has remained the most requested breed since the second half of last year. Rounding out the top 10 of best-selling breeds are Maltese, Dachshunds, Chihuahuas, Yorkshire Terriers, Pomeranians, Shiba Inus, Shi Tzus, Beagles, and Siberian Huskies, in that order.

Association staff member Wang Mei-ling observed that a Red Toy Poodle costs between NT$40,000 and NT$60,000, with some sellers asking for as much as NT$100,000. Despite the high price tag, this breed of dog has been so popular that it has been out of stock since late last year, she added. While the Maltese is a star species that has always sold well in Taiwan, the Dachshund has become more popular here in recent years, according to Wang.

 

Sales of Labradors, however, have declined, after the Japanese film Quill made them among the most popular breeds less than two years ago. According to a pet shop owner on Taipei City’s Tunghua Street, the shop sold more than 10 Labradors per month during the months after the movie’s release. These days, however, it barely sells a single Labrador per month. There is a downside to the higher sales, however: increased abandonment.

 

Chen Jen-kuan, president of the Taipei-based China Pet Association, urged people who plan on owning a pet dog to carefully consider the responsibilities involved and not simply buy a pet because it is fashionable. Animal protection activists have estimated that up to 95 percent of all stray dogs in Taiwan are former pets, reflected, for example, by the rising number of stray Labradors in recent months after many were bought following the movie Quill. Meanwhile, in Shanghai there is a new twist on the phrase ‘’working like a dog,’’ after company i says it will hire only candidates born in the Asian zodiac’s Year of the Dog.

 

The lunar-calendar astrology used in China and other Asian countries counts the coming year, which starts Jan. 29, as a dog year. The Asian zodiac assigns a different animal to each year in a 12-year cycle, each of which is credited with different personality traits. A personnel manager for Jilin Jiangshan Human Resources Development Co. Ltd. said his company believes people born in the Year of the Dog are more suited to its corporate culture.

 

The company’s policy, placed on an Internet job site, has drawn accusations of bias from some Shanghai college graduates. Although Chinese law forbids discrimination in hiring, it doesn’t say what constitutes an offense and job ads often come with a list of conditions including gender, age, height and even place of birth. Dong said critics are barking up the wrong tree. "I think we have the right to choose our employees by our own rule and I don’t see this rule could hurt anybody," he said.