Hi,
I was just reading your post and saw that you were looking at a shar pei. I just got a Shar Pei puppy which is 5 months old from a pet rescue site. She is an absolute dream and I would reccomend them to anyone. She is bossed around by our smaller dog and always backs off. She is friendly with both people and other dogs and is so easy to look after. She barks if anyone comes into our yard and is an excellent guard dog. She is low maintenance and is happy to chill out with the family. She is one of the easiest pups we have ever had so I wouldn't diregard them straight away!