They’re black and white and huge in China – but they’re dogs: Panda ‘lookalikes’ are hit with the new middle class as pet shop owner says ‘ten years ago we’d have eaten them’

The middle class in China are snapping up dogs that resemble pandas

Pet shop owners use grooming and colouring to give them new look

Animal will look the same for six weeks before it needs another trim



It is panda-monium in pet shops in China as dogs that look like the country's unique and rare bears become all the rage.



These dogs that look like pandas are selling out in pet stores across the country.



In Chengdu city in southwest China's Sichuan province pet shop owner Hsin Ch'en cannot satisfy demand among the country's new middle class who want the cute dogs as pets.



Dogs that look like pandas have become a huge hit with China's middle class as more and more of the nation's citizens look to own a dog as a companion

The cute animals have been selling out at pet shops across China. The panda dog is groomed and coloured in a certain way to make it resemble the nation's unique bear

'Ten years ago the natural instinct of a Chinese person was to eat a dog,' he said.



'Now we are like westerners and want one as a companion. The cute breeds like French bulldogs and Labradors were the favourites, but now it is the panda dog.'



Actually Hsin Ch'en is being disingenuous. The panda dog is not a separate breed of pooch at all, but rather a chow which has undergone a lot of cosmetic tomfoolery to make it resemble the panda.



In Chengdu city in southwest China's Sichuan province pet shop owner Hsin Ch'en cannot satisfy demand for the cuddly-looking creatures

The real thing: Pet owners in China are willing to pay extra to have their dogs look like giant pandas

Pet shop owner Hsin Ch'en says there are 'no chemicals or cruelty' involved in turning chows into miniature panda lookalikes

He went on: 'I perfected the technique here and now it is spreading across the country.



'With a bit of careful grooming and colouring it is easy to turn a chow into a panda dog in about two hours.



'Then the look will stay with the dog for around six weeks and the owners bring them back for some touching up.



'There are no chemicals or cruelty involved.



'But the price of the dog does rise significantly because of the amount of grooming that goes into it. People don't mind paying the extra though - they like the fact that heads turn in the street and they can tell their friends: "I have a panda dog".'

