Chinese guardian lions However, Chinese reference to the guardian lions are seldom prefixed with 佛 or 福, and more importantly never referred to as "dogs". Reference to guardian lions as dogs in Western cultures may be due to the Japanese reference to them as "Korean dogs" (狛犬・高麗犬) due to their transmission from China through Korea into Japan. It may also be due to the misidentification of the guardian lion figures as representing certain Chinese dog breeds such as the Chow Chow (鬆獅犬, Pinyin: sōngshī quǎn, lit. "puffy-lion dog") or Pekingese (獅子狗; Pinyin: Shīzi Gǒu, lit. "lion dog"). The lions are traditionally carved from
Chinese Imperial Dog in the sleeves of their robes. This breed of dog was gifted to foreign dignities as gifts in After coming to the United States there were always breeders that bred the smaller dogs but the Chinese Imperial Dog did not receive recognition until March 2005. In the 1980s and 1990s the breed got the nicknames "teacup", "mini", and "tiny toy" There is not agreement among experts as to origin date of the Chinese Imperial Dog. The Chinese Imperial Dog Club of America claims that the Chinese Imperial Dog has been in existence for over 2000 while The American Kennel Club