Fact sheet#
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Official name (CKU) | Laizhou Hong (莱州红 / 萊州紅犬) |
| Common names in French | Chien rouge chinois, chien rouge de Laizhou, sometimes “Dogue du Shandong” or “Mastiff rouge chinois” |
| Common names in English | Chinese Red Dog, Laizhou Red Dog, China’s Red Dog |
| Country of origin | China, Shandong province, city of Laizhou (莱州市), town of Zhuqiao (朱桥镇) |
| Type | Large molosser-type dog leaning towards a shepherd look (a silhouette close to a large German Shepherd or a heavy Dobermann) |
| Roles | Guard dog (farms, businesses), hunting dog for small game and family companion. Chinese encyclopaedias claim that some local police forces used it, without citing any source |
| Classification | The CKU standard places it in group 2 of the FCI nomenclature (molossers), but the breed is not recognised by the FCI: at shows, the CKU has judged it in its group 11 (non-FCI breeds) since 2018 |
| Size (CKU) | Males 64–79 cm, females 65–70 cm |
| Weight | Not set by the CKU standard. The figures most often quoted are 40–60 kg for males and 35–50 kg for females (breeders, a 2017 Chinese article) |
| Coat | Short, dense and glossy. Black with clearly defined red tan markings |
| Life expectancy | 10–14 years depending on the source (up to 15 years quoted). These are estimates, no measured data exist (9–13 years according to Chinese encyclopaedias) |
| Litter size | No published breeding data: from 4–6 to 7–12 puppies depending on the source |
| Breed DNA test | The breed is part of the reference database of Wisdom Panel tests (and of the Royal Canin Genetic Health Analysis, which runs on the same platform). These tests can therefore show whether a dog is partly Laizhou Hong. The size of the reference sample is not published |
Etymology#
- Laizhou (莱州): a county-level city of Yantai prefecture, on the Jiaodong peninsula in the north of Shandong province. It is the cradle of the breed.
- Hong (红): “red”. The name refers to the typical red markings on a black base coat (sources speak of the “six reds”, meaning at least six areas of red hair, without listing them). According to a 2017 Chinese article, taken up by an online encyclopaedia, the face is red below the brow ridge and black above it, a pattern that local people call “butterfly eyebrows” (蝴蝶眉).
- Earliest written records: the name 莱州红 appears as early as 1994 in the titles of two articles in Chinese farming magazines that present this “famous dog” (名犬). According to the Chinese Wikipedia, they were co-signed by the government of the town of Zhuqiao.
Every name and synonym we found#
| Name | Language | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 莱州红 / 莱州红犬 (Láizhōu hóng quǎn) | Chinese | Official CKU name |
| Laizhou Hong / Laizhouhong Dog | Transliteration | International name |
| Chinese Red Dog / Red Dog | English | The most common name among Western breeders |
| CRD | English | Abbreviation of Chinese Red Dog used by some English-speaking breeders and associations |
| Chien rouge chinois / Chien rouge de Laizhou | French | |
| 中国红犬 Zhongguo Hong Quan (“red dog of China”) | Chinese | The Chinese equivalent of “Chinese Red Dog”. It is also used in China, on sales websites and in official breed lists: it is not just a translation from English. |
| 朱桥红 Zhuqiao Hong | Chinese | After the town of origin |
| 山东红 Shandong Hong | Chinese | After the province |
| 苏联红 Sulian Hong (“Soviet Red”, Soviet Red Dog) | Chinese | A trade nickname from the 1980s–1990s, given by dealers to pass the dog off as a foreign breed. It was also used to sell other black and tan dogs (retired Kunming dogs, crossbreeds): not every “Soviet Red” is a Laizhou Hong. |
| 山红犬 Shanhong Quan / 中国山红犬 “Chinese Mountain Red Dog” | Chinese | A “more scientific” name that Chinese encyclopaedias attribute to unnamed experts, at an uncertain date (“in recent years” or “since 2012” depending on the page). Rarely used in practice. |
| 虎形犬 Huxing Quan (“tiger-shaped dog”) and 川红犬 Chuanhong Quan (“Sichuan red”) | Chinese | Old aliases listed by Baidu Baike, without explanation. |
| Shandong Mastiff / Red Chinese Mastiff / Dogue du Shandong | English / French | Marketing names found on breeders’ websites, not official names. |
| “German Black Wolf Dog” (德国黑狼犬) | Chinese | According to two Chinese encyclopaedias, the name under which Beijing dealers sold black Laizhou Hong. Other sources see it as a separate breed. |
| 中國黑狼犬 (“black wolf-dog of China”) | Chinese | An alias given by the Chinese Wikipedia, absent from mainland Chinese encyclopaedias. |
| 中国红龙 (“red dragon of China”) | Chinese | A nickname found on a single Chinese pet blog, which presents it as a former name of the breed. |
Names in official Chinese texts#
In Chinese municipal regulations on dog ownership, the breed is listed as 莱州红犬. Some cities add 中国红犬, “red dog of China”, in brackets (Baoding, Qinhuangdao), others 朱桥红, “Zhuqiao red” (Xingtai, Cangzhou, Zhangjiakou). The city of Langfang lists it as 苏联红犬, “Soviet red dog”, with 莱州红 in brackets. These texts are lists of dogs banned in urban areas (see The Laizhou Hong and the law in China).
Everyday vocabulary and naming errors#
In everyday Chinese, the Laizhou Hong belongs to the broad family of “wolf-dogs” (狼犬). The term refers neither to a breed nor to a wolf hybrid: it applies to any dog with erect ears and a wolf-like outline, purebred or crossbred, such as the German Shepherd, the Langqing or the Kunming dog.
One error travels from one encyclopaedia to the next: the “Latin name” “Dyscophus guineti”, given by online Chinese encyclopaedias and repeated by the English and German Wikipedias, belongs to a frog from Madagascar. The breed has no Latin name.
In short#
The Laizhou Hong is THE Chinese red dog: a large black and tan dog with pricked ears that looks like a giant German Shepherd, created in Shandong from local dogs and German breeds, recognised in China by the CKU, and still very rare in Europe.