When we visited Mexico a couple of years ago, we saw some locals with a hairless dog. The breed goes back to the Mayans and their breed name is Xoloitzcuintli. It turns out they come in tiny, small and medium sizes, and they were almost extinct, according to Animal Planet.Now, the Los Angeles Times reports that that breed is "all the rage" in Mexico.
From Dogster.com: Interesting things about the Xoloitzcuintli
- The name Xoloitzcuintli is pronounced “show-low-eet-SQUINT-lee.” It combines “Xolotl” (after the Aztec god) with “itzcuintle” (Aztec for “dog). You can call them Xolos (show-lows) for short!
- Xolotl, the Aztec god of lightning and death, was said to have made these dogs from the “bone of life,” giving them healing powers. They safeguarded against spirits and intruders, healed people, and were sacrificed and even eaten on special occasions.
- Clay statues of dogs resembling today’s Xoloitzcuintli were interred in Mayan, Colima, and Aztec burial sites dating back 3,000 years. The dogs were believed to guide their master’s souls through the underworld.
- The dogs were found throughout Mexico and parts of Central and South America.
- Hairless dogs were first described by Columbus in his 1492 journal.
- After the Spanish Conquest, Xolos were almost lost, surviving mostly in remote areas.
- In 1887, the AKC registered them as the Mexican Hairless, but numbers and interest remained low so they were dropped from AKC ranks in 1959.
- The gene that causes hairlessness in the Xolo is the same as that in Chinese Cresteds, and the Xolo may descend from ancient Asian hairless dogs. It is a single dominant gene (dogs with two copies die as embryos), so all hairless Xolos have one hairless gene and one coated gene. The same gene causes some dental anomalies, such a crooked teeth and missing premolars and incisors.
- The hairless dogs often have short coarse hair on top of their head, feet, and on the end of the tail.
4 Minute VIDEO: https://youtu.be/YlwpmRxGsMM?list=PLuVVnmxF_tkSSxMWZZYOCopZ-h5YiBW48
