There’s a famous story about the strangest dogs in the world. Supposedly, in the days of the Chinese maritime golden age, the traders hauled small hairless dogs, which killed the rats that tried to hitch a ride on the junks. When food became scarce on board, the hairless dogs were eaten. The Chinese supposedly introduced hairless dogs to the Americas and Africa. One version of the story is that hairless dogs come from Africa originally, and the Chinese traders took them to these far off ports.
The dog I’m talking about is called the Chinese crested dog, the breed that dominates the World’s Ugliest Dog Competition. One variety is nearly hairless, except on the head, feet, and tail. The long hair on the head resembles a crest, hence the name. The other variety is called the powderpuff. It has really long, thick hair. The hairless gene is dominant, but breeders cannot breed the hairless cresteds together, because the gene is a lethal homozygous, which means the puppies with two copies of the hairless gene usually die in utero. So the powderpuffs are necessary for development and maintenance of the breed. Some hairless dogs actually have a lot more hair on them than is expected, but unlike the powderpuffs, they have a single coat that may have bald patches.
The story behind this breed may be malarkey. The only hairless dogs that exist are of American origin. The Xoloitzcuintli (Mexican Hairless) of Mexico is the most famous. It is believed to have medicinal powers, because it gives off lots of body heat through its skin. There are also breeds in Peru that have hairless varieties. It’s a similar gene that causes the hairlessness in these dogs. It’s a dominant gene, although its not necessary a lethal homozygous. It’s likely that pariah dogs in the Americas started turning up hairless amd then these were kept as pets and given preferential breeding opportunities. It’s not unusual to see hairless dogs among the pariah dogs in some Mexican cities, even today, although these dogs are not as hairless as the dogs we have here.
But here’s the thing: the coated varieties of all of these dogs are not long-haired. The coated Xolo looks like a Carolina dog. Here’s a picture:
Where did the Chinese Crested originate?
Well, there’s actually a good theory on this breed. It involves no Chinese junks. It doesn’t involve China at all.
In the 1920’s, two breeders named Ida Groves and Deborah Woods founded the Crest Haven Kennel. All Chinese Crested dogs come from there. My guess is that they took the smaller Xolos and bred them to the Maltese and other puffy breeds of dog. It’s kind of funny, though, because the Rothschild Zoological Museum seems to think that there is something to the African and Chinese origins of these dogs. My guess is they were fooled by some dog dealer.
Hairlessness is really well-established only in Latin American dog populations, where there are lots of interesting dog mutations. In addition, there are dogs with two noses in Bolivia. These dogs were probably more common in the past, because the Spanish conquistadors mentioned them almost as often as they mentioned the hairless dogs. Remember, the people of the Americas were expert dog breeders, every bit as much as European and East Asian dog breeders. Dogs were often the only domestic animals they had, so breeding for utility was a concern.
It’s not really a theory, anyone who does their research can find the well-documented book ‘Hairless Dogs: The Naked Truth’ which has extensive history, references and information about the development of the breed. However, most Crested breeders are remarkably ignorant of breed history (most only got on the bandwagon in the mid 90s, when the AKC noticed the breed) and are openly dismissive of the breed’s original ‘type’. One of the biggest sore spots in the Crested world is the fact that judges and breeders are favoring dogs with too much hair, that need to be shaved and depilated to appear ‘hairless’ and are subsequently quietly breeding out the real hairless members of the breed, which do not have the flashy, supermodel-like hair on their heads. Because that apparently is more relevant to a hairless breed than actual lack of hair.
Its really quite sad, when even a breed whose type is solely cosmetic still manages to get ruined by the show ring. It’s one of the main reasons I decided never to show dogs, even though I love the breed dearly.
What I found was that Chinese Crested dogs come from a single kennel in the United States, and China has nothing to do with them. Is that what the book finds?
Chinese people tell me that there have been Cresteds in China, but that they did not originate there, but were brought in as curiosities.
Elizabeth
They couldn’t possibly be more ignorant than golden retriever breeders who have no idea what the original and preferred type even was. And I still hear this crap about golden retrievers coming from some Russian circus dog!
the ugliest dog is really cute even though he might be ugly to other people he is not ugly to me becayse every dog is a dog.
Well, they all come from two foundation kennels, ‘Lee’s’, and ‘Crest Haven’. Crest Haven eventually bought out Lee’s and incorporated the dogs into their own lines. So technically, yes, the modern ‘Chinese Crested’ as we know it was invented in the 1930s in the U.S. If you look around nowadays, most Crested kennels in the U.S. got into the breed in the mid 90s or later, after the AKC recognized them, and they tend to universally have very little actual knowledge of the breed’s origins.
I know Lee’s lines were basically a hodgepodge of naked dogs from unknown parentage that Gypsy Rose Lee found during her travels or were given as gifts. I also know Crest Haven outcrossed their dogs with various longhaired toy breeds in order to improve their crests and overall type, and if you look at pictures of early Cresteds from the 70s, you can really see how much they’ve changed and how varied early dogs were.
The thing is, it’s difficult to breed a Crested with good hair ONLY where the standard demands, so I suppose it’s easier to just fudge it and use Nair instead. After all, it’s the winning that matters, not the preservation of the actual type. =P
Also, it is untrue that breeding two Hairless Cresteds kills the puppies, as ALL Cresteds are heterozygous (coated/naked), so only 1/4 of the litter would be reabsorbed in utero if you bred two Hairlesses together. I wonder how many breeders believe that myth and if that’s another reason why they keep getting hairier.
It’s quite a sore spot with me, as you can tell by the rant!
It’s a sore spot with me, too.
In golden retrievers, we have this story that still pops up. Supposedly the founder of the yellow flat-coated retriever strain that became the golden used a Russian circus dog as his foundation dog. He then crossed this dog with a bloodhound, and those dogs became the golden retriever. In reality, they are derived from yellow and red “sports” that appeared in wavy or flat-coated retriever (same breed — they bred the wave out of them!). These sports usually happened when a red setter of some sort was used in the cross to create a wavy-coat. The breed’s founder, the 1st Baron Tweedmouth, took one of these dogs, who was named “Nous” and bred it with a dog that was known as a Tweed Water spaniel or Tweed Water dog, which was used by market hunters and Salmon fishermen around the city of Berwick, the northernmost town in England. These dogs were yellow or red in color and very smart. We have the exact kennel records of the dogs used by the 1st Baron Tweedmouth, and we know that red setters (probably Irish or red gordons) were crossed in along with other wavy or flat-coated retrievers that were black in color. The breed was registered as a liver flat-coat or wavy coat until 1908, when the yellow color was separated in the flat-coat. In 1911, yellow flat-coat fanciers split this breed off from the flat-coat in the UK, but it wasn’t until 1925 that they were split off in the US. They were still known as flat-coats until 1938, when they eventually founded an actual golden retriever club in the US. As late as World War II, the US Army classified the golden as a flat-coat. (I don’t know any goldens that served in World War II, though, or any flat-coats either.)
Thank you for clarifying the issue about the lethal hairless gene. In Xolos, I do know that you can breed hairless to hairless. And I thought it was the same gene that causes hairlessness in Xolos as Chinese Cresteds. The American hairless terrier has a different hairless gene, but it has peach-fuzz all over it, instead of being truly hairless.
I’m not suprised at the level of folklore and lying in hairless dogs. What I am suprised by is how they’ve been so resistant to evidence.
There’s a stuffed hairless dog in the Rothschild Museum at Tring, England. It is said to be an African hairless dog, but my guess is that someone was trying to offload an experimental cross on some wealthy people. It looks like a very small Chinese crested hairless.
BTW, if you want to know what the original type for golden retriever was look at the dog in my avatar. That dog would be faulted in the UK/FCI standard for being “red” or having not enough bone, but she would be accepted in the AKC and Canadian Kennel Club. However, she would be faulted for not having enough coat. If you look at the ones that actually hunt and do other work, they are much more similar to her than they are the show type.
I know just what you mean. I was in the small group that pushed through a KC standard for the Powderpuff here, mainly to stop breeders culling those puppies wholesale as “throwbacks.” I wrote about the genetics and realised that most of the people I was trying to reach were too thick to understand.
Sorry, another rant!
Elizabeth
I’ve looked over several of your posts on Goldens, they’ve been very interesting! Though my primary interest is with Cresteds, anything about the history of dog breed development is fascinating to me.
From what I understand, the hairlessness gene in Hairless Terriers is recessive, while in Cresteds it’s an incomplete dominant. Many ‘true hairless’ Cresteds also have random fuzz in various amounts on them tapering off from their extremities, or a stripe of hair going down the back, though this is removed for the show ring. Faces are also commonly shaved. The standard does not expressly penalize excessive body hair in a hairless crested, which I think was an oversight that breeders and judges are exploiting.
The ‘ideal’ crested type may not be popular in the ring nowadays but some of the older kennels have very nice examples. If you search for ‘Gingery’s Riverhorse’, he is a true hairless with near perfect ‘furnishings’ and very little extra hair. He is what a ‘naturally presented’ Chinese Crested is supposed to look like!
I’ve recently added a page on my website going into even more detail on the ‘lethal gene’ and common misconceptions about it (Myths About Hairless Dogs), if you’d like to look it over.
The most interesting thing I’ve found when researching the concept of ‘lethal genes’ is that the only other breed I’ve found (besides Xolos, of course) with any similar genetic process is the Manx cat, and even then it’s gene is not 100% similar, as that appears to have -different levels- of ‘lethality’, versus the Crested/Xolo gene which is strictly prenatal lethal.
To be honest, it’s kind of unfortunate the scientists label all those different gene combination with the word ‘lethal’, as it seems to lead to all sorts of misconceptions.
I just found out that natural bobtails in dogs is also a prenatal lethal gene.
Yep.
It’s my post on the naturally stub-tailed boxers that are derived through cross-breeding with corgis.
Just today I found two pages that have filled in another ‘missing link’ in the breed’s development:
http://www.geocities.com/xoloitzcuintles/pilastd.htm
http://home.znet.com/hairlessdogs/3pila.html
Apparently, these ‘pila dogs’ are different strains that are lumped in with Xolos/Inca Orchids/Cresteds, but are actually a diverse hairless type that has many varieties and used to be born to both Xolos and Cresteds in their early years.
Always learning something new! =)
I had no idea that these dogs still existed.
I’ve seen them on pottery from Mexico.
So is the pila type the oldest type of coated hairless?
There is another shaggy American dog native to Peru. It’s a bigger dog, kind of like an Airedale, that looks like a clipped bearded collie. It was around when the Conquistadors came to Peru, and it’s believed to be native.
I wonder if there is an connection.
According to those sites, which reference a book written in Spanish in 1960 called ‘Enigma of the Xoloitscuintli’, pila types popped up in Xolo/PIO/Crested lines in the early days, before more strict official standards and ring fashions molded the breed’s physical types into more distinct forms.
And now, it may mean that some of those ‘World’s Ugliest Dogs’ which I had assumed to be badly-bred, in actuality may just be ‘pila type’ Xolos and Cresties. I rolled my eyes during last year’s contest when one owner described their naked, fat sausage-shaped dog as a ‘purebred Crested’ but then I saw on that website, the same kind of fat sausage dog!
The pottery dogs are in this book: http://www.amazon.com/History-Dogs-Early-Americas/dp/0300069642, along with the shaggy dogs in Peru.
these dogs are so ugly why are they even invented
Good question.
Cresteds are lovely elegant little dogs. The fact that you chose to use a picture of the poor old blind thing labelled “ugliest dog” to represent them speaks volumes. Shame on you!
Elizabeth
Who is to say that that dog wasn’t elegant and beautiful?
If you’d like to know what I think of that breed, ask Pai.
The ancient mesoamerican cultures believed hairless dogs were (literally) divine. Different strokes for different folks. =P
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
I think I’ve found the modern pila dog. They’re called ‘Hairless Khala Dogs’ now: http://www.greatdogsite.com/breeds/details/Hairless_Khala/
They come in the ‘cobby’ and ‘deer-type’, just like the early Cresteds.
I’ve seen those before.
http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/hairlesskhala.htm
These are a kind of landrace in Latin America.
They (Xolo, PIO, Khala, Techichi/Arizona Dog, Crested) were all part of that landrace, back before the 1940s-50s. Breed clubs just picked out whichever single traits they liked best and called them ‘different breeds’ when before, that diversity of size/coat length/etc were all lumped together.
The crossbreeding that happened early in Crested development is SO obvious when you look at the modern type and compare them to the rest of the South American hairless dogs. I wish a new genetic study could be done on what genes are all in play in the modern Crested now — the last one was in 1982 and most likely used ‘true hairless’ dogs, not the modern show-ring ‘coated hairless’ type which I suspect carries a great deal more of the outcross genes. I think there are some in that mix which are partially overwriting the (originally) dominant hairless gene, and excessive selection for ‘furnishings’ (or else ignoring correct body hair because of the ease of faking correctness) above anything else for over 20 years has seriously diluted the hairless genepool (perhaps irreparably by this point).
The extent of hairlessness was always pretty variable, ranging from none to head, tail, legs and spinal ridge, even before people began to select for the hairy. I`m not at all sure that outcross genes are responsible. I think the variability in expression of the gene was always there, and selection has done the rest.
Also I wonder just how often the hairless mutation has occurred in the past? It happens a lot in cats, and I wonder if it has been the same in dogs?
Elizabeth
University of Bern is now collecting samples of Cresteds with varying hair amounts in order to find out what genes cause ‘hairy hairless’ dogs. Needless to say, I can’t wait to get my hands on the results!
http://www.genetics.unibe.ch/content/rubrik/foxi3/index_eng.html
That’s worth a post.
PAI, is this a good or a bad thing?
I actually think it won’t make a big difference, except to people who still strive to breed the true hairless Chinese Crested (which is the minority). Excessive body hair has become so normalized (even preferred, since it results in flashier ‘furnishings’) over the past 20 years that there isn’t that much desire to reduce it among the majority of show people.
Is there any benefit for health one way or the other?
The only justification I’ve heard is the claim that the hairier dogs tend to have better teeth. I’ve never seen real proof of that however, since I’ve seen true hairlesses with complete dentition too (excepting the premolars, of course). I stick by my belief that a proper bite in hairless toy dogs is bred for in the same way it is in any coated toy breed. Also the fact that Xolos don’t have epidemics of horrible teeth/tooth loss, when they are even -more- ‘true hairless’ than any Crested.
In general, the hairies are justified as ‘improved’ in terms of structure/movement/aesthetics, and not because of superior health. Of course, aesthetics is subjective… in which case every standard across the world clearly describes a true hairless, not a hairy.
The simple reason for the existence of hairy hairless is the emphasis on furnishings above all else in the showring. Easier to breed a hairy dog and shave it to the exact extent you desire.
As to the dentition….well if you are shaving anyway why not just shave a puff and be done with it? You have the added advantage of good dentition, and a really flashy dog, which is all you wanted, anyway. Believe me, I judge them, and I see all this.
I loathe the hairy hairless fad. The KC is none too happy about all the shaving either, and has discussed it with the clubs (and of course Cresteds are on the “15” list.
Some Scandinavian countries have banned shaving. And a good thing too
Elizabeth.
I raise Cresteds and Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. If you have allergies to pet dander or dislike hair all over your clothes than the crested is a great option. They are devoted little bed warmers, easy to care for and require minimal exercise so apartment dwellers love them. They can be hard to house train. I was told my lines came from Lees kennels back when she first started bringing them in. The lady I purchased them from has raised and shown them, breeding only hairless to hairless, as I do and I have had several litters of very healthy puppys. It pains me to see all the ads for Powder puffs as they are obviously mostly some other breed. The hairless trait comes thru for several generations when crossed with other long haired breeds, so if your getting all powder puffs, your dog is not crested. Despite this, there are many snobs touting thier registered cresteds that produce mostly long haired puppies. The Powder puffs do not have thick coats, but are single coated. So its long and silky but not thick. Thank you so much Pai, I don’t understand someone posting with out researching.
I wonder sometimes if the fully single-coated ‘Hairless’ that is in the ring nowadays isn’t the old ‘Veil Coat’ variety of Powderpuff that was mentioned in the earliest breed standards.
Either way, modern day judge and club member education about the breed’s origins, genetics and proper type is basically nonexistant. People just breed whatever looks the most ‘glamorous’ and wins the most, and call it ‘improvement’. It’s just pointless ribbon-chasing and ego boosting and has little to do with ‘preserving’ any semblance of the breed as envisioned by it’s founders; it’s simply an illusion accomplished with Nair and cosmetics with little bearing on real life or real dogs.
what is wrong with you people that dog is so beautiful yeah beautiful isint he he is such a cutie dog oh my god i want one like that he is so cute isint he ? awww es el perro mas bonito del mundo porque dicen k esta feo
Nobody thinks Sam is beautiful, not even his owner. Hence why she entered him in Ugly Dog Contests. =P
In the original post there is mention of a dog with “two noses”. Note, the dog does not have two noses. Rather, it has a “split” nose …the nostrils (one on either side of the midline) are divided by a cleft, and in some dogs, by a narrow strip of skin within the cleft.
The Navarre Pointer (Spain) typically has this so-called “double nose”.
I’m glad you clarified that , I couldn’t see clearly enough with the photo provided but I suspected what you are saying was true.
Even the ugliest dogs can be cute in someone’s eyes!
The veil coat mentioned is a dog that has its mane running the length of its body. No hair on the sides, just down the back creating a veil over the dog when it grows out. You can’t tell it has no side hair until you pull ut up..
I like this story, I never knew these dogs existed. Very interesting read. Thank you for sharing!
The Ugliest dog in world is Chinese Crested.
I Love Puggle
THE WHOLE WORLD IS SPINNING OUT OF CONTROL CAUSE OF THAT,THAT OH I’M GONNA BE SICK IF I SAY IT WELL CAUSE OF ITS APPEARANCE. LET ME SAY SOMETHING. THIS DOG IS WIRED. WHO COULD LIVE WITH IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHO WOULD BUY IT. OH MY GOSH I AM GOING TO PUKE. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
SORRY WE SAID THAT. WE FEEL BAD FOR THAT THING.
Thank you this is a great discussion. I’m putting it in my links!
Reblogged this on Mystery of My Hairless Chihuahua.
I have bred hairless to hairless for years,that is a story made up to sell powder puffs which are the result of crossing them with Maltese,poms,and Butterfly dogs,cant think of thier names. They are wonderful!
If you think Chinese crested dogs are from China and that hairless dogs breed true, you’re too stupid to comment on my blog. Either that or you’re a liar.
No further comments will be approved. I don’t have time to deal with people who think there are homozygous hairless dogs. I don’t have time to deal with fucktards who think that this breed is from China, who think this breed wasn’t contrived in the West using Mexican dogs, and who buy into other ideas contrived from crap that comes straight out of the toilet.
Have a nice day.
You present nothing but your own theorys. Who cares about your blog. Your a dumb ass that likes to hear his own bark. Go lick yourself.
These are not my theories. This is what the science says!
I’m not taking another word someone who likes to call other breeders “hoarders” when you have your own record of animal abuse. The person you called a hoarder has forgotten more about how to care for dogs than you’ll ever know.
Still banned.
That ‘have a nice day’ makes the smackdown, don’t you think?
Here’s your ass, have a nice day!
[…] Scottie over at Retrieverman has a post on hairless dogs and I recently commented on it. Go on, I’ll […]
Much that has been posted on here is false. C. Vilas et al did a study using DNA recovered from mummified dogs found in C.A. burial sites that found a mutation that also appears in present day Xolos. It was not found in Chinese Cresteds. Last I read they thought the Spanish brought with them hairless dogs from Africa and these dogs bred with local dogs near the Mexican/US border. Gypsy Rose Lee’s dogs were from all over but the Crest Haven dogs were obtained from this area. No question other breeds have been mixed in since then. Cresteds are a hardy, healthy breed in spite of the Semi Lethal Dominant gene. Most breeders breed HL to HL or PP to HL with no consequences. Puffs may occur with any breeding. Xolos have been bred for years only using the hairless (coated are put down by many breeders) and thus have far less hair on their bodies than do the Crested where breeders want hair in certain areas. Hard to control where those areas are so hair can appear almost anywhere. Dentition has been improving because breeders have been selecting for it. There is slowly starting to be a trend towards breeding more true hairless dogs among the show breeders so hopefully in the futrue they will again be the norm.
That’s an mtDNA study. I’ve read it, so don’t act like you’re destroying me.
Mitochondrial DNA traces only maternal heritage.
So if male xolos were used, then they wouldn’t appear to be related at all. The nature of mutations that are in some way dominant means they can be introduced with just a few outcrosses. The melanistic coloration in wolves in North America was introduced by dogs, but the wolves of North America are almost entirely free of dog ancestry.
Please stop parroting things you obviously don’t understand.
The only hairless dogs in Africa would have been brought there by the Portuguese, because they’ve been able to trace where the gene came from. It first appeared in Mexican dogs 4,000 years ago. It’s the same gene in all of these sorts of hairless dogs. If it’s been found that the gene is oldest in Mexican dogs, how on earth could they have come from Africa?
You’d have to buy into a lot of dubious ad hoc pseudo-history to make it work.
“You’d have to buy into a lot of dubious ad hoc pseudo-history to make it work.”
Dog people? Buying dubious ad hoc pseudo-history? Surely you jest.
Chinese cresteds are actually African?!
NO.
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
I love evidence-based info, and love to dig in those scientific studys. Thanks guys!!! Great information, just what I was looking for.
Vero