Mexican Hairless

The Mexican Hairless is not a native of Mexico nor is he so very numerous there. Nevertheless, the American Kennel Club gave him that name and that is what this spry little fellow. about the size of a small Fox Terrier, is known as today.

Mexican Hairless

The dog is almost naked. There should be a tuft of coarse hair on top of the skull, but absence of such hair is not a disqualification at dog shows. The standard calls for skin that is smooth, soft, unwrinkled, hot to the touch and without hair, although a little fuzz or hair on the lower half of the tail is permitted. A characteristic of the breed is a tremor of the muscles, a bit like that of a nervous race horse.

You can read about "Maltese" here

The origins of the breed which is not the only hairless one that exists, and the reasons for its nudity haven't been solved yet although the customary theories exist. One theory is that the breed came from Africa and spread from there to the Orient. The absence of hair might have been an accident thousands of years ago, carefully nurtured by Chinese through in-breeding.

Mexican authorities believe the first importations of hairless dogs to Mexico were some time in the late Sixteenth Century by traders. A story that the Aztecs owned them appears discounted. 

The Mexican Hairless isn't altogether hairless. The standard calls for a tuft of coarse hair on top of the skull, in the center but a bit forward, in some cases shadowing the brow. Absence of The tuft is considered undesirable but is not a disqualifying fault. Any other hair, except the small amount on the lower half of the tail, is a fault. The Mexicans themselves call them Chinese dogs and not by the name officially recognized in the United States.

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