Xoloitzcuintli

History

Created by crossing the bloodlines of several "Old World" breeds, the Xolo is not of the Chinese Crested bloodlines despite what many believe. A completely separate hairless breed, the Xolo is the National Dog of Mexico, where the breed originated over 3,500 years ago and was used as a hunting partner along side of its owner. This breed does very well in tropical climates due to being hairless, however their skin is sensitive to direct sun. Today, this breed is extremely popular and used only for companionship.

Appearance

Males and females weigh in between 32-40 pounds in weight while measuring 20-30 inches in height. Available in many different colors including but not limited to, black, tan, red, brindle, silver and different patterns as well as all shade variations of these solid colors. This hairless breed should not have any hair on them if competing within a show, however if only a companion dog, it is important to note that some of these dogs are in fact born with very thin, wiry hair on their body, and this hair can be all over or just in certain areas. Built lean and muscular, the Xolo has a small wedge shaped head with two triangular ears standing very alert at all times. Their almond shaped eyes are available in a dark brown as their nose comes in shades of black to their skin color. Their tail is very firm and thin and should stand slightly curved and upright.

Temperament

Known for their "escape artist" traits, it is no surprise that the Xolo is an extremely intelligent dog breed. Requiring a daily walk, along with other play time and a fair amount of mental stimulation, this breed may not be for everyone. This breed requires a firm, confident and consistent owner who has patience and understanding of this breed. Naturally, this breed constantly attempts to figure things out, such as where you are, how you got there, if they can climb there or get around something else to get to you, and so on. For some this breed could be considered too much, and for others looking for a "full time" dog breed, this breed can be perfect. This breed is very alert, loyal, loving and active. If you have the time and education to properly train this dog, they can be a magnificent breed to own. As always, positive reinforcement training methods are the only methods recommended for this breed. With physically and mentally active dogs such as this breed, we highly recommend you fully research and educate yourself further of the Xolo breed prior to adding one to your family to ensure that you have the care, time and abilities to care for one properly.

Grooming

Please note that solid and darker colored Xolo's have the hardest skin, while lighter and speckled patterned puppies have a softer skin that will require more extensive care. We recommend meeting with your veterinarian to discuss the best methods to take for proper skin care per your individual dog.

Special Notes

Please note that this breed is known for living on average up to 20 years. Please fully educate yourself about the Xolo prior to adding one to your family to ensure you are able to meet the care requirements for this breed. Do not add this breed to your home unless you are able to make a life long commitment both physically and financially to your new family addition. All dogs originate from wolves (Canis Lupus). Each breed of dog was originally created by mixing different breeds together in an effort to bring forth certain characteristics. Once a breeder has created acceptable “breed characteristics” within their bloodline and these “breed characteristics” have shown to be reliably reproduced in the offspring for three (3) generations, the bloodline may be upgraded from the category of “foundation stock” to “pure-bred”. The same “pure-bred” breed standards vary from different continents, countries, territories, regions, breed clubs, and canine pure-breed registries depending on the goals of their breeders. Dog DNA testing companies can have accurate results for a specific bloodline of a small colony of dogs. However, there are tens of thousands of different bloodlines in the world which have not yet been tested for marker baseline results by Dog DNA testing companies as of 2017. For this reason Dog DNA testing companies do not guarantee the 100% accuracy of their breed lineage results and will also show different marker results for the same pure-bred breed in different continents, countries, territories, regions, breed clubs, and canine pure-breed registries depending on the goals of their breeders.