meet the...Toy Xoloitzcuintli
Breed Summary
Breed Group Group 1: Primitive, Pariah, and Feral Breeds
Sub-group :
Origin Country Mexico
Weight Males: 9-18 pounds. Females: 9-18 pounds.
Height Males: 10-14 inches. Females: 10-14 inches.
Other Name(s) Mexican Coated Dog, Mexican Hairless, Mexican Hairless Dog, Perro Sin Pelo Mexicano, Tepeizeuintli, Xolo, Xoloitzcuintli, Xoloitzquintle
Breed Type Pure
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Origins
The Xoloitzcuintle is an ancient and fairly rare breed that is believed to have come to Central and South America with the ancestors of the Aztec, Colima, Mayans, and Zapoteca native peoples over 15,000 years ago. Artifacts depicting these dogs have been dated back to these tribes as far as 3,000 years ago, making this dog most likely the first domesticated dog of the Americas.
These dogs were historically used for food, companionship, and religious purposes. Aztecs, in particular, believed the dogs were holy and had supernatural powers. The name Xoloitzcuintle comes from the Aztec god Xolotl, who is associated with death and often depicted as a monstrous dog, and itzcuintli, meaning “dog.” Therefore, the Xoloitzcuintle was known as the dog of this particular deity. The Aztecs would often sacrifice the dogs to the gods in appeasement, or, during the death of the owner, the dogs would be killed and buried with their owners so that they could guide them through the afterlife.
Superstition continues to surround the dog in its country of origin to this day. However, instead of being sacrificed and buried with their owners, Xolos simply warm their owners laps at this point in time. Many still believe that the dogs can ward off illness and evil spirits. However, in most other parts of the world, this rare breed enjoys the spotlight as a faithful companion.Breed Characteristics
Head: Mesaticephalic skull type, moderate in size, wedge-shaped with a broad back skull that tapers toward the muzzle, and in proportion to the rest of the body. The topskull is broad, and may be just slightly arched or flat when viewed from the front or in profile. The occiput is not well-defined. The head is clean-cut; however, slight wrinkling may be evident on hairless dogs, although neither variety should exhibit loose or pendulous skin, or excessive wrinkling.
Eyes: Moderate in size, oval to almond in shape, and hazel, amber, to dark brown in color. The eye rims are well-fitted and well-pigmented. The eyes are never bulging. There should be sufficient bone in the surrounding orbital sockets to protect the eyes. Any signs of entropion or ectropion are incorrect for this breed.
Ears: Medium to fairly large in size, somewhat elongated, and firmly erect by one year of age. The ears are set fairly high on the skull. They have rounded tips. Ears are always natural and never surgically cropped broken.
Muzzle: The muzzle is full and broad. The plane, or bridge of the muzzle, is straight. It tapers from the broad base toward the nose, giving the head the characteristic wedge-shape. Upper and lower jaws are well-developed, approximately equal in length, and have good bone substance, never appearing snipy or weak.
Nose: The nose is well-pigmented according to the coat. The nostrils are well-opened. Butterfly noses are permissible but should be mostly pigmented.
Neck: Moderately long to allow for proud head carriage and powerfully muscled with a slight arch. The neck tapers smoothly from the deeper and broader body toward the head. The neck is clean-cut and without excess skin, throatiness, or dewlap.
Chest: Deep and broad, but never wider than deep. The brisket extends to the point of the elbows.
Body: Compact, deep, solid, and of good substance. The body is elegant, but never racy or refined. Width at forequarters is approximately equal to the width at the hindquarters.
Feet: Oval, round, or hare-like, compact, with well-arched toes and tough pads. Dewclaws may be present on all four limbs.
Tail: Set somewhat low, or neither high nor low on the croup, but as a natural extension of the topline. It is thicker at the base and tapering toward the tip. The tail is carried in accordance with the dog’s mood and energy level, usually upward in a curve, but never tucked. The tail is fairly long, with the tip of the last vertebrae extending to the hock joints when held down. The tail may be straight, sickled, sabered, or gently curved.
Movement: Free, elastic, effortless, efficient, and with good energy, the characteristics of healthy structure are evident: when moving away, the forelegs and rear pasterns should remain parallel to one another. When viewing movement from the front, the forelegs should remain parallel, with elbows and paws moving neither in nor out. From the rear, the back pads should be visible when the rear legs are extended. As speed increases, the forelimbs and hindlimbs will converge to the centerline of gravity. From the side, the topline should remain firm and level. Good reach of movement in the front allows the forepaw to extend out in a line with the nose. The width between the forefeet when extended should be approximately equal to the width between the hindfeet when extended, indicating balance, good reach, and good drive. Dogs that exhibit any sign of breathing or locomotive difficulty shall be disqualified from the show ring.
Temperament: The Xoloitzcuintle is known to be even-tempered, calm, friendly, and somewhat aloof toward strangers. Around people they are comfortable with, Xolos are attentive, friendly, loyal, affectionate, and cheerful. Their wariness around strangers makes them an excellent watchdog. They are intelligent and easily trained with the right motivation and encouragement, making them excellent family companions. Any unprovoked aggressive or fearful behavior toward people is incorrect for this breed.
Breed Standard
BREED GROUP 1: Primitive, Pariah, and Feral Breeds
Proportions: Off-square to slightly rectangular,
Head
General Appearance: Mesaticephalic skull type, moderate in size, wedge-shaped with a broad back skull that tapers toward the muzzle, and in proportion to the rest of the body. The topskull is broad, and may be just slightly arched or flat when viewed from the front or in profile. The occiput is not well-defined. The head is clean-cut; however, slight wrinkling may be evident on hairless dogs, although neither variety should exhibit loose or pendulous skin, or excessive wrinkling.
Expression: Lively, intelligent, watchful, and approachable.
Stop: The stop is slight to somewhat well-defined. It should never appear overly pronounced or smooth.
Skull: The ideal muzzle-to-skull ratio is 1:1 to 4:5, with the topskull being equal to the muzzle or just slightly shorter.
The ideal muzzle-to-skull axis is parallel or may be just slightly convergent.
Muzzle: The muzzle is full and broad. The plane, or bridge of the muzzle, is straight. It tapers from the broad base toward the nose, giving the head the characteristic wedge-shape. Upper and lower jaws are well-developed, approximately equal in length, and have good bone substance, never appearing snipy or weak.
Lips or Flews: Lips are clean and fit tightly over the teeth and jaws.
Nose: The nose is well-pigmented according to the coat. The nostrils are well-opened. Butterfly noses are permissible but should be mostly pigmented.
Cheeks: The cheeks are well-developed and well-muscled. They should never appear flat or chiseled.
Dentition and Bite: Forty-two strong, clean, white teeth. Bite may be level, scissor, or reverse-scissor. Contact must be made between the top and bottom incisors. Missing or broken teeth as a result of routine work is not to be penalized. The tongue must never be visible when the mouth is shut.
Eyes: Moderate in size, oval to almond in shape, and hazel, amber, to dark brown in color. The eye rims are well-fitted and well-pigmented. The eyes are never bulging. There should be sufficient bone in the surrounding orbital sockets to protect the eyes. Any signs of entropion or ectropion are incorrect for this breed.
Ears: Medium to fairly large in size, somewhat elongated, and firmly erect by one year of age. The ears are set fairly high on the skull. They have rounded tips. Ears are always natural and never surgically cropped broken.
Body and Tail
General Description: Compact, deep, solid, and of good substance. The body is elegant, but never racy or refined. Width at forequarters is approximately equal to the width at the hindquarters.
Neck: Moderately long to allow for proud head carriage and powerfully muscled with a slight arch. The neck tapers smoothly from the deeper and broader body toward the head. The neck is clean-cut and without excess skin, throatiness, or dewlap.
Chest: Deep and broad, but never wider than deep. The brisket extends to the point of the elbows.
Topline: Level from slightly prominent withers to croup. The back is broad, strongly muscled, and straight, yet supple. The loin is taut and may be flat and level or slightly arched, yet supportive. The back is never swayed or roached.
Croup: Broad and gently sloped.
Underline: Slight to moderate tuck-up present. The underline is taut and firm, without any indication of sagging or excess weight.
Ribs: Long, well-sprung, well-laid-back, oval-shaped, never barrel-chested or slab-sided.
Tail: Set somewhat low, or neither high nor low on the croup, but as a natural extension of the topline. It is thicker at the base and tapering toward the tip. The tail is carried in accordance with the dog’s mood and energy level, usually upward in a curve, but never tucked. The tail is fairly long, with the tip of the last vertebrae extending to the hock joints when held down. The tail may be straight, sickled, sabered, or gently curved.
Forequarters and Hindquarters
Forequarters: Forequarters are always in balance with the hindquarters. Forequarters are well-angulated with well-laid-back shoulder blades. Shoulder blades are long, approximately equal in length to the upper arm and forearm.
Elbows: Elbows are close to the body. The distance from the withers to the brisket may be equal to, or just slightly less than, the distance from the elbows to the ground.
Forelegs: Frontal View: Straight, of good muscle, of moderate bone, and parallel to one another.
Side View: The forelimbs appear straight with strong pasterns.
Pasterns: Never weak or broken.
Hindquarters: Upper thigh and lower thighs are long, equal in length, strong, sturdy, of moderate bone, and well-muscled.
Rear View: When viewed from the rear, the rear pasterns are parallel to one another.
Side View: Good angulation will allow the rear toes to align with the point of the rump or within one to two paw-lengths behind the point of the rump, with the rear pasterns remaining perpendicular to the ground and parallel to one another.
Stifle Joint: Well-angulated with a good bend to well-let-down rear pasterns.
Angulations: Angulation of hindquarters is always in balance with angulation of forequarters.
Feet: Oval, round, or hare-like, compact, with well-arched toes and tough pads. Dewclaws may be present on all four limbs.
Coat
Skin: Well-fitted, yet supple. The skin should never obstruct the outline of the dog. The natural wrinkling of a dog’s skin will be evident on the hairless variety, however the skin should never appear pendulous or excessive.
Coat Type: The Xoloitzcuintle comes in two coat varieties; the coated and the hairless variety.
Coated variety: The coated variety comes in two coat lengths;
Short coat: A complete short, close coat. The coat is short, smooth, the texture may be soft, or slightly harsh to the touch, and glossy. It may be uniform in length throughout, with or without undercoat. If undercoat is present, it will be just slightly longer on the neck, forming a light ruff, and on the tail. No fringe or feather permissible.
Medium coat: The coat is short on the face, forehead, and front of the forelimbs and hindlimbs. The coat is flat and medium length on the neck, ears, rear of the forelimbs and hindlimbs, feet, and tail, forming well-developed fringe and furnishings. Undercoats may or may not be present. The coat should never be abundantly thick, abundantly long, or silky.
Hairless variety: The coat may be completely absent of hair, or with small amounts of hair, or “tufts” on the head, back of the neck, ears, lower legs, feet, and tail. The hair may range from short to medium in length. Extra care must be given to the skin of these dogs, as it is at the mercy of the elements and climate without a protective coat.
Coat Color or Pattern: CKC recognizes two color varieties of the Xoloitzcuintle breed: the standard color and nonstandard color variety. Standard coat color variety:
Hairless: Primarily black, gray, red, liver, bronze, or golden-yellow, all with or without white markings which may appear white to pink on skin. Parti-colors of permissible standard colors allowed, with white markings taking up no more than 50% of the coat. Coat color of hair tufts do not have to match skin color.
Coated variety: Primarily black, gray, slate gray, dark gray, red, liver, bronze, blonde, or tan, all with or without white.
Nonstandard coat color variety: Merle, any color with black, gray, or liver with tan or brindle points or markings, solid brindle, sable, agouti, or any non-standard color with varying degrees of white. Primarily white (51% or more) with markings in any standard or non-standard color. Large patches or amounts of white indicating homogenous merle genotype/phenotype are undesirable.
Movement
Free, elastic, effortless, efficient, and with good energy, the characteristics of healthy structure are evident: when moving away, the forelegs and rear pasterns should remain parallel to one another. When viewing movement from the front, the forelegs should remain parallel, with elbows and paws moving neither in nor out. From the rear, the back pads should be visible when the rear legs are extended. As speed increases, the forelimbs and hindlimbs will converge to the centerline of gravity. From the side, the topline should remain firm and level. Good reach of movement in the front allows the forepaw to extend out in a line with the nose. The width between the forefeet when extended should be approximately equal to the width between the hindfeet when extended, indicating balance, good reach, and good drive. Dogs that exhibit any sign of breathing or locomotive difficulty shall be disqualified from the show ring.
Temperament
The Xoloitzcuintle is known to be even-tempered, calm, friendly, and somewhat aloof toward strangers. Around people they are comfortable with, Xolos are attentive, friendly, loyal, affectionate, and cheerful. Their wariness around strangers makes them an excellent watchdog. They are intelligent and easily trained with the right motivation and encouragement, making them excellent family companions. Any unprovoked aggressive or fearful behavior toward people is incorrect for this breed.
Faults
All dogs should be in proper healthy condition, free from disease or defect. Any departure from this description is considered a fault. Unless altered, all male dogs should have two fully descended testicles.
