Welcome to #BreedersTalk! A series dealing with important dog breeding matters, one article at a time. For each, we handpick a handful of influential dog breeders to share their interesting points of view with you.

We’ve received so much love for this series and our first article last week about the best natural dog superfoods. Many many thanks to everybody, your support and shares really keep us going.

For our second article in this series, we ask breeders of hairless dog breeds why, just why ? Why not breeding Chihuahuas? We all love our dogs of different sizes, shapes and temperaments, but we also have that odd feeling when seeing or touching a hairless dog. So let’s bring that on the table and let the ones who love them the most tell us why and how they got started with hairless dogs.

So Many Reasons, We Can't Count Them

— Sally Johnson, Xioma Kennels

Why a hairless dog such as the Peruvian Hairless? There really isn’t just one reason. The rarity, the beauty, the ancient lineage that shows them hundreds of years ago on pottery and depicted on the Plains of Nazca and today still looking the same has always fascinated me. The need to protect such a rare and unusual animal, the science behind why they are hairless is as unusual as the breed are all reason why we have hairless dogs such as the Peruvians.

Twelve years ago I saw a dog on the internet and fell hopelessly in love. I promised myself one day I would add this beauty like this to my life. As chance would have it the lady bred this dog and offered me a puppy and so started the journey from Finland for this amazing dog.

After many years and failed attempts we finally acquired a girl from a breeder in the USA and imported her. She gave us 8 beautiful puppies, six hairless girls and 2 coated boys. We kept two girls and one of the boys for Showing and for Lure Coursing.

Next we imported an Orchid (spotted) male straight from Peru and Moche came into our life like a tornado. We plan to breed him to one of the girls soon. In the future is another import from Peru, a lovely chocolate coated girl who we are sure will add to the beauty and strength of our dogs.

The breed is new in Australia and we have come in leaps and bounds with several dedicated people now looking to import and improve all our lines.

Oddity Is Beautiful



— Shannon Roberts, Shanshal Chinese Cresteds & Xoloitzcuintles

When we first saw the Chinese Crested we just loved the attitude and character that they had. The fact that they were hairless just made them more attractive to us. The fact that they are so different to any other breed is one thing that we love about the breed.

They have a very unique character, they are quite a stubborn and will do things when they want, and the looks they can give you when you try to make them do something they don’t want to do is so amusing.

We decided to breed when we wanted another one for ourselves. We didn’t take this decision lightly. We researched into the breeding lines, the health tests and genetics. We have done the best that we could to breed our first litter.

Hairless puppies are the funniest little things when they are born. The reason we love this little breed so much is that they are hairless and have such a great attitude to life, we could never live without one.

Small Dog, Enormous Temperament

— Bev Ferris, Chinese Crested Health Database

Why Cresteds, you ask? For most of my breeding life I had large sighthounds and I like that temperament. I also had Italian Greyhounds as an alternate breed. When it became nearly impossible to get or breed one of those without significant health issues, I began looking at Chinese Crested dogs.

They have that “inscrutable” temperament as do sighthounds and, overall, are one of the more healthy breeds out there. I actually prefer my puffs, but I have a houseful of hairless right now. I am lucky enough to have a line that produces mostly true hairless and great puff coats.

Our house has dogs from 12 years old down to 2. I also run the Chinese Crested Health Database.

Hypoallergenic Dogs With a Lively Personality

— Malin Kallunki

When we first got a hairless dog it was because of allergies getting worse and we could not keep our dog, a Finnish Lapphound, at that time. We first got a Chinese Crested dog, a male because at that time we did not want to breed. Yet, a year later after starting to get more and more involved with the breed, we decided to get a female and started breeding.

It was also at that time that we got our first Xoloitzcuintle after 3 years of waiting. We got a really good female so we got even more interested in breeding and after doing the homework, we started our Kennel. We now breed a few litters each year.

We fell in love with the Chinese Crested dogs’ fun personality and them being a great family pet. With the Xoloitzcuintle, we fell in love with their great personality, their big intellect and how they are close to their family.

Today we only breed Xoloitzcuintle of all three sizes. We hope that our breeding will contribute to the breed, when we breed our dogs we try to find the perfect match for them and we do focus on health and their temperament. Of course, we try and breed them according to the breed standard. Today, the Xoloitzcuintle is the breed for us.

Conclusion

Not only Chinese Cresteds and Xoloitzcuintles are getting reactions, but they seem to have their hardcore fans. After reading this, it is clear that these little gems are just like any other dog breed: unique, original and with their very own personality. Their funny look allows them to gain in visibility in these days of social media virality.

Just a quick addition before we wrap this article up, go have a look at “Prophecy” by Sophie Gamand, a series of incredible pictures of hairless dogs from around the world taken “in the action.” Hilariously beautiful!)

And for the ones who want to see another hairless dog breed in action, the video below is all about the cute Peruvian Hairless Dog originating from pre-Inca times.