The American Hairless Terrier is a
breed
A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist several slig ...
of
companion dog
A companion dog is a dog that does not work, providing only companionship as a pet, rather than usefulness by doing specific tasks. Many of the toy dog breeds are used only for the pleasure of their company, not as workers. Any dog can be a compa ...
from the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
that was developed from naturally hairless
Rat Terrier
The Rat Terrier is an American dog breed with a background as a farm dog and hunting companion. They share much ancestry with the small hunting dogs known as feists. Common throughout family farms in the 1920s and 1930s, they are now recogniz ...
s.
History
In 1972 a completely hairless bitch pup was whelped in a litter of purebred Rat Terriers owned by Willie and Edwin Scott of
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is bord ...
. Named Josephine, the bitch conformed to the Rat Terrier type in every way except her coat, so the Scotts bred from her and her first litter produced another hairless bitch pup, Gypsy. Neither bitch whelped another hairless pup in multiple litters until in 1981 at the age of nine Josephine produced two more hairless pups, a dog and bitch. In 1983 the dog, Snoopy, was mated to his hairless sisters and many more hairless pups were whelped, establishing the foundation stock for the new breed. Originally registered as a hairless variety of Rat Terriers, eventually the Scotts adopted a different breed name for their unique line and established a separate breed club, the American Hairless Terrier Association. In 2004 the
United Kennel Club
The United Kennel Club (UKC) is a kennel club founded in 1898 in the United States. In contrast with the American Kennel Club, which is non-profit and which only clubs can join, the United Kennel Club is a profit-making corporation, open to individ ...
recognised the line as a breed and in 2016 the
American Kennel Club
The American Kennel Club (AKC) is a registry of purebred dog pedigrees in the United States. In addition to maintaining its pedigree registry, this kennel club also promotes and sanctions events for purebred dogs, including the Westminster Ke ...
also recognised the breed.
Description
According to the United Kennel Club’s
breed standard
In animal husbandry or animal fancy, a breed standard is a description of the characteristics of a hypothetical or ideal example of a breed. The description may include physical or morphological detail, genetic criteria, or criteria of athletic ...
, American Hairless Terriers typically stand between ; the breed typically weighs between . The breed has pricked ears and can be born with either a
naturally short tail or a long tail that is never docked.
At birth American Hairless Terriers are born with a light fuzz of hair over their entire body which they gradually shed from the nose backwards until they are entirely naked, this typically occurs by the age of six weeks; they retain eyebrows and whiskers. The breed standard states hairless examples’ skin can be any color, although they are usually part colored with freckles that enlarge with age. Because of their lack of hair, the breed is particularly susceptible to
hypothermia
Hypothermia is defined as a body core temperature below in humans. Symptoms depend on the temperature. In mild hypothermia, there is shivering and mental confusion. In moderate hypothermia, shivering stops and confusion increases. In severe ...
in cold weather as well as
sunburn
Sunburn is a form of radiation burn that affects living tissue, such as skin, that results from an overexposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation, usually from the Sun. Common symptoms in humans and animals include: red or reddish skin that is h ...
in sunning conditions.
Some American Hairless Terriers are whelped with coats, they are still recognised as examples of the breed. The breed standard states coated examples of the breed have a short and dense coat that can be solid white, bi-color, tri-color, sable or brindle, always with some white.
See also
*
Dogs portal
*
List of dog breeds
This list of dog breeds includes both extant and extinct dog breeds, varieties, landraces, and dog types. A research article on dog genomics published in Science/AAAS defines modern dog breeds as "a recent invention defined by conformation ...
*
Feist
References
{{American dogs
Terriers
Hairless dogs
Dog breeds originating in the United States
Companion dogs