Mexican hairless dog

Native to Mexico, the Mexican hairless dog is divided into three size categories: standard, intermediate and miniature.

He is a very rare and ancient breed of dog. As his name suggests, he is practically naked, therefore hairless, except for the neck and forehead, sometimes also on the tail where you can find some hair.

According to legend, the Xoloitzcuintle was the one sent to earth by the God Xoloti, from whom the morphology of his name comes, "Xoloti" for his God and "itzcuintle" meaning dog.

As his nickname Xolo comes from the God Xoloti, the translation of his name should read as Sacred Mexican hairless dog instead of simply Mexican hairless dog.

Also according to Mexican legend, this dog would lead the souls of the deceased to the country where the spirits rest.

At one time, the Indians buried their dead in the Colima region in the Southwest of the country, along with a statuette of Xolo to guide them to the place of their eternal rest.

The sacred value of the Mexican hairless dog is attested everywhere by his presence in art and artefacts such as, for example, on items designed during the time of the Toltec and Aztec civilizations in the same region of Colima.

In addition to their legendary character, the Aztec people also bred these dogs for meat, because of his sacred nature, this dog's flesh would apparently have great healing qualities.

At the same time, dogs were used as bed warmers due to their higher body temperature than most other dogs, and they were already widely used as companion dogs.

His presence in the Caribbean is also mentioned in the diary of Christopher Columbus in 1942 and his existence in the 14th century is confirmed by the priest, Bernardino de Sahagun, having studied the pagan culture of the Indians at the time.

Some say that he arrived from Asia through the Bering Strait with the nomadic people and that he descends from the ancient Tai-Tai now called the Chinese Dog.

However, a Xolo skull was discovered between 1300 and 1000 BC, whereas according to history, Tai-Tai would not be more than 1000 years old. This theory remains to be confirmed, but is unlikely.

His origins are very old, although the breed has only been recognized since 1933 by the American Kennel Club, where it received its first standard. In the 1980s, the Mexican hairless dog duly gained popularity in the United States. Despite this, he remains rather rare and his numbers are few.