The Chinese Crested Dog is a smaller (10–13 lbs) hairless breed of dog. Like most hairless dog breeds, the Chinese Crested comes in two varieties, both with and without fur, which are born in the same litter; the Hairless and the Powderpuff.

History

lthough hairless dogs have been found in many places in the world, it is unlikely that the origins of the modern Chinese Crested are in China. In the 1920s, Debora Wood created the "Crest Haven" kennel and began to purposefully breed and record the lineages of her Chinese Crested dogs. Crest Haven dogs were the true foundation of every Chinese Crested alive today. Ms. Wood also founded the American Hairless Dog Club in 1959, which was eventually incorporated into the American Chinese Crested Club (ACCC) in 1978. The ACCC became the U.S. parent club for the breed when the Chinese Crested was recognized by the American Kennel Club thirteen years later, in 1991. The Chinese Crested was officially recognised by the Fédération Cynologique Internationale in 1987, by The Kennel Club (UK) in 1981, by the American Kennel Club in 1991, and by the Australian National Kennel Council in 1995.

Appearance and Size

At first glance, the "Hairless" and "Powderpuff" varieties of Chinese Crested Dogs appear to be two different breeds, but hairlessness is an incomplete dominant trait within a single breed.  The Hairless has soft, humanlike skin, as well as tufts of fur on its paws ("socks") and tail ("plume") and long, flowing hair on its head ("crest"). In addition to being an incomplete dominant gene, the "hairless" gene has a prenatal lethal effect when homozygous. Zygotes affected with double hairless genes (1 in 4) never develop into puppies, and are reabsorbed in the womb. All hairless Cresteds are therefore heterozygous. The Hairless variety can vary in amount of body hair. Fur on the muzzle, known as a beard, is not uncommon. A true Hairless often does not have as much furnishings (hair on the head, tail, and paws). The difference between a very hairy Hairless and a Powderpuff is that the Hairless has a single coat   with hairless parts on the body, while the Powderpuff has a thick double coat. The skin of the Hairless comes in a variety of colors, ranging from a pale flesh to black. Hairless Cresteds often lack a full set of premolar teeth, but this is not considered a fault. The look of the Powderpuff varies according to how it is groomed. When its fur is completely grown out on its face, it strongly resembles a terrier; however, the Powderpuff is usually shaved around the snout as a standard cut. The amount of body hair on the hairless variety varies quite extensively, from the true hairless which has very little or no body hair and furnishings, to what is called a 'hairy hairless', which if left ungroomed often grows a near-full coat of hair. These hairy hairless are not a mix between powderpuffs and hairless Chinese Cresteds, but are merely a result of a weaker expression of the variable Hairless gene. The mutation responsible for the hairless trait was identified in 2008. One famous Chinese Crested dog was the hairless purebred named Sam, was the winner of the World's Ugliest Dog Contest from 2003 to 2005. He died before he could compete in 2006. Other Chinese Cresteds have finished high in the event as well.

Personality

The Chinese Crested is an intelligent and entertaining breed. They love to play games and thoroughly enjoy a good game of 'catch me if you can'. This breed is an excellent companion but prefers to live in warmer climates. The breed rarely barks or bites and seems to be perpetually cheerful and affectionate, although he can be wary of strangers.

Wikipedia and GNU

The content of this entry is from the Wikipedia article "Chinese Crested" licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.