The Chinese Crested

The Chinese Crested is a most unusual looking dog, most of his body is hairless, hence the name. This is a result of certain genes in the Chinese hairless’ body that make him have either a little bit of hair or a lot of hair, there are actually two types of Chinese Crested, there is the Hairless and then we have the Powderpuff; a dog that is the exact opposite of the Chinese Hairless in the fact that instead if having no coat at all, he has a really thick double coat, one that needs constant grooming to keep it in shape.

As for where the Chinese Crested comes from, that is a near mystery, there are reports that say he was a dog of the Aztecs, used as a bed warmer and also as food. After going on like that for a while, some Chinese came across the dog and adopted him as their own, using him as a ratter aboard their ships, you know just keeping everything clean.

Then there are the people who affirm that the Chinese Crested originated in Africa. Supposedly, there is genetic evidence that ties the Chinese Crested to the barkless dog, the Basenji, a breed that is still used by African villagers today to hunt meat; that is where the Chinese came along and adopted it.

And there is still another report stating that the Chinese Hairless originated in China, and there he was used as ratter aboard the Chinese ships, although no genetic evidence is present to provide proof of this, there is numerous reports of the Chinese Hairless being spotted in Chinese ports.

So which one of these is true? Who knows, I guess the most important thing is that we have the Chinese Hairless here with us today, and that is in a big part to the stripper Gypsy Rose Lee, a person that bred and developed the Chinese Crested breed.

The Chinese Crested is a dog that you see in many rare breed dog shows, because he is a pretty rare breed. The basic standard for the Chinese Crested states that he should be 11 to 13 inches at the shoulder; this should be a small boned, elegant dog that is graceful in his movement, his eyes should be dark if he has dark skin and light if the dog has light skin, the rims of the eyes should be the same color as the dog’s skin.

Did you know that the Chinese Hairless and the Powderpuff are born in the same litter; it is a fact that both varieties possess the Hairless gene that means that you can breed the Powderpuff to another Powderpuff and the result could be a Hairless puppy, its all in the genes I guess.

The Powderpuff has a long double coat that needs constant attention and care, the way the coat looks totally depends on the way the dog has been groomed, I guess that if you wanted a rare breed that still had some hair then the Chinese Crested Powderpuff is just that.

Care for these dogs can be quite extensive; the hairless variety needs to receive a lot of care for his skin, because they have the tendency to get acne pretty badly. Another problem with this particular breed is the fact that there tends to be a loss of teeth; this is such a common problem that it is not even penalized at the dog shows.

However, the Powderpuff does not seem to have this problem and because of this, professional breeders have decided to breed the Hairless up to the Powderpuff in an attempt to bring the hairless to the point where they will not have such problems with their teeth.

The Chinese Crested is a small dog that may need some extra attention, believe me they love it; they adore to be held, cuddled and loved. This is not a breed that is recommended for small children because they have such small delicate bodies and such sensitive skin that they could very easily be injured by a small playful hand.

This breed demands love, but they will always love you in return…a breed that is worth it!