American Hairless Terrier

The breed traces to a single hairless bitch puppy, Josephine, born in a litter of purebred Rat Terriers in Louisiana in 1972 and acquired by Willie and Edwin Scott. Rather than treating the coatlessness as a defect, the Scotts bred from her and eventually produced further hairless offspring, establishing the line that became the breed.

Because the hairlessness arises from a recessive gene rather than the dominant mutation seen in the Chinese Crested and Xoloitzcuintli, American Hairless Terriers do not suffer the missing and abnormal teeth associated with those breeds, and hairless-to-hairless matings are viable. Rat Terrier outcrosses were used for some years to widen the gene pool, which is why coated dogs still occur and are recognised.

The United Kennel Club recognised the American Hairless Terrier in 2004, at first as a variety of the Rat Terrier and then as a separate breed. The American Kennel Club granted full recognition in 2016, placing it in the Terrier Group. It remains an uncommon breed with a small, closely tracked population.

This is a small, sturdily built dog, usually between about 12 and 16 inches at the shoulder and 12 to 16 pounds, slightly longer than tall and noticeably well muscled for its size. The head is broad and wedge-shaped with a pronounced stop, expressive round eyes and erect or tipped ears. The tail is never docked and may be naturally long or naturally short.

Hairless puppies are born with a fine downy fuzz that recedes from the nose backwards and is usually gone by around six to eight weeks, leaving smooth, warm, slightly textured skin. Skin colour is almost always parti-coloured, a base of white or pink with patches in black, brown, red, apricot, blue or brindle, and the freckles typically multiply and darken with sun exposure and age. Coated dogs of the breed carry a short, dense, shiny coat over the same body. Hairless dogs sweat through their skin and can develop a rash in hot weather.

In character this is a terrier through and through: bright, energetic, playful and interested in everything. They are very people-focused and typically want to be on the sofa, under the blanket or in your lap, which is partly affection and partly a sensible response to being naked.

They tend to be good with children who handle them kindly, and generally sociable with other dogs, though the terrier readiness to answer a challenge is present. With strangers they are usually curious rather than suspicious once introductions are made, but they are watchful and quick to bark, which makes them effective little alarm dogs.

They are sensitive dogs who learn fast and dislike rough handling. Compared with many terriers they are less inclined to dig and, without a protective coat, much less inclined to go to ground, which softens some classic terrier problems. Prey drive towards rodents remains lively.

The ancestral job, inherited from the Rat Terrier, was vermin control on American farms, and the drive to chase and dispatch rats is still evident in play. The lack of a coat means a hairless dog should not be asked to work in brush, brambles or cold, so serious ratting is better left to their coated relatives.

As a modern breed the American Hairless Terrier is primarily a companion, and a very good one for people who want a small, active, minimally shedding dog. They do well in agility, rally, obedience, trick training, barn hunt and earthdog-style scent games, and their size makes them practical for flats and travelling.