MEXICO: A hairless dog descended from the Aztecs draws fans and curious stares in Mexico City

The hairless Xolotzcuintle dog, descended from the Aztecs, is slowly coming back into fashion with Mexicans but it also draws curious stares. Freckles speckle his pink wrinkly skin. Ginger whiskers sprout only between his veiny ears, beneath his gummy chops and at the end of a rat-like tail. In a park full of fluffy labradors and spaniels, passers-by stare as Juan, a hairless Mexican Xoloitzcuintle dog, cavorts about then springs effortlessly into his owner's arms, his skin gleaming with body lotion. Breeder Ana Maria Rivera, who owns Juan and 40 other Xoloitzcuintles (pronounced sho-lo-itz-CWINT-leh) said that people have a lot of questions about the unusual dog. "The people in Mexico do not know it [referring to the Xolotzcuintle dog], do not appreciate it. They mainly prefer other breeds and never get near the Xolotzcuintle. That is, they are very curious about it - they ask why it doesn't have hair, if it barks, what it eats, but the saddest thing is that they ask what country it comes from - what is the origin of this dog," she said. Lovers of fluffy pooches may recoil at their clammy skin, but for a growing number of people, Xolos (pronounced SHO-los) are the ultimate cool pet: a 3,500-year old breed that has defied unlucky genes, Aztec cooking pots and sacrificial daggers to come back from the brink of extinction. Emotionally fragile, with delicate skin that burns easily and poor teeth that mean they prefer chewing carrots to bones, Xoloitzcuintles had nearly died out by the 1950s, when just a hundred or so were kept by Mexican artists and intellectuals. But a breeding program has boosted their numbers to several thousand today, spread between their native Mexico, the United States and Europe. Twentieth Century painters Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo were among the art set who turned Xolos into an in-vogue curiosity, letting them frolic in their gardens and feature in their art. But aficionados of the mainly blue-black or slate-gray dogs -- which love digging and climbing trees -- now range well beyond eccentrics. The first domestic dog in the Americas, and related to the Peruvian Hairless and the Chinese Crested Dog, Xoloitzcuintles were kept as pets in Aztec times. Comforted by the heat of their hairless bodies, the Aztecs used them as bed warmers and cuddled them like hot water bottles to ease arthritis, stomach cramps and fever. But they also believed the dogs could guide human souls to the afterlife. Xolos were killed with a dagger to the heart when their masters died and placed in the coffin. Even worse, Xolo meat was highly sought-after. Puppies were fattened up and sold as a protein-rich delicacy believed to ward off bad dreams and evil, and increase male potency. Josefina Garcia is the art designer at a Mexican City museum that houses the works of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera also has a collection of the Xoloitzcuintles dogs. "The Xolotzcuintle is very important because it originated in Mexico. The main discoveries that we have made have been archaeological discoveries in some areas of Mesoamerica. The Xolotzcuintle dog was linked with cults and death and was also considered a food. Some discoveries have been made where we have ascertained that the Xolotzcuintle dog was raised to be eaten and was not eaten by just any person but was considered food for the gods," said Garcia. Native to Mexico's baking hot west coast, the dogs' hairlessness, caused by a recessive gene that can be fatal in some Xolo litters, helped them deal with heat and bugs. But it means they suffer from sunburn, shiver in the cold and can nick their skin if they fight with other dogs. The same gene means they have defective teeth and missing molars. After the Spanish conquest, European dogs became more fashionable as pets and Xoloitzcuintles were culled, their meat often salted for the long ship voyages back to Europe. Yet dozens survived in the wild. In the 1950s, Mexico's Canine Federation sent expeditions to the Pacific coast to collect pure-bred Xolo puppies for a new breeding program and officially registered the dog. The American Kennel Club, which had listed the breed since 1887, dropped it from its register in 1959, after several years with zero registrations. Four decades on, breeders ship them around the world, vaunting their affectionate natures and the fact they shed no fur, barely smell, can't get fleas and only bark at strangers. On the downside they must be bathed frequently, moisturized with skin cream and protected with sun block. Some owners exfoliate them with loofahs to ward off pimples. Xolos need special leashes that don't pinch their rubbery skin and extra-soft blankets to sleep on. Sensitive to stress and noise, their ill-formed teeth make them dainty eaters too, with a penchant for mango, papaya and cooked vegetables.

ITN Source | February 17, 2007

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