Hairless vs Coated by
Brenda Caye Heinsohn
I recently had a conversation with a woman who was convinced I was on the
road to disaster because I have chosen to breed only hairless dogs. She is
absolutely certain that it is imperative to the continued temperament
stability and genetic health of this breed that we as breeders use the
coated dogs at least every other generation. "Why?", says I, even though I
knew exactly what she was going to say. I have heard it all myself before.
So we started with the teeth. "Why, Xolos have never had better dentition
than what we are seeing now. There are Xolos showing up everywhere with a
full set of teeth." When I take my dogs to Mexico to be registered, the
very first thing my vet checks is to see if the teeth are over- or
under-shot. The standard is very specific about the teeth. The Xolo will be
missing the premolars and possibly the canine teeth.
Xolos have been in the United States, what, about twenty years and we're to assume that something that has been indicative of this breed for almost 3000 years has suddenly been 'corrected' because we are using coated dogs? My vet will tell you, very bluntly, that while it is possible through some anomaly, for a hairless Xolo to have a full set of teeth, that it is not from breeding coated to hairless Xolos, but more likely from introducing another breed altogether. (opened a can of worms with that one, did I?)
Through better nutrition and dental hygiene, yes, we have improved the
quality of what teeth they have, but attributing the return of those missing
teeth to the addition of the coated dogs into our breeding programs is stretching it a little. The lack of the pre-molars and the canines is directly linked to the hairless gene.
I have a small male and judged against the standard, his tail is short, his
ears small and his overall body type, square. Beside me is his six-generation pedigree. It is a nightmare of inbreeding. Every single fault I attribute to that
inbreeding. In that pedigree, every other generation is coated. Inbreeding, not lack of the ever so 'essential' coated, has caused many of the problems we see today.
The only time I have ever been questioned about sound temperament was when a friend of mine observed some of my Xolos playing in the snow while on vacation in New Mexico. He said something about 'damn fool dogs, butt nekkid in this snow and not havin the sense to be born with fur like a normal dog'. He does have a point so I'll not argue this one.
Genetic health? Well, let's see. In 1992, I adopted my first standard Xolo,
Rey, and set about trying to get him registered. He had a wonderful pedigree
with XCA and FCM registrations all over the place, but because the breeder of Rey's mother failed to get her registered, I could not register Rey. By that time, the XCA had closed the stud book. At the time I was trying to get Rey
registered, I asked how many standards were included in the stud book. Eventually, I was told that there were less than one hundred total standards. Okay, I'll be generous: one hundred means fifty males, fifty females (this isn't exact, just for illustration). I'll be even more generous (because I am VERY picky) twenty-five males, twenty-five females for breeding. Getting the picture? With this small a gene pool, how in the world were we supposed to have genetic health? Could this be when it became 'imperative' that we use the coated?
I have been in contact with a wonderful woman who had been raising Chinese
Cresteds for many years. She said that the original Chinese Cresteds had
little top knots, and little hair on the tail and feet, but as years went
by more and more breeders favored the long flowing crests found in the
breed today. This was achieved by breeding more and more coated into the
breed. The cost has been most Chinese Crested are now born with extreme amounts of body hair and fewer,truly hairless, standard conforming dogs. I see the same trend started in my beloved Xolos. More and more Xolos are being born with excess amounts of body hair which leads a person wanting to show these dogs to have to shave their hairless dogs.
I now have three generations of hairless to hairless bred dogs sitting
beside me as I write this. I see fewer coated puppies being born with each generation. Anni will be two years old in January and the male we have picked out for her to be bred to is also hairless. Four generations of very happy, very healthy, very hairless dogs. You see, I will be surprised to see any coated puppies at all. Anni was born with a head full of hair and some on her feet and tail, but I have found that most of the hair had disappeared by the time she was one year old. This has happened re-peatedly with my dogs and I wonder if this is another Xolo thing.I guess the point I am trying to make is that this is a hairless breed. The
country of origin, Mexico, refuses to include the coated in the registry for a
reason. The FCI, which is the world recognized kennel club and registry, has accepted the standard as written by Mexico. Only in the United States are the coated given recognition and allowed to be registered. This has caused a lot of hard feelings with Mexico and other countries. But wait, coateds are a fact of life when breeding Xolos. Again, I am seeing fewer being born here as I
breed only hairless generation after generation. To justify this acceptance
of coated in the United States against the FCI/FCM standard, we use the excuse that the Mexicans actually use the coated and falsify records, they just don't tell. Well, ain't that just the pot calling the kettle black!!!
So the solution: don't have a clue. I do know that until this issue is settled, we, as American breeders will remain divided and stuck in a rut. I personally
believe that if you want to breed the coated, go ahead, coated to coated. It saddens me to think that we won't learn from the Chinese Crested until it is too late.
Brenda C Heinsohn
Keine Harre Xoloitzcuintle
830-629-3537
khxolos@the-cia.net
Back to Top
About COLORS of Xolos
by
Patty Hoover
Any color can be shown in Mexico and other FCI countries. Black, grey,
brown, cinnamon, slate, bronze, "red" (bermejo) etc.; and any combination
of colors: brindle, black with white spots, tan with white, tan with red,
ticked etc.
The standard gives preference to the dark solid colors, but a dog that is
really excellent will do well despite bi-color markings and spots.
An example of that is Zoyatl. She is dark bronze/grey with red hair on the
top of her head, end of tail and a bit on the feet. She has a white blaze on
her head. I was told to not "bother" showing her down there. When she was
mature I thought, "What's to lose? She looks great to me." and took her
down. She consistently placed, winning over much larger dogs that were all
black. So, if you have a spotted or interestingly marked xolo that you
want to show, or are buying a show quality xolo, I would tell you to not let
the color or markings stop you, if the dog is not a solid dark color. Look
at the whole dog--movement, structure, personality and pedigree to make your decision. Many times a black sire and dam will throw a variety of colors and visa versa.
I believe that as time goes by we will see many more Xolos in the ring that
are interesting color combinations. In Canada any color or combination of colors is acceptable. Some people use the word 'blue' when referring to a very dark black xolo. The word 'blue' is not acceptable on FCI pedigrees. Hope this give a little insight.
Back to Top
Has Your Dog Started Having
Household Accidents?by Kathy Hughes
Whenever I get a phone call from an owner whose problem is that an adult dog,
who had been formerly solid on housebreaking, has suddenly started having
accidents...my first question is: "What has changed in your household?"
Often the initial response is: "Nothing!". However, if I press, I learn that
there is a new roommate, or that the dog's owner recently baby sat someone
else's dog in their home, or that the owner just moved to a new house or
apartment!
If there truly are no such changes, my next question is always: "Is there
something going on in your life that is causing you some kind of unusual
stress?" Often I learn that the person is worried about a potential lay-off
at their job, or that they have a terminally ill parent, or a family member
recently died, or the owner just had surgery or a bout with serious illness.
Sensitive dogs realize that their owners are weakened by exceptional stress.
If the leader is in a weakened state, the dog suffers a loss of confidence
and anxiety sets in.
If I can't root out any info about a change in household or abnormal stress
for the owner, I suggest a complete physical for the dog.
Any change in the household that the dog will view as either a change of
territory, or a potential altering of the hierarchy, will often result in
passive urination or territorial marking or just plain confusion as to what
is the "den" area that should not be soiled.
Moving the household is a big one. Very stressful for many dogs. What is
the pack territory now? The dog will wonder "Am I trespassing on another's
territory? When will I be able to return to my own territory?" If the dog
has an elevated sense of homing behavior, it will be dealing with trying to
suppress drives to return to the former home (confusion due to the pack is
now at the new home, so why return to the old one if the pack is here at the
new one?). For primitive pariah breeds, a change in territory causes a lot
of anxiety.
Potential threats to the hierarchy.....A child leaves for college, a spouse
leaves, a former roommate leaves. A new roommate comes. A grandchild comes
to stay for the summer. Relatives visit for a week. Someone comes to visit
and brings their dog. The owner brings another dog into the home for a week
while a relative or friend goes on vacation.
Whenever there is a change in the individuals that make up the "pack", the
dog assumes there will be a change in the hierarchy. They may be forced to
move down one or more steps in the pecking order. Instinctively, they are
driven to maintain their current status, yet many dogs lack the confidence to
challenge a human "interloper" due to their background and training.
The result is anxiety. Elimination is a behavior that helps reduce anxiety.
Submissive urination is universally understood doggie language that means
"I'm not going to challenge you, so please don't hurt me, you don't need to
kick my butt to move up the ladder, I will abdicate and move down one rung."
A return to marking territory helps the dog relieve anxiety by emphasizing
that this "new" territory is theirs, the marking claims it and signals others
to stay away, the act builds the dog's confidence in his right to the new
territory (female dogs will also mark territory, though not as inclined as
males, the behavior is still fairly common in females. People often fail to
recognize it as such because squatting, as opposed to leg-lifting, is
generally not recognized by humans as territorial marking, though it is
recognized as such by other dogs).
The worst thing that you can do, since anxiety is the root of the behavior,
is to show displeasure (thereby causing even more anxiety).
Submissive urination is best addressed by changing the "triggers" that bring
on the anxiety and the dog thinking it needs to signal in this manner.
Generally, if you observe, there is a pattern. The most common pattern is
that the submissive urination becomes part of the greeting behavior. The dog
urinates when the person returns home, when the person calls the dog to them
etc. Change the ritual of the greeting, ignore the dog when coming in after
being gone or getting up in the morning. Don't make eye contact, act as
though the dog is invisible. After a minute or two, speak in normal
conversational tones to the dog and don't touch it. ("Oh, hello Fido, I
didn't notice you were here.) and go about in a matter of fact way. Avoid
dominant body language like bending over the dog or petting on the top of the
head. Pet under the chin. Don't approach the dog or call it from a frontal
position, turn sideways to the dog, hand at side and palm out towards the dog
with a treat rather than a face to face with the hand held high (above the
dog's head) with the treat. If petting is the trigger (submissive urination
does not occur until the dog is touched) eliminate the petting. Often
ignoring the dog and sitting down some where and letting the dog approach on
it's own after you sit down is effective (sitting is a much less dominant
body position). Often the trigger is making eye contact, or speaking to the
dog. Observe closely to identify the patterns and the triggers, and then try
to change the pattern and remove the triggers. Overall, the key is to build confidence. How and when did this behavior begin?
If there is no physical problem (bladder infection or some brain
chemical issue) as the dog only does this with your wife and not with you.
This indicates an issue with the relationship between Fido and your
wife. For some reason, Fido is being desperate to convince your wife
that Fido will not challenge the wife's authority or position. Fido
thinks she is being formally polite. Submissive urination is equivalent to
curtsying to the queen or bowing to the king. Time and patience are
required, and if this behavior has now been occurring for some time, it is
becoming habitual, and so changing patterns and eliminating triggers are
necessary not only to build confidence and relieve anxiety, but also to break
habitual behavior and hopefully reset a new pattern.
Be warned that submissive urination, once it is ingrained, can be very time
consuming to eliminate. I have spent a year on a neutered male Cocker who was
a rescue that submissive urinated on any greeting with anyone, but we finally
did break him of it with lots of confidence building and changing of
patterns. Lack of confidence is the key issue, so one must look to what has
shaken Fido's confidence and correct those issues to eliminate the
submissive urination.
A dog on new territory needs to be taken out frequently and rewarded for
going on the new outdoor territory. The key is a lot of reassurance and
confidence building.
Back to Top
