Chinese Crested Dog

The Chinese crested dog is a hairless breed of dog. Like most hairless dog breeds, the Chinese crested comes in two varieties, with and without fur, which are born in the same litter: the Powder Puff and the Hairless.

Description

This breed is considered small; 10–13 lb (4.5–5.9 kg).

At first look, 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.