Xoloitzcuintli Did You Know?

• The Xoloitzcuintli has been assigned the Non-Sporting Group designation.
• The Xoloitzcuintli has been recorded in the Foundation Stock Service since 1997.
• Other names for the breed include Mexican Hairless and Tepezcuintli.
• The name is pronounced show-low-eats-queen-tlee.
• The Xolo has threes sizes - toy, miniature and standard, and two varieties, hairless and coated.
• The word Xoloitzcuintli is derived from the name of the Aztec god Xolotl and the Aztec word for dog, itzcuintli
• Known to exist in Mexico for over 3,000 years, the Xolo can justly claim the distinction as first dog of the Americas.
• The Xoloitzcuintli was AKC registered from 1887 until 1959 (listed as Mexican Hairless). Me Too (#6074) was the first Mexican Hairless registered with the AKC. Owner: Mrs. Hubert T. Foote, New York City. Whelped 1882. Black. Won 1st and spec. New Haven; 1st New York; 1st Philadelphia; 1st New York; 1884. 1st and spec. New Haven; 1st Boston; 1st New York; 1st Philadelphia, 1885. 1st New Haven; 1st Boston; 1st and spec. Hartford; 1st New York, 1886.
• Chinito Jr., bred and owned by Valetska Radtke of New York City became the breed's first and only AKC champion (from 1887-1959) on October 19, 1940.
• Efforts to establish the Xolo as a purebred met with little success. No large scale breeding programs existed to promote good quality. Neither country of origin nor the breed standard (at that point in time) offered direction to breeders. Interest waned and in April 1959, the AKC voted to drop the Mexican Hairless from the Stud Book.
• Xolos appear in paintings by famous Mexican artists such as Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo.
• The breed is viewed as a national treasure in Mexico.