In Praise of the Mexican Hairless Dog

Much like single people on Valentine's Day, the Xoloitzcuintli (aka: the Mexican Hairless Dog) has long suffered from a lack of love and affection from dog owners and breeders.

Now after years of being derided, the Xolo is finally having its rightful day in the sun. At the famous Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, a Xolo named Giorgio Armani was recognized as the best of his breed and he quickly became a crowd favorite.

Writing at Huffington Post Canada, Douglas Anthony Cooper sings the praises of the Xolo:

The Xoloitzcuintli is an ancient breed, yes, and stranger even than the other hairless dogs of the world. Unlike the Chinese Crested, the American Hairless Terrier, and the Peruvian Inca Orchid, the Xolo came into being without human intervention: There is no evidence that it was bred for baldness. Some insist that it wandered across the Bering Strait with the ancestors of the Olmec; the more accepted theory is that the breed arose spontaneously in North America, thousands of years ago, as a bald mutation of an indigenous canine. That's right: The blind Darwinian process somehow gave rise to the world's most gorgeous dog.

Now, there are some who would disagree with this aesthetic judgment. Psychopaths, for instance: They do not find the Xolo an overwhelmingly fetching creature. Hernán Cortés -- an unpleasant conquistador -- hated the Mexican Hairless, and attempted to eradicate the breed. People like you and me, however -- who are not rapacious colonial serial killers -- recognize that this is the most elegant dog in existence, rivaled only by the Italian Greyhound.

Our Xolo, Snorkel Louise, has had a difficult time expressing her peerless beauty. She lives in the same house as Pixel, our Italian Greyhound, who is something of a celebrity in Oaxaca. We have in fact found random photos of Pixel all over the web, snapped by tourists who were captivated by her radiance while passing through town. Pixel's mom was a Mexican champion, and her dad a world champion: That's a lot to live up to.

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Noah Kristula-Green

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