The American Hairless Terrier is an energetic, alert dog whose curiosity and intelligence make him easy to train. The American Hairless Terrier is an exceptionally friendly companion, getting along well with children, other dogs, and even cats. American Hairless Terriers enjoy human companionship immensely and will enthusiastically share any activity with their owners.
The hairless dogs require protection from the sun and winter cold weather. American Hairless Terriers should not be sparred during conformation judging. The coated variety is covered with a short, smooth and dense coat. Hairless puppies are born with a soft, vestigial 'down' known as the 'birth coat'.
This generally covers the body but diminishes over time and puppies should be completely hairless by approximately 8-10 weeks of age. A mature, hairless dog will have whiskers and guard hairs on the eyebrows and muzzle. Short, very fine hair may be present on the body of a mature dog. Extra care must be taken for both cold weather and for sunburn.
American Hairless Terriers benefit from attention, training and exercise in a secure yard. As a new breed, the American Hairless Terrier has a tiny gene pool with little genetic diversity. The hairless gene in the AHT is a recessive gene, meaning both parents need to pass the gene in order to always produce hairless puppies. In order for this to be possible, there would be a high instance of inbreeding while developing the Hairless Terrier without allowing coated dogs in the gene pool.
Coated Hairless Terriers bred to hairless AHTs may produce coated puppies, but those coated puppies will also carry the hairless gene. This coated dog may go on to produce hairless puppies, thus expanding the gene pool. Though allowed, breeding coated to coated AHTs is discouraged as it doesn't work toward the goal of a hairless breed. The American Hairless Terrier derived from the Rat Terrier breed was developed in the United States in the early 1970s. These alert and curious dogs are usually hairless but can also have a coat. Like most terriers, its ancestors were bred to hunt rats and other vermin.
Today, the AHT is a lively, intelligent and friendly companion who loves to be indoors with its owner. The American Hairless Terrier is a smoothly muscled, active, small-to-medium size terrier whose trainability makes it a perfect choice for such dog sports as Obedience and Agility. The American hairless Terrier will be shown in the Terrier Group.
A natural variation of the Rat Terrier, American Hairless Terriers (or AHT as they're sometimes called) are completely hairless dogs . They are an intelligent and friendly companion that is often the perfect answer for people with allergies. The AHT is the result of a rare, major mutation that occurred in a litter of Rat Terriers in 1972.
The first American hairless terrier was born into a litter of rat terriers pups. The couple loved the canine because it could not get fleas, and they did not have to clean up dog hair constantly. The couple bred the pup back to her father, and the breed was born as three of four puppies were born without hair. The breed became fully recognized by the American Kennel Club in 2016.
This cute little guy was not crossbred from other Terriers, but actually was a natural occurrence. The owners of the litter of puppies gave the hairless puppy to friends of theirs, who, after consulting with several breeders, tried and succeeded in breeding more of the hairless dogs. The hairless Chinese crested dogs can show varying degrees of hairlessness from true hairless to semi-coated , suggesting that there may be modifier genes for the trait. Because this form of hairlessness is by necessity heterozygous, there are always coated dogs born as littermates to the hairless pups. In addition to hairlessness, the dogs with FOXI3 mutations often have problems with dentition, such as missing teeth, and less commonly, malformations of the ear. This latter, secondary phenotype led to the identification of a rare human mutation involving the deletion of the FOXI3 gene in a child with microtia, an underdeveloped outer ear .
This was not the first instance of a hairless puppy born to the coated breed, but it was the first attempt to breed for the trait. After nearly a decade of attempts to produce more hairless puppies, they were finally successful. The hairless gene is recessive—unlike the gene in most other hairless breeds. This means the American Hairless Terrier did not develop from other hairless breeds, but developed separately.
Finding the right American Hairless Terrier puppy can be dog gone hard work. PuppyFind® provides a convenient and efficient means of selecting and purchasing the perfect American Hairless Terrier puppy from the comfort of your home, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Some American Hairless Terrier puppies for sale may be shipped Worldwide and include crate and veterinarian checkup. Many American Hairless Terrier dog breeders with puppies for sale also offer a health guarantee. With thousands of American Hairless Terrier puppies for sale and hundreds of American Hairless Terrier dog breeders, you're sure to find the perfect American Hairless Terrier puppy. The American Hairless Terrier is the very epitome of a terrier.
They exhibit large amounts of energy, are very curious and feisty as well as fearless. They can be startled easily and will bark when that happens, which makes them a good watch dog. The American Hairless Terrier will also begin to sweat when frightened or if they are simply hot. While the American Hairless Terrier is athletic and enjoys digging and hunting small prey, the breed is not recommended for hunting of any kind due to it's lack of protective covering. It is also imperative that the American Hairless Terrier be monitored around water, as they are not known to be strong swimmers.The American Hairless Terrier is the very epitome of a terrier.
It is also imperative that the American Hairless Terrier be monitored around water, as they are not known to be strong swimmers. The American Hairless Terrier makes a wonderful family companion due to its affectionate and loving nature. They do well with small children, especially when they have been raised with the children. They are relatively territorial, however, they will easily warm up to strangers.
As stated previously, the American Hairless Terrier is very high energy and requires an owner with plenty of time to play. You can find American Hairless Terrier puppies priced from $950 USD to $2000 USD with one of our credible breeders. Browse through our breeder's listings and find your perfect puppy at the perfect price. It is believed that in 1972 a breeding of Rat Terriers produced a hairless and generally attractive puppy that was otherwise lively and healthy.
This was not the first time a Rat Terrier had been born hairless but in this instance the owners recognized her unique features and carefully bred her to selected individuals to produce today's AHT . Owing to their heritage, the AHT is strikingly similar in appearance to its ancestor, the Rat Terrier, and was considered a variety of Rat Terrier for many years. The AHT is the newest AKC-recognized breed, having achieved such status in 2016. This active, small dog breed is a typical terrier - alert, curious, and fairly intelligent. It is not the oldest breed in the world, in fact, the first American Hairless Terrier was born in 1972 when a Rat Terrier birthed a dog whose birth hair fell off in a couple of weeks. Their owners decided to further breed that hairless dog and 11 years later, the breed got stable breeding bloodlines.
The AHT is a hairless breed with solid colored or white skin with brindle, spotted, or saddled coloring. They're born with downy hair that disappears by eight weeks of age. Though the name is the American Hairless Terrier, there is also a coated variety of the breed. The AHT is a relatively new variety of terrier, so in order to maintain the health of the breed and to prevent conditions arising from a small gene pool, coated varieties are also allowed. The story of the American Hairless Terrier began in 1972 when a single hairless puppy was born in a Rat Terrier litter owned by Edwin and Willie Scott. This puppy, which was named Josephine, went on to become the mother of the entire breed.
Once Josephine reached maturity she was bred to a Rat Terrier and produced one female hairless pup. However, Josephine failed to produce any pups with the hairless trait in her next few litters. In her 9th litter, she rewarded the Scott's perseverance by producing two hairless pups, one of each sex. These two puppies became the foundation on which the American Hairless Terrier was developed as a breed. They are active dogs that love playtime with children and other pups. But because they have a high prey drive thanks to their hunting history, they may not play well with cats or other small animals.
However, if American hairless terrier puppies are socialized with other small animals when they are young, becoming friends with cats and other pets isn't entirely out of the question. Like other terriers, the American Hairless Terrier is clever, energetic and intelligent, and relishes in playing, digging and chasing small game. The breed isn't suitable for hunting due to his lack of coat, yet still has a strong prey drive. Because such, playtime is recommended on leash or in a fenced yard. Alert, inquisitive and active, the American Hairless Terrier gets along well with children, dogs and other pets. He thrives on companionship and affection with his human family.
Intelligent, eager to please and readily trainable, the breed is enthusiastic about activities with his owner and does well in agility and obedience competition. Unlike many terrier breeds, such as the rat terrier, American hairless terriers make great dogs for families with children. If you consider getting an older dog from a breeder or a rescue, take your children with you and watch the interaction. You are likely to find that the dog warms up to your child instantly.
Of course, you should always teach your child how to interact with the dog appropriately, and breeders and rescues often have great ideas on how to do this task. The social sensitivity of Rat Terriers makes them very trainable and easier to live with for the average pet owner, but it also means that extensive socialization from an early age is critical. Proper socialization of a Rat Terrier puppy includes exposing the animal to a wide variety of people and places, particularly during the first three months of life.
Like most active and intelligent breeds, Rat Terriers tend to be happier when they receive a great deal of mental stimulation and exercise. Rat terriers are usually loyal to their owners and are very respectful, if they receive the proper amount of training at a young age. Hairless dogs across the world have been recognized since the time of Darwin, who wrote about naked Turkish dogs with defective teeth ( and references within). While many hairless dogs have reportedly existed over time, many are now extinct and no more than half a dozen are recognized around the world today.
Prized by the early explorers and carried on ships to contain the rat population, hairless dogs came in many sizes. In the US, the smallest variety of the Xolo was called the Mexican Hairless Dog up until the 1960s . Other hairless breeds include the Argentine Pila dog, the Ecuadorian Hairless dog, Abyssinian Sand Terriers, the African hairless and the Hairless Khala also from Argentina. Many of these breeds are very rare and the latter are not recognized by any breed registry . The only hairless breed indigenous to the United States, the American Hairless Terrier was developed by breeder Edwin Scott in the 1970s in Louisiana as a descendant from the Rat Terrier.
Scott bought a hairless puppy named "Josephine" from a litter of otherwise all-coated Rat Terriers. The American Hairless Terrier was accepted by the United Kennel Club in 2004 and by the American Kennel Club in 2016. The average lifespan of an American hairless terrier is 14 to 16 years.
Ask the breeder for information on the parents, so you are getting a healthy pup as a great start increases the likelihood of a long lifespan. If you choose to get a dog from a rescue, be sure that they have taken care of any medical issues. They share much ancestry with the small hunting dogs known as feists. Common throughout family farms in the 1920s and 1930s, they are now recognized by the United and American Kennel Clubs and are considered a rare breed. Today's Rat Terrier is an intelligent and active small dog that is kept both for pest control and as a family pet.
An extraordinary amount of genomic variation is contained within the chromosomes of domestic dogs, manifesting as dramatic differences in morphology, behaviour and disease susceptibility. Many traits related to morphology, including body size, leg length and skull shape, have been under selection as part of the standard descriptions for the nearly 400 breeds recognized worldwide. In this paper, we both review and present new data for traits associated with pelage including fur length, curl, growth, shedding and even the presence or absence of fur. Finally, we report the discovery of a new gene associated with the absence of coat in the American Hairless Terrier breed. At Next Day Pets® you can find the perfect four-legged companion from the comfort of your home, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Next Day Pets® employs stringent verification checkpoints to ensure our puppy listings are safe and secure.
Take advantage of our PuppyMatch service or simply browse our massive directory of dog breeds, dog breeders and puppy for sale listings. Next Day Pets® provides the only safe and secure means of selecting and purchasing the perfect American Hairless Terrier puppy from the comfort of your home. The American Hairless Terrier dog breed is ranked as 136th out of 197 dog breeds recognized by the American Kennel Club. As an accidental offshoot of the Rat Terrier, the American Hairless Terrier is the only hairless dog indigenous to the United States. At the age of one year, Josephine was bred to a Rat Terrier and she produced a litter of four puppies.
Three of the pups were coated, and one was a hairless female named Gypsy. In the years that followed, Josephine had several litters, but none with any hairless puppies. On December 30, 1981, when Josephine was nine years old and still in good health, she had her final litter after being bred to her son.
She whelped a hairless male, a hairless female, and two coated female puppies. This successful litter produced Snoopy, Jemima, Petunia, and Queenie. Puppies are born with a soft, vestigial down that generally covers the body.
This down gradually diminishes until age 6 to 8 weeks, by which time the pup should be completely hairless. A mature American Hairless Terrier, Hairless variety, is free from hair except for whiskers and guard hairs on the muzzle, and eyebrows. The hairless variety may sweat when overheated or stressed, but this is not to be faulted in the ring. The Scotts bred Josephine and produced one hairless female in her first litter, but through the next several litters, the little terrier failed to whelp any more exhibiting the hairless trait.
Finally, at the age of nine years, she crowned her attempts by having a litter with two hairless pups, one of each sex. These hairless pups were the foundation of a breeding program to produce and stabilize the breed. The American Hairless Terrier is a rare, energetic terrier breed equally adept at companionship and dog sports such as agility or barn hunt. In contrast to other hairless breeds of dog, the mutation responsible for their lack of coat is due to a recessive mutation that arose in Rat Terriers. The dog originally exhibiting this trait become the foundation for the American Hairless Terrier breed. Simon says the first American hairless terrier, named Josephine, was born to a litter of rat terrier puppies in 1972 Louisiana.