AMERICAN
HAIRLESS TERRIER
Official U.K.C. Breed Standard
Copyright 2004, United Kennel Club, Inc
History
The first American Hairless Terrier, a female named Josephine, was born
in 1972, part of a litter of purebred, coated Rat Terriers. The breeder,
Edwin Scott, began to develop the breed from Josephine’s descendants.
Although he never used any dogs but Rat Terriers in his breeding program,
it was always Scott’s intention for the hairless dogs to be a
separate breed. However, in 1999, when United Kennel Club recognized
the Rat Terrier, Scott and his fellow breeders agreed to allow the hairless
dogs to enter the UKC registry as Rat Terriers, hairless variety. Upon
separation, all of the hairless Rat Terriers and all of their coated
descendants, products of careful breeding to the finest coated Rat Terriers,
were given the name originally chosen for
the breed by Edwin Scott: American Hairless Terrier. While it may seem
contradictory to have coated dogs in a hairless breed, it will be necessary
for the foreseeable future to continue to include some Rat Terrier crosses
until there are sufficient hairless dogs to maintain a separate and
healthy gene pool.
The
American Hairless Terrier was recognized by the United Kennel Club on
January
1, 2004.
General
Appearance
The American Hairless Terrier is a smoothly muscled, active, small-to-medium
terrier.
The preferred ratio of length of body (prosternum to point of buttocks)
to height (withers to ground) to is 10:9. The head is broad, slightly
domed, wedge-shaped, and proportionate to the size of the body. Ears
are V-shaped, set at the outside edges of the skull, and may be erect,
tipped or button. Both varieties may have a natural tail
carried in an upward curve, or the tail may be docked in dogs of the
coated variety.
The American Hairless Terrier comes in a number of skin colors and patterns
(hairless variety) and coat colors and patterns (coated variety).
Disqualification:
A short-legged dog whose proportions vary significantly from the 10:9
ratio lacks breed type and must be disqualified.
Characteristics
The American Hairless Terrier is an energetic, alert dog whose curiosity
and intelligence make him easy to train. The ancestors of this breed
were bred to hunt.
The lack of coat makes the hairless variety unsuited for hunting, but
both varieties still have a strong hunting instinct and the coated dogs
are fearless, tenacious hunters with seemingly unlimited energy. 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.
Head
The head is proportionate to the size of the body. When viewed from
the side, the skull and muzzle are of equal length and joined by a moderate
stop. Viewed from the front and the side, the American Hairless Terrier’s
head forms a blunt wedge shape.
Fault:
Abrupt stop.
SKULL
– The skull is broad and slightly domed. It tapers slightly toward
the muzzle.
The jaws are powerful with well-muscled cheeks.
Serious
fault: Apple head.
MUZZLE
– The muzzle is well filled-out under the eyes, well-chiseled,
and tapers slightly from the stop to the nose. Jaws are powerful and
hinged well back allowing the dog to open his mouth wide enough to catch
rats and other rodents. Lips are dry and tight with no flews. Lip pigment
matches nose pigment.
Fault:
Snipey muzzle.
TEETH
– The American Hairless Terrier has a complete set of good-sized,
evenly spaced, white teeth. A scissors bite is preferred but a level
bite is acceptable.
Faults:
Missing teeth; overshot or undershot bite.
NOSE
– The nose is black or self-colored.
Faults:
Dudley or butterfly nose.
EYES
– Eyes are set obliquely and are round, moderate in size, and
somewhat prominent. Eye rims match nose pigment.
Hairless
Variety: Eyes may be any color found in the coated variety.
Coated
Variety: Eye color ranges from dark brown to amber and corresponds
with coat color. Hazel eyes are acceptable in dogs with lighter coat
color. Blue or amber eyes are permitted in blue-colored dogs only, but
a dark gray eye with gray eye rims is preferred.
Faults:
Bulgy eyes; deep-set eyes; light-colored eyes in a dog with black coat
color or black pigment; both eyes not of matching colors; eye with iris
containing more than one color; wall or china eye.
EARS
– Ears are V-shaped, set at the outside edges of the skull. Erect
ears are preferred but tipped or button ears are acceptable. Matching
ears are strongly preferred. Non-matching ear carriage should be penalized
to the degree of the variation. Note: Ear carriage may not stabilize
until a dog is mature. Dogs under one year of age should not be penalized
for variations in ear carriage.
Faults:
Erect ears with the sides curved inward forming a shape like a tulip
petal; rose ears; flying ears; non-matching ear carriages.
Disqualification:
Hanging ears.
NECK
The neck is clean, moderately long, smoothly muscled, slightly arched,
and tapers slightly from the shoulders to the head. The neck blends
smoothly into well laid back shoulders.
Forequarters
Shoulders are smoothly muscled. The shoulder blades are well laid back
with the upper tips fairly close together at the withers. The upper
arm appears to be equal in length to the shoulder blade and joins it
at an apparent right angle. The elbows are close to the body. Viewed
from any angle, the forelegs are straight, strong, and sturdy in bone.
The pasterns are strong, short, and nearly vertical.
Body
A properly proportioned American Hairless Terrier is slightly longer
(measured from prosternum to point of buttocks) than tall (measured
from the withers to the ground), and length of the front leg (measured
from point of elbow to the ground) should approximately equal one-half
of the dog’s height. Whether the dog is standing or
moving, the line of the back is strong and level. The loin is moderately
short, slightly arched, and muscular, with moderate tuck-up. The croup
is slightly sloping. The ribs extend well back and are well sprung out
from the spine, forming a broad, strong back, then curving down and
inward to form a deep body. The brisket extends to or just below the
elbow. Viewed from the front, the chest between the forelegs is well
filled and of moderate width. Viewed from the side, the forechest extends
in a shallow oval shape in front of the forelegs.
Hindquarters
The hindquarters are muscular with the length of the upper and lower
thighs being approximately equal. The angulation of the hindquarters
is in balance with the angulation of the forequarters. The stifles are
well-bent, and the hocks are well let down. When the dog is standing,
the short, strong rear pasterns are perpendicular to the ground and,
viewed from the rear, parallel to one another.
Feet
The feet are compact and slightly oval in shape. The two middle toes
are slightly longer than the other toes. Toes may be well split up but
not flat or splayed. Front dewclaws may be removed. Rear dewclaws must
be removed.
Faults:
Flat feet; splayed feet; rear dewclaws present.
Tail
The tail is set on at the end of the croup. The natural tail is thick
at the base and tapers toward the tip. When the dog is alert, the tail
is carried in an upward curve.
When relaxed, the tail may be carried straight out behind the dog. The
tails of the coated variety dogs may be docked. If so, docking should
be between the second and third joint of the tail.
Faults
(both Varieties): Bent tail; ring tail.
Disqualification
(both Varieties): Natural bobtail.
Coat
Hairless Variety: 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. Short,
very fine (vellus) hair may be present on the body of a mature dog.
The skin is smooth and warm to the touch. The hairless variety may sweat
when overheated or stressed, but this is not to be faulted in the ring.
Coated
Variety: The coat is short, dense, and smooth, with a sheen. Whiskers
are not removed.
Serious
faults (Hairless variety): Vellus hair longer than 1mm on a dog
over six months of age.
Disqualifications
(both varieties): Wire or broken coat; long coat.
Color
Hairless Variety: Any skin color is acceptable. The skin is
usually parti-colored with an underlying skin color and freckles or
spots of contrasting color. Freckles enlarge with age, and skin color
will darken when exposed to the sun.
Coated
Variety: The coated American Hairless Terrier may be solid white,
bi-color, tri-color, sable or brindle, but must always have some white,
which may be of any size and located anywhere on the dog. The white
area may be ticked as long as white predominates. The remaining accepted
colors are: black, tan (ranging from dark tan
to very light tan and from intense dark mahogany red to light red with
black nose and eyerims), chocolate (ranging from dark liver to light
chocolate with self-colored nose and eyerims), blue and blue fawn (with
self-colored nose and eyerims), apricot (ranging from orange to faded
yellow with black nose and eyerims), and lemon (ranging from orange
to faded yellow with self-colored nose and eyerims).
Faults
(Coated variety): Fawn (pale yellowish tan with self-colored nose),
cream (pale yellow to off-white), fallow with black mask (very light
yellowish tan with black mask), and silver (the extreme dilution of
blue).
Disqualifications
(Coated variety): Merle; absence of white; any solid color other than
white.
Disqualification
(both Varieties): Albinism.
Height
and Weight
The American Hairless Terrier ranges in height from 10 to 18 inches
tall. (25 cm-45 cm)
Faults:
Height under or over allowed range; obesity.
Gait
The American Hairless Terrier moves with a jaunty air that suggests
agility, speed, and power. American Hairless Terrier gait is smooth
and effortless, with good reach of forequarters without any trace of
hackney gait. Rear quarters have strong driving power, with hocks fully
extending. Viewed from any position, legs turn neither in nor out, nor
do feet cross or interfere with each other. As speed increases, feet
tend to converge toward center line of balance.
Disqualifications
- Unilateral or bilateral cryptorchid.
- Viciousness or extreme shyness.
- Unilateral or bilateral deafness.
- A short-legged dog whose proportions vary significantly from the 10:9
rat io.
- Hanging ears.
- Natural bobtail.
- Wire or broken coat.
- Long coat.
- Albinism.
- Merle.
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