Family : Canidae
Text © Pietro Paolo Condò – Giudice Enci-fci
English translation by Mario Beltramini
It's naked, but few tufts on head, tail and limbs © Mazza
The remainder of its body is hairless.
The skin delicately grained, soft to the touch, particularly warm.
It would be a mistake to think that it requires less cares than the dogs with coat: yes, by sure the Chinese is not to be brushed, but it requires an extreme cleanness and its epidermis is to be regularly nourished with special ointments in order to avoid annoying chaps.
The Chinese Crested Dog, being “naked”, does not shelter acarids: it is therefore the right solution for those who, due to asthma or to allergies, cannot live together with animals provided with a coat.
The muzzle is elongated, like the neck and the trunk, which is of a rectangular shape.
The limbs are long and sharp.
A critical point for the selector of these dogs is the safeguard of the teeth, which, often, are not in the required number.
It has no acarids. Is good for asthmatic and allergic persons © Mazza
As a matter of fact, due to its genetic heredi- tariness reasons, the lack of hair frequently goes ahead with the lack of teeth.
The tuft on the head (crest), if well cared, grows up giving a solemn look to the dog.
As it is easy to imagine, it is from this crest and from the Chinese origin that the breed gets the name.
We have two varieties of Chinese Crested dogs, which, when exhibited, are judged in the same ring.
They are: the deer type, more elongated, thin and elegant, and the pony, slightly more sturdy, with a more rounded thorax, bigger framework and usually more balanced in its structure.
But the exception in the exception is that this small dog, with a great aptitude to the company, is present also in a variety with hair, therefore a “dressed” naked dog: in this instance the hair is long and abundant and it’s called “powder duff”, so much its coat is soft.
→ To appreciate the biodiversity within the DOG BREEDS please click here.