Breeds / Medium
Xoloitzcuintli puppies
Calm, alert and closely bonded to its household, the Xoloitzcuintli is an ancient Mexican breed that comes hairless or coated, tranquil indoors and reserved with strangers.
The facts
- Size class Medium
- Country of origin Mexico
- Adult weight 4.5 to 24.9 kg
- Adult weight in pounds 10 to 55 lb
- Adult height 25 to 58 cm
- Energy level High
- Grooming Low
- Coat type Short hairless and smooth
- Typical lifespan 13 to 18 years
- Good with children Fine with supervision
- Good with other dogs Fine with supervision
Where these come from:
About the Xoloitzcuintli
The Xoloitzcuintli is one of the oldest dog breeds in the Americas, kept by the Aztec and earlier peoples of Mexico and named for Xolotl, the god believed to guide the dead. It comes in three sizes and in two varieties, a hairless dog with tough smooth skin and a coated one with a short flat coat. Temperament is calm and watchful: attentive and quiet in the house, closely attached to its own family, and naturally reserved with people it does not know.
Adults are famously restful indoors, but young dogs need proper walks and structured play or they invent their own entertainment. Care is skin care more than coat care. Hairless dogs burn and need sunscreen with prolonged sun exposure, they feel the cold and want a jumper in winter, and adolescents can get acne that needs managing. Rated three out of five with children and with other pets, it wants supervision and early socialisation. The usual mistake is slathering a hairless dog in lotion, which blocks the pores and causes the very problems it was meant to prevent.
What to expect at eight weeks
At eight weeks a Xoloitzcuintli puppy is sleeping around 18 to 20 hours a day, is not house trained, and cannot hold on for more than an hour or two at a stretch. A medium breed puppy at eight weeks is a manageable armful that will not stay that way. Most of the growth happens between now and six months, so buy for the adult dog where you can. This is a high energy breed. At eight weeks that shows up as intensity rather than stamina, and it will need a job to do long before it needs long walks. Grooming is straightforward, but start handling the coat, feet and ears in week one anyway so it is never a fight later. The socialisation window is open and closing: everything it meets calmly now, from vacuum cleaners to men in hats, is easier for the rest of its life.
Health worth knowing about
Conditions this breed is reported to be predisposed to. Predisposed does not mean inevitable, it means ask about it.
- Hip dysplasia, screened by hip evaluation of breeding stock
- Patellar luxation, found on a routine patella evaluation
- Eye disorders, picked up by an ophthalmologist evaluation
- Missing and irregular teeth in the hairless variety, which travel with the hairless gene and are checked at dental examination
- Skin problems including sunburn and adolescent acne, spotted on routine skin checks
From Xoloitzcuintli breed information at https://www.akc.org/dog-breeds/xoloitzcuintli/. Discuss any of these with your own vet.
Your Xoloitzcuintli puppy's first six months
- Vaccination schedule, dated for your country.
- Worming and parasite schedule.
- Feeding calculator. Set expected adult size to Medium for a Xoloitzcuintli.
- Adult size predictor, to check growth against the 4.5 to 24.9 kg adult range.
- Puppy names and the first week checklist.
Other medium breeds
Previous: Working Kelpie · Next: Yakutian Laika
Not veterinary advice. Breed information is general. Your own dog, and your own vet, always win.