Xoloitzcuintli

Guides for your Xoloitzcuintli

The story behind the Xoloitzcuintli

Hairless dogs are documented in Mesoamerica long before European contact, appearing in ceramics, burials and codices from cultures across what is now Mexico, and the name derives from Nahuatl, linking the dog to the deity Xolotl and to beliefs about guidance of the dead. The dogs were kept as companions, as guardians and in ritual contexts. Numbers declined sharply after the Spanish conquest, and by the twentieth century the dogs persisted mostly in remote rural districts of southern Mexico. Mexican artists and intellectuals of the mid twentieth century helped revive interest, and a survey expedition gathered surviving dogs to form a breeding base, with the Mexican kennel authority establishing a standard that covers three size categories in hairless and coated forms. The breed is a recognised national symbol of Mexico, entered the American Kennel Club register in the twenty-first century, and remains uncommon but steadily kept.

Originally bred for: Companion dog, household guardian, ritual and ceremonial dog. You can trace how working roles shaped today’s breeds across our dog guides.

Feeding a Xoloitzcuintli

Feed a complete diet suited to the individual dog's size, since the three varieties differ greatly in build, keeping all of them lean and athletic. Dogs with incomplete dentition may manage softened or smaller pieces more comfortably, and hairless dogs in cold homes may need slightly more.

Watch for: No breed-specific food intolerance is established. Skin blemishes on hairless dogs are usually related to hygiene, sun and adolescence rather than diet. If a vet suspects allergy, they should design and supervise any elimination trial rather than the owner guessing at ingredients.

Mealtime extras: training treats worth keeping in your pocket. Everything else lives in our dog nutrition and feeding hub.

Living with a Xoloitzcuintli

Day to day, the basics matter most: how much exercise your dog needs, how often to get out for a walk, and how much sleep is normal.

For play and enrichment, browse our favorite dog toys and interactive toys for rainy days.

Gear that fits the breed makes life easier: a well-sized dog bed, a properly sized crate.

Raising a puppy? Work through crate training and the teething timeline — or see how old your dog is in human years with our dog age calculator.