The American hairless terrier originated from a rat terrier which was a completely hairless dog breed. That makes the American hairless terrier hypoallergenic and a great dog for allergy sufferers.
They need a minimum amount of grooming. Though American hairless terriers are a hairless variety of dogs, many of them are born with a fur coat; they are called the coated variety of American hairless terriers.
The American hairless terrier dog is one of the newest and most intelligent American dog breeds. The coat color found among this breed is varied.
The color most seen amongst this breed is brown, followed by white. American hairless terrier's training should start when they are two to four months old puppies, as this will ensure their better health later on. After reading these interesting American hairless terrier facts, do check our other articles on Cairn terrier facts and bull terrier facts.
American Hairless Terrier Interesting Facts
What type of animal is an American Hairless Terrier?
An American hairless terrier is a hairless breed dog bred from the rat terriers. They are hairless dogs and their skin is devoid of hair.
What class of animal does an American Hairless Terrier belong to?
An American hairless terrier belongs to the Mammalia class of animals.
How many American Hairless Terriers are there in the world?
An American hairless terrier is a breed derived from completely hairless rat terriers. Their population in the world is unknown. They are a new breed of dogs. The number keeps on constantly changing. Hence, there is not enough observation and resources available to account for the number of American hairless terriers in the world.
Where does an American Hairless Terrier live?
An American hairless terrier lives in houses. They are pet animals and hence are looked after by humans.
What is an American Hairless Terrier's habitat?
These terriers are a domestic breed. Their habitat consists of human houses.
Who do American Hairless Terriers live with?
A hairless terrier lives with humans and their children in their houses. They also live with dogs of their own breed and other breeds as well.
How long does an American Hairless Terrier live?
A dog belonging to this breed usually has a life expectancy of 14-16 years
How do they reproduce?
An American hairless terrier dog is usually cross-bred to obtain a healthy puppy. An American hairless terrier is a hairless breed of dog. They are bred originally from Rat Terriers.
They are allowed to cross-breed with other breeds such as Bull Terriers, etc. The American hairless terrier Chihuahua mix is a common occurrence in the breeding industry. The female American hairless terriers carry the puppy/puppies in their womb for around 63 days.
Their incubation period is the same as that of all the other dogs. Between three and five puppies are born in a single litter.
There is no particular breeding season for American hairless terriers. They are bred, and a new breed of American hairless terrier mix is reproduced with enhanced looks and abilities. A terrier puppy is usually born in a veterinary hospital or in human houses.
What is their conservation status?
The conservation status of this species is Least Concern as sufficient dogs of this breed are being born every year.
American Hairless Terrier Fun Facts
What do American Hairless Terriers look like?
A dog from this species can come in two varieties- a hairless variety and a coated variety. The hairless variety is born with no body hair, but they can have eyebrows and whiskers.
The bare skin on this breed feels warm to the human touch. The coated variety, on the other hand, is born with a short, dense coat of hair covering the whole body.
Even though they have a hair coat, they shed a very minimal amount of hair. In the light of little or no hair, these intelligent dogs require almost no grooming. Their face is shaped how one would describe a wedge shape.
They have erect ears which are shaped like a V. Their tail is thin and slender and can be described as a medium-sized tail. Their eyes are a striking feature with them being round and gleamy.
How cute are they?
American hairless terriers are very cute. Some might find the lack of fur on this dog breed quite disturbing.
However, for people with dog hair allergies, an American hairless terrier is a perfect fit as they are hypoallergenic. They are very playful dogs full of energy, love loads of exercise, and children always find them fascinating. This breed of dog is like your own personal, cute friend.
How do they communicate?
The American hairless terrier is an intelligent dog. They respond well to training. We all know how dogs love communicating by using their entire body.
They wag their tail to express themselves. Every kind of wag has its own separate meaning. Spending quality time with them will lead you to distinguish one wag from another.
The same goes for their bark. They bark when they are excited, happy, in the company of strangers or when they feel like they or their human friend is in danger.
Not only their wag and bark but their jumping also is a communication. The way they jump defines a particular reaction they are having to a situation. American hairless terriers have no difficulty while communicating with other dogs of their same breed as well as other breeds and also with humans.
How big is an American Hairless Terrier?
The American hairless terrier size has a variable range. They are small to medium-sized dogs. This dog breed has a length of 18-24 in (45.7 - 60.96 cm).
They can grow up to be 12-16 in (30.4 - 40.6 cm) tall in height. They are of similar size as that of a rat terrier. An American hairless terrier can be 10 times bigger than a crow.
How fast can an American Hairless Terrier run?
How fast they can run has not been determined yet. Nobody has taken the time to measure their running speed. However, American hairless terriers have a sleek body.
That body type is best suitable for running. Hence, one can say an American hairless terrier has very good running speed. Irrespective of the speed, American hairless terriers are known to run 5 miles (8 km) in a day.
How much does an American Hairless Terrier weigh?
An American hairless terrier weighs around 12-16 lb (5.4 - 7.2 kg). Depending on their age and sex, they can fit between the mentioned range of weight.
American hairless terriers have a tendency to get obese. You should be careful and look out how much your pet is eating per serving and how many times a day or they can move towards obesity.
What are the male and female names of the species?
The male name of an American hairless terrier is a dog, and the female is called a bitch.
What would you call a baby American Hairless Terrier?
A baby of an American hairless terrier is called a puppy.
What do they eat?
American hairless terriers are home-raised dogs. These hairless dogs can eat processed as well as homemade dog food (before making homemade dog food, please contact and take instructions from your veterinarian and stick to those guidelines).
Apart from dog food, they eat eggs and fish, such as tuna and salmon. They also love different kinds of meats like chicken, pork, bacon, turkey, and ham. Their vegetarian diet includes milk, yogurt, bread, cashews, peanuts, wheat, grains, popcorn, peanut butter, honey, corn, coconut, and cheeses.
Are they slobbery?
A dog from this particular species is hypoallergenic in nature regardless of color or coat. Generally, hypoallergenic dogs have a tendency to be less slobbery than non-hypoallergenic dogs. Hence, it is safe to say that an American hairless terrier is not slobbery.
Would they make a good pet?
An American hairless terrier is a very intelligent pet animal. They learn very quickly as compared to most other dogs.
There isn't much difference in intelligence among the no-coat and coated variety. They are super friendly, and most importantly they love children. Their other characteristics include feistiness and inquisitiveness.
They are very playful beings full of energy and love to exercise. They require training and exercise to be obedient like all other dogs.
But with proper training and exercise, they are angels. The only worrisome thing about this pet is that they tend to run behind anything they see moving; a trait they inherited from the rat terrier who are farm and hunting dogs. That includes cars, cats, birds, other dogs, etc.
You need to keep the Hairless Terriers on a leash or in a fenced yard to prevent them from running away or behind whatever catches their eye. All in all, this hairless breed would be excellent as a pet dog, and that has been backed up by many proud human mommies and daddies of these sweet pets.
Did you know...
The American hairless terrier needs to be taken care of and its nails should be trimmed regularly, just like all other dog breeds.
The American hairless terrier history suggests that they are the only hairless dog breed native to the United States.
To breed a healthy breed pool of American hairless terriers, breeders all over the world continue to breed with rat terriers to create Coated American hairless terriers.
Characteristics and health issues
The most common health problem with this breed is sunburn. Since they are completely hairless, their skin directly comes in contact with the sunrays.
This can harm the skin with long exposure and can cause severe sunburn and other health problems. To ensure that it doesn’t happen, always apply sunscreen on your terrier's hairless coat before going out in the sun. Similarly, like sunburn, the cold weather can make them sick.
Deafness, hypothyroidism, patellar luxation, demodicosis, leg-calve-Perthes disease, and Cushing's disease are some of the common health problems faced by this breed. Look for changes in color or texture of the skin as well.
Getting your own American Hairless Terrier
A puppy of this breed costs between $900-$1200. An American hairless terrier's temperament is lively, alert, intelligent, playful, inquisitive, and loving. They are excellent pets and good family dogs. While getting your own American Hairless Terrier, you need to check your compatibility with them.
American Hairless Terriers vs Bull Terrier
Both the American hairless terrier and the bull terrier belong to the terrier dog group. They differ in height and weight. Bull terriers are more heavily weighted than their counterparts. The same applies to their height; American hairless terriers are shorter than bull terriers.
Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! Learn more about some other mammals including American pit bull terrier facts, or border terrier facts.
You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable American Hairless Terrier coloring pages.