Mexican Hairless and Chihuahua
From paintings by Louis Agassiz Fuertes
Mexican Hairless and Chihuahua
Every kind of a dog, however bizarre or degenerate, can find a
human- friend somewhere, and this most unprepossessing
product of our unfortunate neighbor to the south is no exception.
For unpleasant to the eye as he is, with his sausage-like exterior,
weak, lashless eyes, and quivering drawn-in hind-quarters,
he is said, by his friends, to be a bright and very affectionate
little dog, which repays amply the care and regard of his master.
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Mexican Hairless Makeup
There seems to be a good deal of variation permissible as to size,
form, and contour, so long as the prime misfortune of complete baldness be present.
The best specimens, however, just to be bizarre, carry a topknot of silky white hair on their crown.
In general they are like any medium-sized or small terrier whose hair has been scalded off.
The skin may be all pink, all dark purplish like old bologna, or a marbled combination of the two.
The absence of a tempering coat of hair makes them feel
unpleasantly fevered to the touch, and of course they are
very sensitive to changes in the temperature and hence are
rarely seen in the northern part of our country.
For the “purposes of a dog” they are useless.
Chihuahua
Probably no animal known to man has had so much nonsense and
ignorant misconception written about it as this rather insignificant little Mexican product.
Some writers have claimed for him part ancestry with squirrels,
because he can scramble up the rough and straggly chaparral of his
native State, or with the prairie-dog, from which he learns to dig his alleged burrow.
Chihuahua hybridized?
In cold fact he is just dog, and rather an ordinary dog at that,
without any faintest trace of anything rodent-like in his entire physical make-up.
It would be as natural to expect a hybrid between a bear and a beaver”or a wolf and a rabbit.
All this kind of talk, in which animals of different orders are
supposed to hybridize, is, of course, pure nonsense and utterly impossible,
such as the widespread and generally credited raccoon and
cat parentage of the so-called “Maine Coon-Cat,”
The Chihuahua dog is simply a diminutive, spindly, prominent-eyed and
apple-headed little terrier-like dog all dog and simply dog.
He is an affectionate and benign little creature, as most
large-headed dogs are, and his physical characteristics are shown in the plate.
No more mystery surrounds him than does any other dog.
He is a good illustration of Mr. P. T. Barnum’s well-known
estimate of the public, which likes to be humbugged.
Full-grown specimens of this breed sometimes weigh less than a
pound and a half and can stand comfortably on an outstretched hand;
according to the standard, four pounds is the limit.
