Chinese Crested
Ecola Gabrielle
Gabby belongs to Michal Justis
Breed problems can be both inherited or diseases and disorders seen frequently in a breed and mode of inheritance unknown. Both are listed.
Breed description - see AKC for detailed standard
This is a toy breed with two distinct coat types, the hairless, with hair only on the head feet and tail and the powderpuff, that is covered in hair. They are shown together and judged by the same standards with notation of the haircoat and differences in dentition in the powderpuff. The Powderpuff usually has full dentition whereas the hairless usually lacks premolars.
This breed is happy and alert, and playful. They make wonderful companions and are loyal and affectionate. It is agile, fine-boned and very elegant. Any color is accepted.
Size 11-13 inches, slender build
9-12 lbs
Life span average is 10-14 years
Breed problemsLuxating Patella
Dry eye
Closed ear canals
PRA
Legg-Perthes disease
Skin allergies
Missing teeth
Legg-Calve-Perthes Disease (aseptic or avascular necrosis of the femoral head)
Avascular necrosis occurs when the bone that makes up the ball portion of the hip is damaged from lack of blood supply. The reasons this occurs are not clear. Since a higher incidence of this disorder is noted in several dog breeds, including terrier breeds, miniature pinscher, poodles and possibly schipperkes, it is assumed that there may be a genetic component to the problem. In Manchester terriers, the genetic component appears to be a strong influence and heritability is pretty high for this problem.
Most of the time the clinical signs of this disease occur in 4 to 11 month old dogs and usually consist of lameness of one leg only. Pain may be mild to very severe. Some dogs have mild forms of this condition and do not require medical care. In other dogs, the condition cause sufficient pain and deformity of the hip joint to require surgical intervention. The disorder can usually be confirmed with X-rays. Atrophy of the muscles of the affected leg is not uncommon. If this is severe it can slow the recovery period considerably and may make medical therapy less likely to work.
Treatment of this condition varies according to the severity of the signs seen. In mild cases, enforced rest may be sufficient to allow healing of the damaged areas to occur. In some cases, immobilization of the affected limb using an Ehmer sling may be beneficial to recovery. Many dogs have advanced cases of this disease by the time they are examined by a veterinarian and medical treatment is not likely to work. In these dogs, excision of the femoral head (ball portion of the hip joint) is often beneficial. Removal of this section of the bone diminishes painful bony contact in the hip joint. Recovery from this surgery can be slow with recovery periods of up to one year sometimes occurring before good use of the affected leg returns. If muscle atrophy is not present at the time of surgery the recovery time is usually much less. Pain relief and anti-inflammatory medications may be beneficial.
There is a stronger tendency to treat this as a medical condition prior to surgery right now. A general rule of thumb is to allow non-surgical therapy a month to show a beneficial response. If one is not seen, surgical repair should be considered more carefully.
Michael Richards, DVM
This is an ancient breed that dates back as far as the 1500's. Its point of origin is unclear but possibly Africa. It is pretty much a given that Chinese's traders distributed these dogs. They were found in ports in Mexico, South and Central America by the Spanish explorers and in Africa and Asia in the 1800's by British and French explorers. It is historically believed that all hairless dogs share a common ancestry.
Care must be taken to ensure that the hairless crested that have a lot of pink coloration do not sunburn and the skin doesn't dry out. Over oiling can clog pores so skin care is something that must be given thought and consideration to product use. With a hairless dog you are bathing and treating skin, not hair, a very different thought process goes into what you're going to use on your dog then in any dog you had previously that had hair. Of course the powderpuffs have hair and use hair products. They have very fine hair though so you may want to add a spray detangler if you have never used one before. They work really well on children's hair and fine dogs hair. Brushing often prevents most coat problems. I like cat sized grooming brushes and find they are a better fit then the dog ones. I keep reading that these dogs are often sensitive to wool and lanolin.
I was very fortunate when I decided that this was the next dog I wanted, that my first Breeder contact was with a very knowledgeable and dedicated breeder. It helped that I had done my homework and knew what the breed should look like and had a very strong mental image of what I thought I wanted. I needed to know if the real Chinese Crested dog fit my expectations of the dog. I didn't know any of them personally, had fallen in love with the wonderful Crested "Cruiser" this year as he won dog shows on the Animal channel. I liked everything I saw and read about the breed and it seemed like a fit, but I still needed to meet dogs and find out for sure. I looked at a lot of websites, saw a lot of dogs I didn't like, saw some I did that were to far away for me to visit and then found Judy Acker at Ecola Chinese Cresteds. Ecola was in my state of Virginia and her dogs were beautiful..so I was going to email her and ask if I could meet her at a show. Well there happened to be a little button on her site that said Available dogs. I pushed it and there was the dog of my dreams. A beautiful 8 month old female hairless. Well I did email Judy, met at a dog show, found that I adore Crested's and Gabby came to live at my house. It was a perfect match and we are doing wonderfully well. She is much adored by my elderly Schipperke Buster and has given him new energy and playfulness. He was very ill when I got her, but a change in medication and companionship has done wonders for him. He, in turn, has steadied her and helped her to easily learn leash training and our potty training rules. He is so blasé about everything that she just assumes its no big deal and just tags along, thus it has been no big deal at all to train her to anything new.
She is a really funny dog, plays and stalks like a cat, bounds like a gazelle. Really hates to get her feet wet so going to the bathroom in the rain is a trick. She gazelle jumps from place to place until she finds the spots she wants and then races like a bandit back to the house..all thought of wet feet forgotten in the rush to get home. Buster is not pleased and won't run for anything so she has to pull up and wait for him to finish and plod on back at old dog pace. I get looks that say "If you loved me you would just leave him and take me home now so I could get my feet dry". She also crouches and stalks the cat, bugs, anything that she smells in the grass while she's on the leash. Or she stands on her back legs and walks around looking..Thats how she looks for the horses. She is exuberant and playful but will also happily lay on me for hours in very strange sleep positions. I'm learning to knit around her, she thinks she needs to be in the middle of everything I do. I have had to forego the old way I worked on making jewlery..just won't work with a dog on my lap. But I'm inventive, I'll work it out to suit us both. She is a lovely dog and I am looking forward to a long and happy life with her. She was the right dog for me but make sure you do your homework before you consider a Chinese Crested for yourself..
Ecola Lilly
Ecola Willow
Judy Acker and Ecola Isabel
Ch Makara Paco Rabanne x Ch Whispering Lane Ecola Bon Sai
Izzy at 9 months taking her first points. She is my beautiful Gabby's sister.
Ecola Owner: Judy Acker Phone: 757-410-5735 428 Green Tree Rd.,
Chesapeake, VA 23320 Website: www.geocities.com/EcolaChineseCresteds
Email: ecola@cox.net Puppies & pets occasionally http://
The American Chinese Crested Club - to encourage and promote the responsible breeding of pure-bred Chinese Cresteds and to do all possible to bring their natural qualities to perfection, in accordance with the standards for the breed; to do all in its power to protect and advance the interests of the breed and to encourage sportsmanlike competition at dog shows, obedience trials and other events.
Rescue - # Chinese Crested
Crest-Care
(Endorsed by the American Chinese Crested Club)
Robin M. Thorbjornsen SThorb@aol.com
Other hairless breeds
Xoloitzcuintli
Other Names: Mexican Hairless, Tepeizeuintli
FSS Begin Date: 07/29/97
Eligible Registries: The Xoloitzcuintli Club of America, USA, Any Acceptable Domestic or Foreign Registry
Contact: The Xoloitzcuintli Club of America, Ms. Amy Fernandez, 100 Greenway South, Forest Hills, NY 11375; phone: 718-544-6092; e-mail: Friskit666@aol.com
Contact: Xoloitzcuintle Club USA, Roxie Lindsey, Secretary, 2784 Austin Lane, Jonesboro, GA 30236, (770) 477-1459
This page was last edited 04/29/08
