DALE DRINNON: Bald dog links

From Wikipedia:

The Texas Blue Lacy dog is the official dog breed of Texas and the only dog breed developed in that state. It originated in 1850

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Lacy


The Blue Lacy is a breed of working dog that originated in Texas in the mid-1800s, the only dog breed to have originated in that state. [1] The Lacy was first recognised in 2001 by the Texas Senate. In Senate Resolution No. 436, the 77th Legislature honored the Lacy as "a true Texas breed"; in June 2005, Governor Rick Perry signed the legislation adopting the Blue Lacy as "the official State Dog Breed of Texas." [1]

Appearance

Lacy dogs are strong and fast, and lightly built but proportional within the height-to-weight ratio. Height at the withers is between 18 and 21 inches. Dependent on height and working condition, weight should be approximately 30 to 45 pounds for females and 35 to 50 pounds for males. [2] The standards listed in the Texas House Concurrent Resolution No. 108 are slightly different: height between 18 and 25 inches; weight between 30 and 50 pounds.

[--The blue lacies are a development out of greyhounds and have a typical short, tight coat. Too long a coat disqualifies a dog from the breed and some are nearly hairless.--DD]

History

Red Lacy puppy
The Lacy dog was named after the Lacy brothers—Frank, George, Ewin, and Harry Lacy—who in 1858 moved from Kentucky to Texas and settled in Burnet County, Texas. [1] The dog, according to the Lacys, was a mixture of English Shepherd (or perhaps coyote), Greyhound, and wolf. [9] House Concurrent Resolution No. 108 also mentions scenthound. [1] The brothers originally developed their natural herding instincts to work their free-roaming hogs. [10]


[--It is to be noted that some inter-breeding with wolves and coyotes is automatically assumed in the breed. Furthermore, the hairless trait is probably introduced from admixture with the Mexican Hairless breed:]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_Hairless_Dog



The Mexican Hairless Dog is a rare, hairless breed of dog whose size varies greatly. It is also known as Xoloitzcuintli or Xoloitzcuintle (English pronunciation: /ʃoʊloʊ.iːtsˈkwiːntliː/ SHOH-loh-eets-KWEENT-lee); pronounced by some Spanish speakers as sho-lo-skwin



The Xolo is native to Mexico, Central and South America, and the Caribbean. Archaeological evidence shows that the breed existed in the New World for more than 3,500 years. Most likely, early forerunners of the Xolo originated as spontaneous hairless mutations of indigenous New World dogs. Hairlessness may have offered a survival advantage in tropical regions. Indigenous peoples of Central and South America had Xolo dogs as home and hunting companions, and today they are still very popular companion dogs; even as the national dog of Mexico. Their value in ancient native cultures is evidenced by their frequent appearance in art and artefacts, e.g., those produced by the Colima, Aztec and Toltec civilisations in Mexico.

Xolos were considered sacred dogs by the Aztecs (and also Toltecs, Mayans and some other groups) because they believed the dogs were needed by their masters’ souls to help them safely through the underworld, and also they were useful companion animals. According to Aztec mythology, the god Xolotl made the Xoloitzcuintle from a sliver of the Bone of Life from which all mankind was made. Xolotl gave this gift to Man with the instruction to guard it with his life and in exchange it would guide Man through the dangers of Mictlan, the world of Death, toward the Evening Star in the Heavens. The Aztecs also raised the breed for their meat. Sixteenth-century Spanish accounts tell of large numbers of dogs being served at banquets.[1]

When Columbus arrived in the Caribbean in 1492 his journal entries noted the presence of strange hairless dogs. Subsequently, Xolos were transported back to Europe.

Even today, many people in Mexico believe this breed to have healing qualities. Some cultures ate the meat of the Xoloitzcuintli, and the meat may still be found for sale in some parts of rural Mexico. Laws concerning animal rights in the country control this situation harshly. [citation needed].

The Xolo is moderate in all aspects of its appearance, conveying strength, agility and elegance. Xolo body proportions are rectangular, slightly longer in total body length than the height measured at the highest point of the withers. The breed occurs naturally in two varieties, hairless and coated. Hairless Xolos are the dominant expression of the heterozygous Hh hairless trait. [4] Coated Xolos (hh) are the recessive expression. Breeding hairless to coated or hairless to hairless may produce pups of either or both varieties. Breeding coated to coated will only produce coated pups because they are recessive to the hairless trait and do not carry the dominant H gene.

Both varieties occur in all colours, solid, marked, splashed or spotted. The most common colours are various shades of black, blue and red.

The breed occurs in a range of sizes, which breeders have standardised into Toy (ten to 13 inches in height, weighing approximately 12 pounds) Miniature (13 to 18 inches in height, weighing approximately 25 pounds) and Standard (18 to 24 inches in height, weighing approximately 45 pounds). The Xolo has been mistaken for the mythical Chupacabra of Mexico [emphasis added]. [5]

[It also goes without saying that there are numbers of Xolo strays in Texas and throughout the US Southwest, and that they also interbreed with coyotes. --Best Wishes, Dale D.]