The American Hairless Terrier is an extremely recent dog breed as far as date of origin is concerned. The breed first came into existence solely by chance when in1972 a hairless puppy was born to a litter of otherwise normal Rat Terriers. That puppy who was subsequently named Josephine, was to become the progenitor of the American Hairless Terrier dog breed (AHT). Thrilled with the single naked puppy in an effort to create more hairless dogs, the owners of that first American Hairless Terrier (Edwin and Willie Scott) bred her and were successful in obtaining yet another hairless puppy, once again female. They named that second naked Rat Terrier puppy Gypsy.

A full eight years later and after several subsequent litters Josephine once again gave birth to another litter with hairless puppies but most importantly, this time, she gave birth to not only another hairless female pup but to a  male as well! The Scotts named the male puppy Snoopy and when he was mature enough, in a bid to consolidate the number of hairless Rat Terrier dogs, they mated him in 1983 to all his sisters. The subsequent litters were comprised of several hairless puppies.

Having successfully obtained a fair number of hairless Rat Terriers, the Scotts then established Trout Creek Kennel with the intention of further strengthening, multiplying and consolidating the development of their new dog breed. It was only in 2004 that the hairless variants of the Rat Terrier were officially referred to as the American Hairless Terrier and no longer simply referred to as the Rat Terrier – Hairless Variety.

American Hairless Terrier Dog

Article on american hairless terrier written by Kayye Nynne