THE XOLO DOG - SCARY OR BEAUTIFUL? - Mexican Hairless Xoloitzcuintli

Hello and welcome to Animal Watch and this week we're talking Xolos or the Mexican hairless dog. The Mexican hairless dog or Xolo has got to be one of the most unusual dogs to grace this planet. With his striking looks and furless skin, he looks like he could have stepped straight out of a fantasy movie. Coming in sizes ranging from miniature, intermediate and the larger standard size, they do not fail to stop traffic with their statuesque like appearance and otherworldly presence which was revered by ancient Aztecs who considered the Xolo a prophet and guide to the underworld. But these days he is best known for being a calm and watchful companion. Today I am meeting Milo, a striking black, amber-eyed, standard-sized, fully hairless Xolo along with his owner Justine Bromage. I'm very excited as Animal Watch has never covered such an unusual dog before. So this is Milo. He's a Mexican hairless. He's a standard size. He's called a Xolo and then this is Sephira who is an intermediate size. Hello. He feels amazing. He does, doesn't he? Are you going to take them for a walk now? Yes, I'm just going to go and let them off the lead in a moment and then they can have a game. She's such a tiny little thing, isn't she? I like that blonde mop on top of her head. People ask her owner if it's been dyed. Because she's got such a dark skin. Yeah, and then this blonde hair. And then she's got this blonde hair. Whereas he's got no fur at all, has he? And I have been asked how long it takes me to shave him. Somebody did actually say to me how long does it take to shave him. Yeah, so he's shaved and she's got dyed hair. But of course, with the Mexican hairless, they can come completely bald. Yeah, or hair. Or hair, or partially bald. Yeah, and sometimes they have hairy bits on their back, feet, tail, so they don't have to be completely bald. And then some of the litter are completely hairy. So usually you get half the litter bald and then a bit of the litter with hair, and then a few with hairy heads. And do they all have that amazing amber eyes? No, some of them do. Some do, some don't. Technically, it's correct to have dark eyes. If they're dark skinned, they should have dark eyes. If they're light skinned, they should have light eyes. So he's got a bit of both, which actually makes him look beautiful. So if I was to show him, he would actually lose, if there was an exact same dog, he would lose to the one that had dark eyes. Really? Well, I actually prefer the amber eyes. I do as well. Oh, they're massive, massive jumpers as well. They can clear a six-foot fence. I was warned that. They love agility and they love jumping. After the walk, we returned to the house to find out more about the character of the Xolo and what it is like to live with one. Xolo, that's how you say it, isn't it? Xolo is for squinty, if I've got it right, but that probably isn't. Yeah. But yes, he's a Xolo, which is a Mexican hairless. Yeah, and I'm used to seeing the really tiny ones. So to actually see one this size, it's astounding. There's miniature, which is the size of a chihuahua, then the intermediate that's like a terrier, and then Milo. How old is this breed exactly? 3,500 years. So he's a real ancient dog. After wolves, he probably was the first domestic dog. He's originally from Mexico. If you imagine the dogs that used to sit outside the tombs, like in Egypt, the dogs with the crossed legs. So in the olden days, they used to sacrifice them and put them in the tombs. So it wasn't nice being a Xolo in those days. Did they actually kill them before they put them in the tombs? No, no, sometimes they killed them, sometimes they put them in the lye. Because the idea was they kept evil spirits away and took them to the afterlife. People would eat them at funerals and weddings because they, again, warded off evil spirits. Oh, that's horrible. They didn't have a very nice life. Christopher Columbus actually wrote about him and said that he'd been to Mexico and seen some weird hairless dog. They used to put them in bed with them. So before the days of heating, every house would put two of these in their bed and then they were used for arthritic problems. So if you had bad knees, you sat a Xolo on your knees. And they've never been overbred and messed with, so they are still exactly how they were. Because they've got such a rich gene pool, what is the life expectancy of a dog like this? Usually 15 to 20 years, that's what it says. Really good, actually. Yeah, because they don't have any relative health issues. They usually die of old age. Is there a purpose for not having any fur? I think just because they lived in a really hot country. One in five has fur, so his brother, for example, looks like Labrador. You need to moisturise his skin, don't you, to keep it nice and supple and shiny. I put coconut oil on. Coconut oil. But just like we do, if we're looking dry one day, we want shiny legs. Wow. And I just put some moisturiser on him. Does he like that? Does he eat it? Yes, he licks it. And if there's any other dog around, they lick it too. Do you have to give him any sort of sun protection from his skin? You don't have to be too fanatical because he's black. So if he was a cream one or a pale one, you'd have to cover him in lotion. I do put lotion on him if he's going to be out a long time. But because he's dark, he has a lot of melanin in his skin. I mean, what is it that attracts you to a dog like this? Does he look like the sort of men you might go for? No, that's the funny thing. He's completely opposite to any man I go for. Normally, I like lots of hair and wonderful teeth. And he hasn't got any hair and not great teeth. So nobody can really understand why I got attracted to him. Why hasn't he got good teeth then? Because he's only like eight months old. It's because of the hair genes. Genes for hair and teeth is the same. If you've got no hair, you don't have particularly good teeth sometimes in a dog. So his brother, who has hair, has full canine teeth and he doesn't. And then the teeth he does have are very weak. So if you look at them, they look very frail teeth. Do you find then that sometimes as they get older, they will actually lose all of their teeth? So yeah, they say don't give them pig's ears and bones because their teeth are so sensitive. Does he have a different diet or does he just eat normal dog food? He does eat normal dog food. A lot of people that have them do feed raw because they're still very primitive dogs and they're trying to keep them as natural as possible. He does get the odd spot, which is like us getting spots if we eat too many cakes, too many chocolates. So the better quality food you give him, the better. These sort of spots that they've got on them, is it something that they only get when they're younger or do they have this throughout their life? They can get them at any age. They are typical in adolescence like us. So hopefully he's going to grow out of them because I don't like them. And if he had fur, you wouldn't see it. So for all you know that your dogs at home with fur on might have pimples underneath. And he's eight months old and he's quite large. Yes, a bit more he'll grow. You think he'll get a lot bit bigger? Yes, a little bit more. The intermediate sized girl that we met, what's her name again? Saphira. Saphira, what a beautiful name. Now she's very unusual. She's very, very excitable, wanting to meet everybody. The bigger ones are more quiet than little ones. So they're known to be more of a relaxed, quiet dog, where the little ones are much more busy and fun. When I met him earlier, he didn't mind me sort of coming up and talking to him, but to be quite honest, he couldn't care less. Yes, that's how they are. He's not aloof with family. He's a very family dog. He's just aloof with strangers until he gets to know you. Once he gets to know you, he's loving. Hello. See? They are primitive dogs, so you do have to train them. You do have to socialise them. They're not a typical sort of child's dog, I would say. What's training like? Is it hard? Is it challenging? It's easy. They're very, very intelligent dogs and they love their master. So training is very easy and he's very intelligent. He does anything I ask him to do. If you don't socialise them, what do they just become? They'll be more aloof apparently. More aloof. So just not wanting to interact at all. So not being more aggressive, do they? Not necessarily more aggressive, no. But they need socialisation because they're primitive. I've done a lot with him. He's totally friendly with everybody. He loves other dogs. He likes to bark, doesn't he? He likes to look after the house. So this is their origins as a guard dog. He's not an endless barker for the sake of it. He only barks at the door or the noise. But he's definitely a guard dog. The post lady said one day, he's quite scary. Yes, of course. If somebody came in the house when you're not here, do you think he would be a proper guard dog? Yeah, I think he would. I haven't seen that side of him because he's so friendly. But I think from how he reacts at the door, he would be. So what's it like living with one of these? You don't get dog hair, no dog smell, there's no fleas. And you spend your life walking around like you're with someone famous. Everywhere I go, people want photographs of him and they want selfies with him. They're quite rare, aren't they, in the UK? So how many standard size Mexican hairless, like him, have we got in the United Kingdom right now? Well, last time they did a check, there were 75. And how many that look like him? There won't be many because most of them do have hair and most of them do have some markings on them or spots or colours. So there's not many of him that's that colour, completely bald. They're very popular in Russia, I know that. Wow, it's cold there, isn't it? I know, but the Russian people love them. Gosh, they must be putting jumpers on them. He'll have to have a coat this winter, definitely. Yeah, they're very popular in South America, they're very popular in Russia. Mexico, obviously, they're the national Mexican dog. So they're worshipped in Mexico, there's statues of them everywhere. Will he actually really start to show the cold when it starts to get chilly? I think so. If you put a hot water bottle in his bed, he goes on it straight away. Radiator on, he sits by it. So even now he's enjoying the heat. So I'm going any day now to buy him a super good coat. The dogs in that computer game, Resident Evil, just remind me so much of him. With his yellow eyes, he would just make such a fantastic movie dog. He certainly would. Well, if you enjoyed this episode of Animal Watch, then please give us a big thumbs up and subscribe to our channel. I've had a fantastic time today with the amazing Milo, who's finally calmed down and gone to sleep next to me. So I've actually managed to sit next to him for once today. Please remember to tune in to all of our episodes every single week, which are mainly on wolves, wolf dogs, dogs, animal rescue and conservation. I'll see you next week. So it's bye from me and bye from a very tired Milo. Bye for now. If you would like to find out more about Milo the Xolo, he has his own Instagram page, which you can find by typing in the username Milo the Xolo. Also, Saphira the Intermediate Size Xolo, who features in the film also, has her own Instagram page, which you can find here. Saphira the Xolo.