Began with Josephine, a hairless puppy born to purebred Rat Terriers in 1972 and raised by the Scott family of Louisiana.

The American Toy & Terrier family. Small dogs of the Americas. Genetic studies suggest some may keep traces of ancient New World dogs beneath later European ancestry.

Energetic, curious and smart.

Voice

Barks to alert you, then settles.

With kids

Friendly with kids and usually patient.

Other dogs

Generally sociable with other dogs.

Home

Adapts well to apartments with daily walks.

Exercise. Energetic: needs real exercise every day, such as long walks, hikes or running games. Puppies do better with several short sessions than one long walk, and older dogs need gentler outings.

Training. Eager and responsive. Picks up basic manners quickly and enjoys learning tricks.

Hairless: no brushing, but the skin needs protection from the sun outdoors and a sweater in cold weather. Barely sheds.

For every dog: trim nails when you can hear them click on the floor, brush teeth daily if you can (a few times a week still helps), and clean ears about once a month, drying them well after baths and swims.

Daily calories

About 450–850 kcal for a healthy adult

Dry food

Roughly 1.25–2.25 cups a day at ~400 kcal per cup

Puppies eat four small meals a day at 6 to 12 weeks, drop to three somewhere between 3 and 6 months, and move to two meals a day from about 6 months.

Keep treats, including training treats and table scraps, under 10% of daily calories.

Calories use the resting-energy formula from the Merck Veterinary Manual (70 × body weight in kg^0.75) times a maintenance factor of 1.4 to 1.8, so very active or working dogs may need more. Cups assume about 400 kcal per cup; check your food's label. Treat any feeding chart as a starting point and adjust to body condition.

Typical lifespan is 14–16 years. Conditions reported in the breed:

Ask breeders for health-test results from the parents (hips, eyes, and DNA tests where relevant), and schedule yearly vet checkups.

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Photos come from Wikimedia Commons and are used under the licenses shown. Only freely licensed photos appear on this site; where none is available, you'll see an illustration.

• Wikipedia: American Hairless Terrier (opens in a new tab)
• AKC breed weight chart (opens in a new tab)
• PetMD: breed health & care (opens in a new tab)
• AKC: Puppy feeding fundamentals (opens in a new tab), bloat (opens in a new tab), treats (opens in a new tab) and grooming (opens in a new tab)
• Merck Veterinary Manual: Nutritional requirements of small animals (opens in a new tab)

Ratings for energy, shedding and the like are our own summaries, informed by these sources. Breed facts were checked in October 2026.