Welcome to our American Hairless Terrier (AHT) site! American Hairless Terriers are wonderful, happy, healthy, energetic dogs the whole family can enjoy. Please feel free to explore.
To ensure we receive your inquiries, please contact us via email vs. commenting on the site!
Some Background – Our Intro to the American Hairless Terrier
A little history: After going 6 years without a dog due to our daughter’s allergies, we happened across a magazine article referencing the hairless breeds (Chinese Crested, Xolo, and American Hairless Terrier – AHT). We decided that we owed it to ourselves (especially our then 5 year old, dog-crazed son) to see how our daughter did upon exposure to these breeds. The Xolo was first. After talking with a Xolo breeder, a visit was arranged. The dog was bathed and kept isolated from others prior to the visit (in my mom’s home so as not to bring potential allergens into our home while, at the same time, not expecting the breeder to have an entirely dog free zone on-site), yet, after only 5 minutes in the Xolo’s presence, the allergic reaction began (was full blown by the time 40 minutes had passed) and our hearts sank.
The Chinese Crested was next, same result.
The AHT was our last chance and, although one of the original tests was a borderline disaster (that, however, is another story), it has since worked out great. Our family has, in the past several years, been blessed with the addition of new family members (each with distinct, playful, mischievous, terrier personalities) which we couldn’t love more.
We want to add that we use the term kennel loosely. Our dogs are part of the family and, as such, are pets first and foremost. They live in our home (no facilities to visit – that always makes us laugh when people ask that) and have full run of our house. We have at the most, 1 litter per year (some years, like 2022, we did not have any litters). Our breedings are done in order to help the AHT breed improve, allow other allergy sufferers to finally have a dog, and to continue our lines. It’s a very rewarding experience! Our family-oriented approach allows for lots of early individual attention, maximum socialization, and housetraining successes (pups go to their new homes at 9 wks litter box trained). So, our babies are healthy and well-rounded when they go to their FOREVER homes.
Although we don’t have pups available most of the time, please feel free to contact us regarding the AHT, our allergy experiences, or for referral to other wonderful breeders.
2023 LITTER is SUPER exciting as it will be an outcross litter! All pups will be coated as the sire will be a Rat Terrier and the dam a hairless AHT. If you are interested in an F1 pup (registered with UKC not AKC) for performance, as a guardian home, or just as a beloved pet, please reach out!
***IMPORTANT PLEASE READ*** – All breeds have health issues. The AHT is no exception. One of the diseases that we unfortunately know a lot about is Microvascular Dysplasia (MVD) [Note: this disease has quite a few names: Hepatic Microvascular Dysplasia (HMD) or portal atresia]. MVD is on the liver SHUNT continuum. We first reported this disease to the AHT community a decade ago when it appeared in 2 of our puppies. Long story short, we modified our entire breeding program to continue to IMPROVE the breed and attempt to reduce the incidence of this very common small breed issue (this is not unique to the AHT). Several other breeders also saw the importance of consistent testing, removing abnormal liver dogs from their lines and going forward with healthy dogs only. Unfortunately, MOST of the breeders failed to do so!!! Many of the breeders decided that because they had not seen issues in their lines (it’s not something you are likely to “see” but rather have to test for it) or did not want to risk having to remove dogs from their programs (read: costs money multiple ways), etc. that they would not test or not follow the recommendations of said tests. Many breeders continue to put their heads in the sand and wrongfully believe that their lines are free of MVD.
We keep a Serum Bile Acid (SBA) database of voluntarily submitted results. Data (as of 11/27/2022) is as follows:
NORMAL: +103/214 (48%) (SBA 0-14.9) – SAFE to breed.
EQUIVOCAL: +51/214 (24%) (SBA 15-24.9; 50% of these dogs when biopsied will have an abnormal liver, the other 50% will have a normal liver.) – Some breeders will choose to still use these dogs. Unfortunately, our worst experiences have come from 2 Equivocal dogs. Therefore, we no longer use dogs who test over 14.9 in our program.
ABNORMAL: +56/214 (26%) – NOT BREEDABLE.
SHUNT: +4/214 (2%) – NOT BREEDABLE.
Some dogs with this liver disease live long healthy lives, particularly with a liver friendly diet and supplements (milk thistle). Others are far less fortunate (trust me, we know and are happy to talk to you about the details; contact us). We implore all potential AHT owners to require breeders to provide proof from their vet (they’ll have a lab report of their SBA results) that their AHTs were tested prior to breeding. If they were not, please move on to another breeder. There is no “excuse” as to why this testing was not completed. We hope that when more pet people hold breeders accountable to higher standards (testing and providing proof of said testing), that the breed’s health can improve more rapidly.
NOTE: SBA can be completed as early as 16 wks old. We strongly recommend ALL AHTs have this test so they can be fed the best diet to maximize their health and longevity.
