Not long ago, my phone rang, I heard a peasant lady’s voice asking me if I still photograph nudes. My reaction was somewhat mild. “ But we have different types of nudes here – hairless Terriers”, she said. My phone just about fell out of my hand. I spent the evening searching through older issues of the dog magazine “man’s best friend”. The history of naked dogs can be measured in millenniums, but the American Hairless Terrier is an exception and its creation is exactly documented. In the year 1972, among a litter of Rat Terriers, a girl called Josephine was born, which was distinct from her siblings by her soft, pink skin with black patches and with an absence of hair. This puppy had attracted the interest of the breeders’ friends, the Scotts, by this quality (not a fault). In the end, they have taken this naked pup and have managed to breed further hairless puppies.

In March 2004, three anxious breeding ladies nave met at the Prague – Ruzyne airport, expecting the arrival of the first five American Hairless Terriers in the Czech Republic. Šárka Štefánková, who focuses on the breeding of Dalmatians and Chihuahuas. Every day, she has the chance to pat many dogs and other various animals. This is because she works as a veterinary nurse at the surgery of MVDr. Jan Herčík, Csc. Further, Martina Stavinohová, who has a close relationship with mini Bullterriers and Staffordshire Bullterriers. The trio of breeders was assembled by the main “culprit” of the entire event, Romana Dyntrová, who has three Dalmatians herself. Most friends know Romana by her maiden name “Raková”.

On the way from the show, Romana and Martina began to think about acquiring some type of a new and interesting breed, but mainly about a small dog for smooching. Martina evidently tends to lean towards the Terrier species. Romana Dyntrová suffers from allergies, so the ever-present white hair from the Dalmatians were destined to the past. Therefore the idea to found a breeding program for the American Hairless Terriers has come about. The way from the initial idea towards its realization was somewhat complicated. “I began to search the internet, where there was a large number of addresses and contacts. By chance, I have selected one of the addresses and the president of the club of the breeders of these Terriers, Mrs. Teri Murphy from Northern Carolina, had contacted me. From the experience of other breeders, I knew that establishing contact with breeders from the USA can sometimes be difficult. I was lucky though. I received an answer to my appeal for the information and from that day, we have exchanged correspondence with Mrs. Murphy literally on a daily basis. After an endless process of verification, she had promised to help me. Martina and me had a wish to acquire three Terriers, two girls and one boy. Teri agreed and offered us a furry dog as well. At first, we have refused this, but Terri had sent us photographs and explained to us how a furry dog is necessary to maintain a good and healthy breeding program of this species. We have waited for practically one year before Teri had chosen non-related dogs for us from quality breeding stations and above all, without any faults. In the meantime, I have met with Šárka Štefánková and made an offer to her, if she would also like an American Hairless Terrier. At first she objected, but in the end she agreed. So I have asked Teri for one more girl, for Šárka. THANK YOU TERI!

After a yearlong effort, we were waiting anxiously at the Prague airport. So this is how the first five American Hairless Terriers came to us, three girls - "Chackers", "Dream", and "Cammile" and two boys - "Mate", and furry "Buddy."

I have accepted the possibility to photograph this unusual breed with joy and curiosity. The breed concerned is temperamental, fearless and sporty. Its nature is pleasant, open and friendly. Contrary to most Terriers, they do not bark a lot. They do not engage in conflict when meeting with other dogs. All five dogs seem to be very well balanced. As far as their colouring is concerned, all colour varieties are included in them, including the rare black colour of Cammile, which had a blue colour after birth and comes from a unique strand, which is called the Blair Witch Project in America. This was a great honor for us. As far as the skin quality is concerned, it is comparable with the hairless cat species "Sphynx", and the greatest advantage is, that there is no need for shaving any part of the body. A pleasant surprise is the excellent quality of teeth. Boldness in Hairless Terriers is not connected with poor teeth. An interesting fact is, that this breed is always born with hair, but in the future the fur gets sparser and it completely disappears within approximately eight weeks. American Hairless Terriers are recessive and homozygous, so for example, two hairless individuals will never produce a hairy puppy. Already during the creation of the breed, some breeders in the USA were worried that this breed could become a victim and a focus of attention for various breeders, who are above all motivated by fast money making and not by genuine breeder’s interests. "We would like this dog to go into the hands of people, who will appreciate it not for how much it costs, but for its great characteristics. We would like our owners to be people, who truly deserve it and not some large-scale breeders with purely commercial interests". For us, the American Hairless Terriers are gems among the breeds of hairless dogs, and we wish them only the best human mothers and fathers. More information on my site, or on the e-mail address czech.aht@seznam.cz


text by: Jan Šimeček