Meet The Breed
The Chinese Crested, a lively and alert toy breed standing between 11 and 13 inches high, can be hairless or coated. The hairless variety has smooth, soft skin and tufts of hair on the head, tail, and ankles. The coated variety, called the “powderpuff,” is covered by a soft, silky coat. Besides the coat, there’s very little difference between the powderpuff and his undressed brother. Both varieties are characterized by fine-boned elegance and graceful movement.
Cresteds are as fun as they look: playful, loving, and devoted to their humans. The hairless has its advantages: there is no doggy odor, and for obvious reasons shedding isn’t much of a problem. Both varieties are attentive housemates, totally in tune with their family.
Quick Facts
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Temperament: Affectionate, Alert, Lively
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AKC Breed Popularity: Ranks 79 of 193
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Height: 11-13 inches
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Weight: 8-12 pounds
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Life Expectancy: 13-18 years
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Group: Toy Group
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Good with Children: Better with Supervision
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Good with other Dogs: With Supervision
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Shedding: Infrequent, Hypoallergenic
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Grooming: Weekly
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Trainability: Responds Well
Links:
*Chinese Cresteds: What's Good About 'Em, What's Bad About 'Em
*American Chinese Crested Club
Hair Types
True hairless: A true Hairless often does not have as much furnishings (hair on the head, tail, and paws). Sometimes these puppies do not have crest, plume and socks. They can basically be completely naked. They are more prone to dental issues and usually do not have full dentition. Their skin is not as healthy, consisting of black heads, pimples and other skin issues. True hairless dogs do need sun screen and more skin care than other types.
Hairless: Hairless dogs or ideal hairless will have large areas on hairlessness on their body, neck and even thin amounts of their face. They have furnishings on the crest, plume, & socks. But do not need as much grooming as a hairy hairless.
Hairy Hairless: Just like the name indicates, this coat variety has a bit more hair than the hairless Chinese Crested. They can range from a minimal amount of extra hair to nearly copying the coat of a puff. A super hairy hairless looks, with a quick glance, almost like a powderpuff. (Fake Powder puff) but has the hairless gene to produce hairless puppies. These "hairy" Hairless can look almost like a lightly-coated Powder Puff! They have even been referred to as "fake puffs". In order to check whether such a dog is genetically Hairless or Powder Puff, simply look in the mouth. If the dog is genetically Hairless it will have forward-pointing tusks; if it is a Powder Puff it will have a normal mouth.
Puff: Powder puffs are full coated dogs who have a proper double coat. These dogs have a thick full coat with an undercoat. Powderpuff's are the best of both worlds as they can be left long or groomed in the pony cut and several other cute cuts. Powder puffs have full dentition and the best teeth of all coat types. While they do require more grooming they do have better teeth, and skin.
Read more about coat types here