In the fall of 1972, Edwin and Willie Scott were given a small puppy that was born into a litter of Rat Terriers owned by some friends of theirs. All the puppies looked normal except for this one very odd looking pup. She was normal in everyway, but lacked one thing the others had.....hair! Little did the Scott's realize....the day that strange little pup came into their home would set them on a course of developing a new and very unique breed.....the American Hairless Terrier.      The new puppy's name became Josephine and she quickly melted the hearts of everyone in the Scott's family. Josey turned out to be the "perfect" pet as she was highly intelligent, active, loyal, and best of all she was clean. With the lack of hair, there were no fleas, therefore.....no need for smelly flea products, and no dog hairs all over the furniture and floors. With summer, though, came the hot Louisiana sun and they learned that Josephine's soft and delicate skin would need protection against the harmful rays.  A thin layer of good suntan lotion proved to effectively protect their new little pup's skin on those sunny summer days.

Breeders of the American Hairless Terrier Willie and Edwin Scott with Trout Creek's  Sparky

     They talked about their plans to many people, including several scientists, but they got the same answer everywhere they went. "It just can't be done." or "You're just wasting your time." seemed to be the repeating reply they would receive. "She's a freak of nature and will never reproduce the same....the hairless trait." But statements like this did not stop the Scott's. They decided to go ahead with their plans and bred her.

     At the age of one year, they bred Josey to a Rat Terrier. She produced a litter of four puppies and amazing enough, one of the pups was a hairless female which they named Gypsy. Unfortunately, Gypsy was too small to breed so they kept their hopes on Josephine. Over the years Josey gave the Scott's several litters, but not the hairless pups they were so hoping for....their hopes were beginning to fade.

     Then just as they were ready to give up, they decided to give it one more try. So at the age of nine years, Josephine was bred her final time. And on December 30, 1981, a miracle happened.....Josephine became the proud mother of four beautiful puppies. It would be a very happy new year, indeed.

     The litter produced a hairless male they named Snoopy, a hairless female they named Jemima and two female coated pups named Queenie and Petunia. This became the foundation of the Scott's dream and brought their hopes back to reality. This was a new beginning for their family. They bred Snoopy to all of his littermates once they reached a year old. Jemima produced an all hairless litter and to the Scott's surprise, Petunia and Queenie produced litters of hairless and coated. Their house was becoming filled with these loving bundles of joy and the Scott's found they needed to make that decision to build a kennel for their four-legged critters. So a kennel was built adjoining their house and was aptly dubbed the name of "Trout Creek Kennel".....home of the American Hairless Terrier. So you see folks.....dreams do come true and miracles do happen!
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     This unlikely Louisiana couple had a dream and through all the negativism and insurmountable odds, they persevered until that dream became a reality. This story may serve as a testimony to the strength a person can attain when following their hearts. The struggle a person can withstand when they know in their hearts they are doing what they have been strongly led to do.  I am so thankful to the Scotts for pushing through those odds and making the American Hairless Terrier a reality that we all can love and share.
 

HEIGHT:  From withers to ground the measurement should be 8 to 12 inches.

WEIGHT:  Weight in proportion to height should range from 6 to 10 pounds.

HEAD:  A rounded skull, cheeks and jaws are lean.  A well-defined stop is formed where the muzzle joins the skull. The muzzle is thinner than the head, tapering to the nose. The length of the muzzle from the tip of the nose to the stop is approximately one half the length of the head from the tip of the nose to the occiput.

EARS: Moderate size, naturally erect or tipped.

TEETH: Full dentition with level or scissors bite.  Slightly over or under will be allowed due to the small gene pool at this time.  *Once the gene pool has sufficiently increased the slightly over or under will no longer be allowed. Missing teeth a fault.

EYES: Round, full, slightly bulging with an alert expression.  Eyes may be any color.

NOSE: Self-colored

NECK: Medium length with a graceful arch

BODY: A moderately muscled body that is slightly longer than height.  Rump curves slightly to tail set. Long straight forelegs with toes turning neither in or out and moderately angulated hindlegs with hocks neither turning in or out.

TAIL:  Moderately long and carried up or back.

FEET: A dainty foot with small slender toes and medium length nails. Well split but not spread. Splayed feet a fault. Dewclaws may be left or removed.

SKIN: Warm to the touch, soft and smooth.  Skin may be covered with a very very fine, almost undetectable layer of minute hair. This does not resemble normal hair and normal hair on any part of the body other than whiskers or eyebrows is considered a disqualification. Puppies are born with hair and will begin losing the hair in a week,
starting at the nose and receding in a band toward the back until they are hairless at 6-8 weeks.  When hot or scared they will break into a sweat. This is not to be faulted.

COLOR:  Dogs may be of any color. Parti-colored dogs with general color of pink and freckles or with spots of contrasting colors will darken with exposure to the sun and the freckles will enlarge and even join as the dog ages. The black and tan colored dog will remain the same.

GAIT:  Graceful and kind of cocky

DISQUALIFICATIONS:  Severe under bite or overbite, normal hair on any part of the body other than whiskers or eyebrows, hanging or hound dog ears, viciousness or extreme shyness, monorchid or cryptorchid, docked or short tails, dogs undersized by more than one inch or one pound. Dogs over the height and weights stated will be
considered miniatures.