cresties!

Ahem. I don't really know how to respond to that horribly invasive video that Massah put on my blog yesterday. There should be a law against that. But since there's not (the ASPCA should get on that right away), I'm going to pretend that it didn't happen and just hope that it all goes away.


Moving on. I've been tagged to share 8 things about myself! I shared 10 things a while ago, so I'm going to switch it up and share 8 things about myself as a Crestie, since I'm the only hairless on DWB and I'm feeling very informative today! These are all things unique to hairless Chinese Cresteds....


1. I don't pant. Ever. I sweat through my skin like the people. That's part of the reason I have to take so many baths.


2. There are two kinds of Chinese Cresteds - and they are born in the same litters - my kind, the hairless:





And the powder puff:




My dog-mom was a puff and my dog-dad was hairless. Every puff (and each hairless) has a hairless gene, but if the dog gets TWO hairless genes he will die. I don't know why, but it sounds sad.


3. We are very good climbers, and our front paws are compared to people hands a lot. They are really flexible and we can hold things VERY tightly. When Massah carries me upstairs (and down) I grab on to her neck and wrap my paws around it and hold on tight. And when I chew on toys I hold on to them with a very firm grasp.


4. Hairless have hair on the feet - called socks - on our tails - called plumes - and on our heads - called crests. Hence the name Chinese Crested.


5. The "Chinese" part of our name is a little misleading. From what everyone can tell, we originated in Africa - as bedwarmers, of all things! (Massah calls me her own personal, portable radiator!) We were then taken on ships to catch rats and made our way to China where we were bred to develope most of our unique characteristics.


6. Most Cresties have ears that stand up straight. Massah didn't want to tape my ears when she first got me because I wasn't in very good shape, and then she didn't have the heart to attach tampons to the inside of my ears when I got older, so I have floppy ears.


7. I've never gone more than 7 days without a bath. We're rather high-maintenance. If we don't get regular baths (I usually get mine of Mondays and Thursdays) then our skin will get really dry, we might start to smell musty (cause we sweat through our skin), we get acne, and our skin looks really gray and dull.


8. I'm in the Toy Catagory in the AKC but you never see us in dog shows. We're there! But they always take a commercial break when they show the Cresties. I don't know why. It makes me sad.


9. And last but not least, we're LAP DOGS! I love sitting on people's laps; it's one of my favoritest things ever. Cresties are NOT the kind of dog to get if you want to run with your dog or do lots of vigorous activities (like hiking) because we're pretty fragile and can get hurt easily, but if you want someone who will want to be by your side 24 hours a day, and sitting in your lap if at all possible, a Crestie is right for you! We're lovers. :-)