Breed history

The breed is native to Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, and may date back 3500 years more. Anthropological records suggest that some pre-Columbian cultures raised the dogs for food consumption. [1] Besides that, Xoloitzcuintles are believed to have been kept as pets. Xolos were considered sacred dogs by the Aztecs because they believed the dogs were needed by their masters. souls to help them safely through the underworld. According to Aztec mythology, the god Xolotl made the Xoloitzcuintle from a sliver of the Bone of Life from which all man was made. Xolotl gave this gift to Man with the instruction to guard it with his life and in exchange it would guide Man through the dangers of Mictlan, the world of Death, towards the Evening Star in the Heavens.

By the early 1950s, the Mexican dog fancy became concerned about the Xolo.s seeming demise in its native land. This national treasure was on the bring of extinction. Although the breed still flourished in remote parts of Mexico, it was holding type and not officially recognized. According to the late Countess Premio Real, hopes of discovering any good-quality native stock were not high. Without the benefit of any selective breeding programs, the Xolo had greatly degenerated in type in the intervening five centuries. Interbreeding them with Poodles, Chihuahuas and Dachshunds had become common practice. This allegation would not be at odds with what was going on north of the border during the same era.

The famous Xolo expediction of 1954 has been widely recounted by several of its participants, particularly by Norman Pelham Wright in his Enigma of the Xoloitzcuintli. Oddly, this Xolo search party was comprised primarly of British diplomats. Many of these people later figured prominently in the development of the Xolo breed in Mexico. Countess Premio Real officially represented the FCM in this effort and she remained a premier force in the breed until her death in September 26, 1998 at the age of 83.

The enthusiastic group launched an expedition into the Mexican interior hoping to locate and acquire some pure Xolo breeding stock. And the Xolos were still there in the remote Mexican jungles. For over 500 years, they had just been rusting, not dead at all.