Chinese Crested

Gentle and playful at home, often reserved with strangers.
A Chinese Crested
Photo: Tommy Gildseth
Adult weight
3.6–5.4 kg
8–12 lb
Lifespan
13.4 yrs
Handler demand
Suits a first-time owner
Class · Lap dog
also Companion

What it's like

The breed is affectionate, alert and lively, and it forms close bonds with its household. It is gentle and playful at home, and often reserved with strangers.

Day to day
Activity
Happy with modest walks
Intelligence
Learns readily, likes games
Handler demand
Suits a first-time owner
With people
Affection
A lap or leaning dog
Loyalty
Sticks close to its people
Independence
Keen to work with you
Around the home
Sensitivity
Needs a calm, predictable home
Voice
Barks to alert, then settles
Prey drive
Usually fine with small pets
Breed explains only about 9% of how individual dogs differ in behaviour1. Meet the dog. A good breeder breeds for temperament as well as health, and matches each puppy's personality to the right home2,3.
Is a Chinese Crested right for you?
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Living with one

How it sheds and the grooming it needs depend on the coat. It needs a modest amount of exercise compared with other breeds.

Size and growth

A Chinese Crested is a toy dog, heavier than a Chihuahua and lighter than a Yorkshire Terrier.

It has a wedge-shaped head, large ears, usually carried upright, and long, narrow hare feet. Breeders describe a lighter, racier deer type and a heavier cobby type. The hairless dog's skin is smooth and may be a solid colour or spotted, while the Powder Puff has a soft, long veil of hair. Both varieties can be born in the same litter.

Puppy growth

Reference curve · community data appears as owners log
Chinese Cresteds reach half their adult weight at about 4 months. They grow fastest between 3 and 4 months old.
Fully grown
10 mo
Both sexes, at 99% of adult weight7
Male
Female
Shaded: expected range
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02462m3m4m6m9m12m18m
Age
Male
Female
2 months
1.2–1.7 kg 2.6–3.7 lb
1.3–1.9 kg 2.9–4.2 lb
3 months
1.5–2.2 kg 3.3–4.9 lb
1.6–2.3 kg 3.5–5.1 lb
4 months
1.9–2.9 kg 4.2–6.4 lb
2.0–3.0 kg 4.4–6.6 lb
5 months
2.3–3.4 kg 5.1–7.5 lb
2.3–3.4 kg 5.1–7.5 lb
6 months
2.5–3.8 kg 5.5–8.4 lb
2.5–3.8 kg 5.5–8.4 lb
7 months
2.8–4.1 kg 6.2–9.0 lb
2.7–4.1 kg 6.0–9.0 lb
8 months
2.9–4.4 kg 6.4–9.7 lb
2.9–4.3 kg 6.4–9.5 lb
9 months
3.0–4.6 kg 6.6–10.1 lb
3.0–4.4 kg 6.6–9.7 lb
10 months
3.1–4.7 kg 6.8–10.4 lb
3.1–4.6 kg 6.8–10.1 lb
11 months
3.2–4.8 kg 7.1–10.6 lb
3.1–4.7 kg 6.8–10.4 lb
12 months
3.3–4.9 kg 7.3–10.8 lb
3.2–4.8 kg 7.1–10.6 lb
15 months
3.4–5.1 kg 7.5–11.2 lb
3.4–5.1 kg 7.5–11.2 lb
18 months
3.6–5.3 kg 7.9–11.7 lb
3.5–5.3 kg 7.7–11.7 lb

Health and lifespan

In UK lab records, skin melanoma turns up more often in Chinese Cresteds than in crossbreeds: it is much more likely. It is not rated serious. These are figures for the breed as a whole, not a prediction for your dog.
Listed by likelihood level, highest first, then by how serious it is, then by name.
  • Skin melanoma
    Lab-confirmed cases
    Much more likely
    Impact: moderate
Lab-confirmed: compares dogs whose tumour samples went to a lab with dogs seen in general practice, so the figures run higher than vet-record ones.

Lifespan

In UK vet records, the typical Chinese Crested lived to about 13 and a half years, about average for a toy breed.

Where it comes from

The Chinese Crested is said to go back to Han Dynasty China, where the dogs guarded treasure houses and a larger, heavier strain was used for hunting. It was shown in America from 1885 until 1926, then rarely appeared in the ring for about half a century. The hairless variety keeps hair only as a crest, socks and a tail plume; the Powder Puff is fully coated4,10.

The Chinese Crested has an uncertain early history. Hairless dogs of similar type are known from Africa and the Americas, and it is told, rather than recorded, that Chinese sailors kept them aboard trading ships to catch vermin and left them in ports along their routes. The modern breed owes much to a small group of American enthusiasts in the mid-twentieth century, among them Debra Woods, who kept detailed breeding records, and the entertainer Gypsy Rose Lee. Dogs reached Britain in the nineteen-sixties, and kennel clubs on both sides of the Atlantic recognised the breed later in the century. Kept mainly as a companion and lapdog, the Chinese Crested is small, fine-boned and graceful.

Breed standard

The Chinese Crested is judged against standard no. 288, in group 9, Companion and Toy Dogs4.

Questions people ask

General guidance for dogs rather than a measured Chinese Crested figure: most females have a first season somewhere between six and fifteen months, and cycles then settle to roughly every 180 days. Smaller breeds tend to start earlier and larger ones later, so a toy breed is most likely at the early end.

Compare with related

Xoloitzcuintli
Spitz & primitive · Medium
Maltese
Companion & toy · Toy
Havanese
Companion & toy · Toy
Coton de Tulear
Companion & toy · Toy
Or compare the Chinese Crested with any breed you choose
Track your own Chinese Crested
Log a minute a day and watch them sit on these curves. Free.

Sources

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Parts of this page were written by AI ·