Peruvian Inca Orchid

Stays close to its people, watchful with strangers.
A Peruvian Inca Orchid
Photo: Paradais Sphynx
Adult weight
4–30 kg
8.8–66 lb
Lifespan
12–14 yrs
Class · Companion
also Watchdog, Sport

What it's like

The breed is lively, alert and affectionate with its own household, staying close to the people it knows. It is often reserved and watchful with strangers and makes an effective watchdog.

Day to day
Activity
A good daily walk and play
Intelligence
Learns readily, likes games
Handler demand
Needs steady training
With people
Affection
Affectionate on its own terms
Loyalty
Sticks close to its people
Independence
Cooperative, with its own ideas
Around the home
Sensitivity
Needs a calm, predictable home
Voice
Barks to alert, then settles
Prey drive
Likely to chase 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 Peruvian Inca Orchid right for you?
Take the breed matcher

Living with one

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

Size and growth

A Peruvian Inca Orchid is a medium dog, about the weight of a grown Border Collie.

It is a lean, graceful dog shaped like a sighthound, with a long neck, almond-shaped eyes and erect ears that it often folds back when relaxed. It is bred in several sizes. The hairless variety has smooth skin in black, elephant grey, slate or copper, often with pink patches, and may have short tufts of hair on the head, feet or tail tip. Coated puppies regularly appear in litters from hairless parents because hairless dogs carry only one copy of the dominant gene.

Varieties

FCI 310 divides this breed by size. Pick the variety your dog is for a band that fits.
Variety
Weight
Height
Small
4–8 kg4
25–40 cm4
Medium
8–12 kg4
41–50 cm4
Large
12–30 kg4
51–65 cm4

Puppy growth

Reference curve · community data appears as owners log
By about 5 months, a male Peruvian Inca Orchid puppy is already as heavy as a grown Pug. They grow fastest between 3 and 4 months old.
Fully grown
11 mo
Both sexes, at 99% of adult weight6
Male
Female
Shaded: expected range
01020302m4m6m9m12m18m
01020302m3m4m6m9m12m18m
Age
Male
Female
2 months
0.9–6.5 kg 2.0–14.3 lb
1.0–7.2 kg 2.2–15.9 lb
3 months
1.3–9.6 kg 2.9–21.2 lb
1.4–10.2 kg 3.1–22.5 lb
4 months
1.9–14.0 kg 4.2–30.9 lb
1.9–14.6 kg 4.2–32.2 lb
5 months
2.4–17.9 kg 5.3–39.5 lb
2.5–18.5 kg 5.5–40.8 lb
6 months
2.9–21.4 kg 6.4–47.2 lb
2.9–21.7 kg 6.4–47.8 lb
7 months
3.2–24.0 kg 7.1–52.9 lb
3.2–24.0 kg 7.1–52.9 lb
8 months
3.5–25.9 kg 7.7–57.1 lb
3.4–25.6 kg 7.5–56.4 lb
9 months
3.6–27.2 kg 7.9–60.0 lb
3.6–26.9 kg 7.9–59.3 lb
10 months
3.7–28.0 kg 8.2–61.7 lb
3.7–27.7 kg 8.2–61.1 lb
11 months
3.8–28.6 kg 8.4–63.1 lb
3.8–28.3 kg 8.4–62.4 lb
12 months
3.9–29.1 kg 8.6–64.2 lb
3.8–28.7 kg 8.4–63.3 lb
15 months
4.0–29.8 kg 8.8–65.7 lb
3.9–29.6 kg 8.6–65.3 lb

Lifespan

No vet study has measured how long Peruvian Inca Orchids live yet. The 12–14 years shown is a general figure without a published source.

Where it comes from

The Peruvian Inca Orchid, the viringo, appears on the pottery of pre-Inca cultures such as the Vicús, Mochica, Chancay and Chimú, sometimes in the place of the puma, hawk or snake. It has been found in the tombs of high-status people, and was believed to have healing powers. Peru's Congress declared the hairless dog part of the nation's cultural heritage in 20014,7,8.

The Peruvian Inca Orchid declined after the Spanish conquest and survived mainly in rural communities along Peru's northern coast. There it was kept as a household companion and a source of warmth, not as a specialised working dog. Its English name dates from the twentieth century, when dogs were taken to the United States. One story says the Spanish first saw these dogs among orchids in Inca homes, but nothing documents it. In Peru and in international registries the breed is also called the Perro sin pelo del Perú.

Breed standard

One registry divides it into three varieties by size, each with its own weight range.

Questions people ask

General guidance for dogs rather than a measured Peruvian Inca Orchid 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 medium-sized breed is most likely somewhere in the middle.

Compare with related

Xoloitzcuintli
Spitz & primitive · Medium
Portuguese Podengo
Spitz & primitive · Medium
Keeshond
Spitz & primitive · Medium
Finnish Lapphund
Spitz & primitive · Medium
Or compare the Peruvian Inca Orchid with any breed you choose
Track your own Peruvian Inca Orchid
Log a minute a day and watch them sit on these curves. Free.

Sources

Uncited on this page: Lifespan — no reviewed source yet, so it is a general reference figure rather than a published one.
Something wrong on this page?
Parts of this page were written by AI ·