Variety of Xoloitzcuintli

Xoloitzcuintli (Miniature)

Calm indoors but alert, and reserved with strangers.
A Xoloitzcuintli
Photo: Canarian
Adult weight
4.5–6.8 kg
10–15 lb
Lifespan
13–18 yrs
Class · Lap dog
also Companion

What it's like

Xolos are calm and quiet indoors but alert, closely attached to their family and reserved with strangers. The Miniature keeps the breed's watchful nature in a smaller frame. Coated puppies regularly appear in litters bred from hairless parents.

Day to day
Activity
A good daily walk and play
Intelligence
Learns readily, likes games
Handler demand
Needs steady training
With people
Affection
A lap or leaning dog
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
Chases; needs managing
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.
See which breeds match you →

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 Miniature Xoloitzcuintli is a small dog, about the weight of a grown Jack Russell. It is one of the lightest small breeds.

The hairless dog has smooth, close skin, usually in dark solid shades such as black, slate or bronze, and sometimes a short tuft on the head or feet. The coated dog has a short, flat coat. Both have large, upright ears and a lean, elegant outline. The Miniature is the same dog on a smaller scale.

Puppy growth

Reference curve · community data appears as owners log
By about 3 months, a male Miniature Xoloitzcuintli puppy is already as heavy as a grown Chihuahua. They grow fastest between 3 and 4 months old.
Fully grown
10 mo
Both sexes, at 99% of adult weight6
Male
Female
Shaded: expected range
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Age
Male
Female
2 months
1.5–2.2 kg 3.3–4.9 lb
1.6–2.4 kg 3.5–5.3 lb
3 months
1.8–2.8 kg 4.0–6.2 lb
1.9–2.9 kg 4.2–6.4 lb
4 months
2.4–3.6 kg 5.3–7.9 lb
2.5–3.7 kg 5.5–8.2 lb
5 months
2.8–4.3 kg 6.2–9.5 lb
2.9–4.3 kg 6.4–9.5 lb
6 months
3.2–4.8 kg 7.1–10.6 lb
3.2–4.8 kg 7.1–10.6 lb
7 months
3.5–5.2 kg 7.7–11.5 lb
3.4–5.1 kg 7.5–11.2 lb
8 months
3.7–5.5 kg 8.2–12.1 lb
3.6–5.4 kg 7.9–11.9 lb
9 months
3.8–5.7 kg 8.4–12.6 lb
3.7–5.6 kg 8.2–12.3 lb
10 months
3.9–5.9 kg 8.6–13.0 lb
3.8–5.8 kg 8.4–12.8 lb
11 months
4.0–6.1 kg 8.8–13.4 lb
3.9–5.9 kg 8.6–13.0 lb
12 months
4.1–6.2 kg 9.0–13.7 lb
4.0–6.1 kg 8.8–13.4 lb
15 months
4.3–6.5 kg 9.5–14.3 lb
4.2–6.4 kg 9.3–14.1 lb
18 months
4.4–6.7 kg 9.7–14.8 lb
4.4–6.6 kg 9.7–14.6 lb

Lifespan

No vet study has measured how long Miniature Xoloitzcuintlis live yet. The 13–18 years shown is a general figure without a published source.

Where it comes from

The name Miniature Xoloitzcuintli does not mean the same size in every registry. In the FCI standard it is the smallest of the three sizes and the only one classed as a companion rather than a watchdog, while in the United States the Miniature is the middle size, between the Toy and the Standard, roughly the place the FCI gives to its Intermediate4,7,8.

Xoloitzcuintli (Miniature) dogs are a size variety of Mexico's ancient hairless breed, often shortened to Xolo. The name joins Xolotl, an Aztec god, with the Nahuatl word for dog, and the dogs are said to have been believed to guide the souls of the dead. By the mid-twentieth century the breed had become scarce. In the nineteen-fifties a search for native dogs in remote parts of Mexico helped bring about its revival and its formal recognition. The Xolo was kept as a companion and watchdog, and in pre-Columbian times its warm, bare body was reputedly valued as a comforter. Each size comes in a hairless and a coated form.

Breed standard

Kennel clubs do not all register this breed the same way.

Questions people ask

General guidance for dogs rather than a measured Miniature Xoloitzcuintli 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 small breed is most likely at the early end.

Compare with related

Volpino Italiano
Spitz & primitive · Small
Norwegian Lundehund
Spitz & primitive · Small
Alaskan Klee Kai
Non-sporting · Small
Japanese Spitz
Spitz & primitive · Small
Or compare the Miniature Xoloitzcuintli with any breed you choose
Track your own Xoloitzcuintli (Miniature)
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Sources

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