The American Hairless Terrier‘s history is somewhat identical to that of the Rat Terrier, that is, until 1972. That year, a completely hairless puppy was born in a litter of purebred Rat Terriers in Louisiana. “Josephine,” as she would be called, was given by the breed to friends, Willie and Edwin Scott, who began to develop the American Hairless Terrier from Josephine’s descendants. Although he never used any dogs but Rat Terriers in his breeding program, it was always the Scotts’ intention for the hairless dogs to be a separate breed.

In 1999, the United Kennel Club recognized the Rat Terrier. Breeders of the hairless dogs were encouraged to register their dogs with the UKC registry as Rat Terriers – hairless variety. All the hairless Rat Terriers and their coated descendants, products of careful breeding to the finest coated Rat Terriers, were given the name originally chosen for the breed by Edwin Scott: American Hairless Terrier. Though it seemed contradictory to have coated dogs in a hairless breed, they considered it necessary to include some Rat Terrier crosses until there are sufficient hairless dogs to maintain a separate and healthy gene pool. In 2004, the American Hairless Terrier was recognized by that name by the United Kennel Club. The breed was recorded in the #AKC’s Foundation Stock Service (FSS) in October, 2011, and in January, 2016, the American Hairless Terrier will be eligible to compete in the #AKC’s Terrier group.

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