Breed Page

American Hairless Terrier — BetterBred Breed Page – BetterBred.com
BetterBred Breed Profile

American Hairless Terrier

Temperament: An alert, loyal and snuggly little dog who is also aware of strangers and retains a terrier toughness.
Height: 12-16 inches
Weight: 12-16 lbs
Life Span: 14-16 years
Outlier Index ?
0.34
Born before 2016: 0.37 Born after 2024: —
Avg Genetic Rel. ?
0.02
Born before 2016: -0.01 Born after 2024: —
Internal Relatedness ?
0.00
Born before 2016: -0.03 Born after 2024: —
American Hairless Terrier
#NameGender OIAGRIR
1 Kvk's A New Beginning @aNhk F 0.28 0.03 -0.02
2 Rip it Up Wudnshu Kitt for Kash F 0.32 0.05 -0.07
3 Sirius Hi-Life Here Comes The Sun M 0.21 0.05 -0.03
4 DreamEyce Streakingbare Say No To This F 0.30 -0.03 0.08
5 DreamEyce Imagine That! F 0.24 0.04 0.16
6 DreamEyce Sundial Rain Catcher M 0.40 0.02 -0.16
7 Poise Step'N Out Groovy Finale con Fuego M 0.27 0.05 0.08
8 Wilsong All I See Is You F 0.29 0.07 0.04
9 Sundial Keltic Under the Sea F 0.61 -0.15 -0.12
10 Poise & Stepn Out Gettin Jiggy Wit It F 0.41 0.03 -0.03
Hairlessness was a well known recessive trait in farm dog ratters in England and were brought to the US in the late 1800s. A century later, a hairless puppy was born in the 1970s to pair of typical Rat Terriers, and she was the basis for the American Hairless Terrier. Rat Terriers were used to outcross for a deeper gene pool. The breed gained full AKC recognition in 2016.
View Official Breed Standard →
A healthy breed, typical issues for small dogs should be considered, such as luxating patellas and Legg-Calve-Perthes disease. Hairless dogs can sunburn and can struggle in cold weather but they are hypoallergenic.

Average metrics by birth year for dogs with recorded birthdates in the BetterBred database.

A 3D genetic map of enrolled American Hairless Terrier dogs in the BetterBred database, based on allele-sharing distance across 33 STR loci. This is not a complete picture of the breed — it reflects only dogs whose owners have enrolled them. Drag to rotate · scroll to zoom · hover for dog names (public profiles only).

Historical founders — oldest 25% of enrolled dogs     Current gene pool — most recent 50% of enrolled dogs
Building plot… this may take a minute for larger breeds.

The Dog Leukocyte Antigen (DLA) region controls immune function and is the most polymorphic portion of the canine genome. Every dog carries two sets of DLA haplotypes — one from each parent — which almost never recombine across generations. Frequency percentages reflect how often each haplotype appears across all allele copies in the breed, not the percentage of dogs carrying it.

Class I Haplotypes

HaplotypeFrequency
1008
30.8%
1062
18.3%
1128
10.0%
1011
7.5%
1093
6.7%
1255
6.7%
1040
4.2%
1068
4.2%
1283
3.3%
1052
2.5%
1012
1.7%
1092
1.7%
1109
0.8%
1287
0.8%
1289
0.8%

Class II Haplotypes

HaplotypeFrequency
2003
32.5%
2021
17.5%
2079
10.0%
2032
6.7%
2040
6.7%
2096
6.7%
2001
4.2%
2022
3.3%
2067
2.5%
2137
2.5%
2018
1.7%
2037
1.7%
2012
0.8%
2026
0.8%
2028
0.8%
2033
0.8%
2053
0.8%

Class I & II Combinations

Class IClass IIFrequency
1008 2003
30.0%
1062 2021
16.7%
1128 2079
10.0%
1011 2096
6.7%
1093 2032
6.7%
1255 2040
6.7%
1068 2001
4.2%
1040 2022
3.3%
1283 2137
2.5%
1052 2067
2.5%
1012 2003
1.7%
1062 2018
1.7%
1092 2037
1.7%
1289 2021
0.8%
1287 2003
0.8%
1283 2033
0.8%
1109 2012
0.8%
1040 2028
0.8%
1011 2026
0.8%
1008 2053
0.8%

The Canine Diversity Test from UC Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory is the foundation of BetterBred’s breed management tools. Testing your dog adds to the breed database and gives you access to the full suite of breeding analysis tools.

Order from UC Davis VGL →
OI
Outlier Index

The Outlier Index (OI) measures how unusual a dog’s allele combination is relative to the tested population of its breed. A higher OI means the dog carries alleles at lower frequencies across the breed — genetic variants that are underrepresented in the population as a whole.

Dogs with high OI are genetically valuable because they carry diversity that most other tested dogs don’t share. Breeding them thoughtfully into the broader population helps redistribute lower-frequency alleles rather than allowing them to become even rarer over generations.

The breed average shown here reflects all dogs tested in the BetterBred database. The senior and youngster comparisons show whether diversity is trending up or down in recent generations.
AGR
Average Genetic Relatedness

Average Genetic Relatedness (AGR) measures how similar a dog’s DNA is, on average, to every other tested dog in the breed. It reflects the dog’s mean kinship — how closely related it is to the population as a whole.

A lower AGR means the dog is more genetically distinct from the majority of the breed. Dogs with low AGR carry alleles at lower frequencies across the tested population, making them higher-priority candidates for inclusion in a well-managed breeding program.

AGR is conceptually related to mean kinship used in conservation genetics for managed species populations. A declining AGR average in younger dogs suggests the breed is successfully redistributing genetic diversity across generations.
IR
Internal Relatedness

Internal Relatedness (IR) measures how much identical genetic material an individual dog inherited from both parents. IR is a useful indicator of inbreeding: lower IR generally reflects lower inbreeding, and it is widely used and reported in the scientific literature.

A high IR is not the cause for alarm it might appear. Elevated IR can often be resolved in a single generation by pairing with a dog whose ancestry is less represented in the breed. It is a signpost, not a sentence.

BetterBred reports IR for reference, but it is not our primary breeding guidance tool. OI and AGR together give a more complete and actionable picture of a dog’s genetic value to the population.

AGR tells you which dogs are genetically unusual relative to the population. OI tells you which dogs are most valuable to preserve. OI specifically weights mid-frequency alleles, identifying dogs whose ancestry is underrepresented in a way most likely to benefit the breed.