Chinese Crested Powderpuff

Chinese Crested Rescues: http://fpm.petfinder.com/petlist/petlist.cgi?shelter=NY310
http://www.bemikitties.com/hopeshaven/
http://www.njccr.net/
http://www.rmccr.org/

Breeders who adhere to the American Chinese Crested Club Code of Ethics
http://accc.chinesecrestedclub.info/pages/breeders.html

This breed is prone to problems of the eyes and teeth. You do not want to get a puppy mill crested. If you think $500 is a lot of money, wait until you get a dog who has to get all his teeth pulled before the age of 2.

Personally, I'm so strongly opposed to pet stores and puppy mills that I would rather have no dog at all than to support those people.

Please do not get a crested from a pet store. They are prone to many health issues that commercial breeders pay absolutely no attention to. Besides the teeth problems, cresties often have skin problems and a variety of congenital and genetic defects, if not bred very carefully.

Cresties are a freak of nature. Their key characteristic is the result of a lethal mutation. Breeders who care about not only the breed, but about the dogs themselves, spend the time to learn how to breed pups that will be as healthy as possible, and also meet the standard of the breed for temperament, and how they look.

Getting a quality puppy from a breeder like this costs money, but it's well worth it in the long run. If I were to go the breeder route to get a crestie, the breeder I'd go to would probably want about $900 for a companion-quality puppy. But even with my limited experience with the breed, I feel certain I'd not only get a quality, healthy puppy that would save me thousands in the long run, but I'd also get a friend who was very knowlegeable about the breed and would be there for me as I raise my puppy.

The grooming requirements on this breed are tremendous. Frequents baths are a must, with special products as cresteds have sensitivities to many common skin care products. I have a very hairy hairless - similar coat to the puff - and I comb her out every day, or she gets terrible matts. I have a friend who has her half brother, a puff, and his coat is worse than hers to matt.

Responsible breeders breed as much as possible for a correct coat that doesn't matt too badly, but they have to make health their number one priority. It's better to have dogs that you have to groom frequently, than blind, and deaf pups with no teeth and skin so sensitive they can't go outside.

Rescue is a terrific way to go. With a rescue you know just what you are getting. This breed has a wide variety of personalities and needs, from clingy lap warmers to very active terrier-like dogs like my Zhi. Even the best breeders sometimes can't predict what the pups from any cross are going to be like, exactly - that's one of the fun things about this breed.

But for those buying from unscrupulous breeders, or from a pet store with no history, nasty surprises could be in store. My Zhi had three homes before she was ten weeks old because she's over the top active. She rivals many Jack Russells I've known, for craziness.

Good luck and please, please, please don't support the pet store. They'll just make more.

ETA: Crest Care is the main crested rescue link: http://www.crest-care.com/ They are great people. The crested community is a great bunch of people in general and very welcoming to "newbies"! Check out the forums: Crested Crush is my fav - kind of offbeat but with some great information, well laid out. http://www.chinesecrestedcrush.com/phpBB2/index.php

Where do you live? i'm in Wichita Kansas and one of our local adoption agency has a powderpuff for adoption. Their fee is $85. i attached a photo at the bottom.
 
I agree with the previous poster. I don't think you should get one from a petstore. I've heard they get a lot of puppies from puppy mills and stuff.

I'll show her the picture and see what she thinks.  I live in NC but Im not afraid to drive a ways to rescue a pup... especially when the alternative is supporting a pet store which as I stated before I dont agree with.  Her main argument was that she would be rescuing one from the store since they dont appear to be taking good care of their pups.  They wouldnt care about that though, they'd just care that we bought it for a reason, just that we bought it.  I dont suppose you know the sex of the puff do you?  She has it in her mind that she wants to find a female and name it Fiona.  Thanks again for all the leads, I knew that joining this forum was going to be a good idea.

If you can rescue the CC in Kansas that's terrific, but I do know there's some active rescuers (and good breeders) here in NC. Do get in touch with Crest Care. You don't have to commit, just find out what they do and what it's all about.

Cresties are COOL. []

Zhi as a wild child puppy right after I adopted her:



Zhi now:



Look! I stack naturally! (I shave her down)



Clothes are a must for cresteds:

Here are 12+ Chinese Crested Breeders (hairless & powderpuff), might want to scan through them and take a look at the breeders and dogs.
[linkhttp://www.puppydogweb.com/breeders/chinesecrested.htm]http://www.puppydogweb.com/breeders/chinesecrested.htm[/link]
Or, even better then getting one from a breeder, go to [linkhttp://www.petfinder.com]www.petfinder.com[/link] and find one you can adopt!
 
PLEASE do not get a dog from the pet store, it's better to save up for a healthy one then pay a little for an unhealthy one and end up paying thousands of dollars for vet bills or even ending up with a dead dog.
Please read up on the pet store truths.... [linkhttp://forum.dog.com/asp/tm.asp?m=256903]http://forum.dog.com/asp/tm.asp?m=256903[/link]

Brookcove- In the puppy picture Zhi looks like a powderpuff!

Edited to add- before I got Fudge I considered getting a Crested and browsed a Chinese Crested forum. It seems like almost every person there was having problems with housebreaking. And these were not puppies; they were adult dogs that people were STILL trying to get housebroken.

Brookcove- In the puppy picture Zhi looks like a powderpuff!

Yes, her clueless back yard breeder sold her as a powderpuff. [8|] She's officially a "very hairy hairless" which sounds weird, but the difference is that her coat is very fine and in places you can see skin through it, plus she's got nearly bare patches on her throat and underneath. Genetically she is hairless.

I don't really see housebreaking as more of an issue than for other small, strongwilled dogs. I have to make sure Zhi can't access the nether regions of the house or she will make a little toilet spot for herself, but that's part of being an 8 pound immature dog. When you are 8 pounds, the far corner of a 1200 square foot house probably seems like it's on another planet. And of course I remember that she's got a bladder the size of a walnut, so it's out as often as possible.

Housebreaking problems probably come for these guys when people don't treat them like itty bitty real dogs.

I only mentioned housebreaking because it does seem that certain breeds have more issues with it that others. The Bichon is one and from what I've seen the Chinese Crested is another... And yes, small dogs in general do tend to be harder to housebreak. It's something for people to be aware of before deciding what kind of dog to get.

Here's a little bit of info on the breed. Keep in mind that it's the worst case scenario, but it does go over a lot of different breed traits.

http://www.yourpurebredpuppy.com/reviews/chinesecresteds.html

I dunno, I'm on a couple of different boards and a list and have never really seen a lot of issues with housebreaking mentioned. But then, I tend to prefer lists that don't attract casual owners.

I wonder whether Bichons and Cresteds have the same problems reported because they attract the same kind of back yard breeder looking to tap into the "allergenic dog" market. You have to introduce these pups right away to housebreaking training, while still with the breeder in fact, so there's a huge difference between pups that come from the responsible fanciers, and back yard or commercial bred puppies.

In other words, while there's still only a handful of responsible breeders for both of those breeds (and other like them), you can't throw a rock without hitting a kennel that's added a crestie pair or two or four to its "stable". [:-] So the majority of Crestie pups are probably now being raised in kennels - exactly what is not recommended for this breed.

Just a thought. I do agree that you don't want a crestie if you aren't committed to being sat on all the time or followed everywhere, and if you don't want to spend a lot of time grooming and money on clothes (but I think all that is fun).