Lays Potato Chips and Chinese Cresteds

Chinese Cresteds are like Lays Potato Chips—you can never have just one. 

Boomers will understand the old advertising reference.  Post-Millennials, Millennials, and even Xers will likely have to google it.

It's hard to explain, but Cresties are unlike any other breed. Once you've had a Crested, your house will never be a home without at least one. Often one Crestie leads to another, and another--sometimes the multiples come one after another, sometimes they arrive all at the same time.  I recently met a couple who, by all accounts have mega-multiples. Currently they have 20 Chinese Cresteds.  Or 28.  It depends on who you ask. They of course are breeders. And they view each and every Crested as one of their babies.  I totally get it.

I’ve been thinking about my future  Crested a lot since Bandit crossed the Rainbow Bridge this past December. I think it’s still a little too soon to actually get one because the last time I lost a pup, it took two full years before I could even start thinking about adding another FurKid to the Fam. Bandit was that FurBoy, or rather, that FurLessBoy.  So...in a way, thinking about a future Crested this soon in the grieving process is actually a tribute to Bandit.  Right?  At least that's what I tell myself in my attempt to lessen the guilt I feel for being unfaithful to his memory.

Don't get me wrong:  there will never be another Bandit.  I cannot replace him.  I don't ever want to try.  However, I do want to eventually add another Crestie to my family.  Notice I want another Crestie.  Not just any breed will do, even though I love other breeds. It's that chip thing. I’ve even visited the Marketplace on the American Kennel Club (AKC) website to see what I might expect to pay for a Chinese Crested--it's been over 13 years since Bandit came home with me and everything, including the cost of dogs, has increased.

I may have mentioned checking out Cresteds to one of my supervisors, because a couple Fridays back she told me to start looking for another dog to shower with love and spoil rotten. Spoil rotten?!  Me?!  Ha ha.  She knows me well.

The following Monday she asked me if I had found a dog over the weekend. I had not.

However, I am my  Mama’s Child.

Translation: I am ornery and I love a good prank. So...as a joke, I texted her back and told her I didn’t get another pup—I got 12! 

And I had--earlier this year I bought an “Ugly Dogs” calendar to  be my work calendar.  It, of course, is full of pups that are not exactly breed standard.  People frequently say they are so ugly they are cute.  I think they are perfect as is.  The calendar  features a different dog each month.  

Now, in my defense, I did attach a photo of the calendar to my text.

Unfortunately,  when she read my text, the photo didn’t  go through.  She thought I really had 12 new puppies!  Nope. My work schedule would not be fair to the potty training process of not quite developed puppy reasoning, or their kidneys.  Besides, the prices on the AKC Marketplace are a bit higher than my price point.  Especially after the thousands I spent in Bandits final medical bills,  and my recent tire/wheel repair and replacement.  Thankfully 2/3 of that bill was assumed by insurance.  

To be fair, the pups I have been looking at  are show quality pups with Champion Sires and Dams, and could potentially become champions themselves. As such, the prices are likely very fair.  But when I'm ready to add a pup, I’ll be getting another pet or companion Crested, or a rescue…although, a retired show or breeding Crested might be feasible if the price is right. And there is also the possibility of a rescue from a puppy mill. Although so far the rescue Cresteds I've seen have looked nothing like Cresteds. I don't care about the registration papers since I will not be showing conformation or breeding, but I do want my future Crestie to look the part. And I prefer the neked ones to the puffs. 

During the late 1960s or early 1970s  I attended my one and only live conformation dog show. Since then I've watched them occasionally on television. This particular show was an AKC Trial on, or near, Eglin Air Force Base.  This family outting ended up being educational as well as fun.  The AKC is one of the few confirmation shows that still "bench" the contestants.  Benching is awesome for the spectators because, when not in the ring,  each dog and handler sit at their bench, and become ambassadors educating the public to the specifics of their breed standard (what their particular national Breed Club states is ideal).  Each breed has, and competes against, its own standard. Sometimes within the breed there are multiple varieties, based on color, coat, or size. Each variety also has its own standard.  Each variety may have a different Breed Standard.

For instance, the Chinese Crested comes in two varieties: Powderpuff (long flowing  hair all over the body) and Hairless (as implied, their skin no hair whatsoever, or is very sparse). Bandit, my NekedBoy, was a True Hairless—he had a small crest of hair on his head with wispy fringes on his ears, and the rest of his furnishings:  the plume (tip of the tail) and socks (feet), were very sparse. In latter years he developed a trace amount of fuzz on his muzzle, and less than 30 individual curly hairs on his body. There is interestingly a third unofficial variety—and it’s the off-shoot of the Hairless variety that typically wins Chinese Crested Best of Breed—the Hairy Hairless.  The HHL furnishings: crest, plume, socks, and even a “mane” going down its neck, are silky,  full, and flowing.  The Hairy Hairless remind me of miniature Clydesdales or Gypsy horses (aka Gypsy Cob, Irish Cob, or Gypsy Vanner).

In order to participate in AKC shows your pup must be registered. I never submitted Bandits papers to the CKC (Canadian Kennel Club) since he was not breed standard (he was a couple pounds heavier and a couple inches taller).  Nevertheless, Bandit became an awesome unofficial ambassador for the Chinese Crested breed. He makes me want to add another Crested to the family, because just like Lays potato chips--one is never enough.