My name is Misty Gourley, I live in Eden, North Carolina ( NC ) and chinese cresteds are a huge
part of my life. I got into them when I bought my first little girl, Sissy. I felt she had the best personality and that is
when I knew that this was the breed for me.
I got the name "Kunoki" from the Swahili language. This language is the official language of
many countries in Africa, for example Tanzania and Kenya. It is extensively used in Uganda and east of Zaire. I thought that
since the Chinese Cresteds are known to originate in Africa, what a better way to name my lines. Kunoki means "To fall in
love with", and that is exactly what I did with this breed.
The chinese crested is a fine boned, toy-sized dog of all different combinations of colors. They
are idealy in the range of 11 to 13 inches tall, although there is some smaller and some that are larger. The length of the
body should be slightly longer than they are tall at the withers. They eyes should be alert, almond shaped and set wide apart.
Darker cresteds should have dark colored eyes, and lighter cresteds can have lighter colored eyes, and the rims of the eyes
should match the color of the dog. The ears are NOT cropped, but should be large and errect. A nice scissor bite is important.
The powder puff should have a full set of teeth, but the hairless is not faulted for having missing teeth. The neck is lean
and slightly arched at the withers, and the topline is either level or slightly slopping.
There are different varieties of the cresteds: the true hairless, the hairy hairless, and the
powderpuff. The true hairless has hair only on the head, feet and tail, with minimal to no body hair. The hairy hairless
has more body hair with it thicker on the head, feet and tail. The powder puff has a soft, silky double coat. In all varieties
the hair is to be straight with moderate density and length.
