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THE DOMESDAY BOOK OF DOGS

The Techichi 

  Supposedly entirely mute pet dog of the aboriginal Americans.  Extensively used as a food source by the indigenes as well as by Spanish explorers.  The dogs bred prolifically but failed to keep the pace and eventually became extinct.  As with all pre-Columbian 'breeds' they were allowed to cross indiscriminately with introduced dogs and became swamped by foreign blood.  Sometimes called the Small Indian Dog or the Alco, although this latter name may have been a generic term, in many Amerindian dialects, to denote a small 'breed'.

  The Techichi may be an ancestor of the Chihuahua.  In an effort to account for the obvious differences between the two breeds Vesey-Fitzgerald, 1957, wondered if the 'Spanish occupiers' could have introduced Papillon blood into the Techichi.  Both the Chihuahua and the Papillon sport a pronounced stop, Doggie Hubbard, 1948, narrates an old tale about the disfigurement of Techichi pups: "A custom current in the fourteenth century was one of binding a dried pea or bean into position into the nasal depression in order to manufacture an exaggerated stop or 'hole-in-the-forehead'..."  This could be correct but acquired characteristics cannot be inherited.  Any exaggerated stop would have to be bred for, subconciously or otherwise, if it was more extreme than in the original stock.

  In statuary the dog is normally portrayed as pot-bellied, perhaps because it was seen as a basic foodstuff, Gordon, 1832, claims 'the Mexicans' fatten them as they do hogs.  Dogs for fattening were usually first castrated as pups.  Individuals that escaped being eaten may sometimes be slaughtered and buried with their deceased master; usually with a tether around the neck the better to guide him through the underworld.  A third option for the unfortunate animal was to be cremated with a deceased owner.

Pre-Columbian effigy of a Techichi.  Courtesy of Wikipedia.

  This breed type appeared to, at least superficially, resemble the Short-legged Indian Dog but the ranges were different, although there was considerable overlap.  The Techichi's range included much of North America and even extended into northern South America.

The History of ancient Mexico.

Thomas F. Gordon.  1832.

Bulletins of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College.
Glover M. Allen. 1920.

The Domestic Dog. Routledge and Kegan Paul, London.

Brian Vesey-Fitzgerald, 1957.

Dogs in Britain. Macmillan, London.

Clifford L.B. Hubbard. 1948.

Chihauhau-sized dog discovered in Roman-era Oxfordshire archaeological dig.

Daily Express, 18/08/2023 

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