Mexican lapdog

{{Short description|Extinct dog breed}}

{{About|the extinct breed|the extant breed|Chihuahua (dog breed)}}

{{Infobox dog breed

| name = Mexican lapdog

| image = Mexican lap-dog by JG Keulemans.jpg

| image_alt = Illustration of a Mexican lapdog on top of a chair cushion. It is small in size with white curly fur. Its limbs are small in comparison with its body.

| image_caption = 1890 illustration by John Gerrard Keulemans

| country = Mexico

| extinct = yes

}}

The Mexican lapdog is an extinct breed of lap dog originating in Mexico noted for its small size.

The Mexican lapdog was the smallest of all dog breeds,{{Cite book |last=Alden |first=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zQhDAQAAMAAJ |title=Alden's Manifold Cyclopedia of Knowledge and Language |date=1890 |volume=21 |pages=472}} being nearly identical in size to a guinea pig.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8YjQAAAAMAAJ |title=The Eclectic Magazine of Foreign Literature, Science, and Art |date=1889 |publisher=Leavitt, Trow, & Company |volume=50 |pages=732}} It measured only {{convert|18|cm|in}} from the snout to the base of the tail as an adult.{{Cite book |last=Mivart |first=St. George |author-link=St. George Jackson Mivart |url=https://archive.org/details/dogsjackalswolve00mivarich/dogsjackalswolve00mivarich/page/162/mode/2up |title=Dogs, jackals, wolves, and foxes : a monograph of the Canidae |date=1890 |publisher=R. H. Porter |location=London |pages=163}}{{Cite book |last=Lydekker |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Lydekker |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uFwJBReyaC8C&q=mexican+lap+dog |title=Mammals |date=1901 |publisher=Merrill & Baker |pages=552}} John George Wood stated that the breed was smaller than even toy dogs in shop windows, and that its small size would have caused doubt as to its existence if a specimen did not exist in the British Museum.{{Cite book |last=Wood |first=John |author-link=John George Wood |url=https://archive.org/details/illustratednatur01wood/page/278/mode/2up |title=The Illustrated Natural History |date=1859 |publisher=Warne and Routledge |pages=277–278}} The breed had curly, medium length white fur, although the fur on its short tail was longer than the fur on the rest of the body. It had a round head, small ears, a flesh-colored nose, and widely separated brown eyes. Author Dave Madden described the breed as resembling "a guinea pig caught in a wind tunnel".{{Cite book |last=Madden |first=Dave |url=https://archive.org/details/authenticanimali00madd/mode/2up |title=The Authentic Animal: Inside the Odd and Obsessive World of Taxidermy |date=2011 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=978-0312643713 |pages=19}} The breed's foundation stock is not known, although it is believed to have likely been descended from European breeds.

The puppies were roughly the size of hamsters, and taxidermists of the Victorian era often mounted Mexican lapdog puppies to display their small size.{{Cite web |title=DOG BREEDS IN THE 1800s - MINIATURE LAPDOGS |url=http://messybeast.com/history/1800dogs-2.htm |access-date=2025-04-11 |website=messybeast.com}} One such puppy, purchased in Liverpool in 1843,{{Cite book |title=A Guide to the Domesticated Animals (other Than Horses) Exhibited in the Central and North Halls of the British Museum (Natural History) |date=1918 |publisher=British Museum |pages=45}} was kept in a glass case in the British Museum for many years.{{Cite book |last=Masson |first=David |author-link=David Masson |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ToEHAAAAQAAJ |title=The British Museum, Historical and Descriptive |date=1850 |publisher=W. and R. Chambers |pages=235}} This puppy was {{convert|8|cm|in}} tall at the shoulders.{{Cite book |last1=Dennis-Bryan |first1=Kim |title=Dogs of the Last Hundred Years at the British Museum (Natural History) |last2=Clutton-Brock |first2=Juliet |date=1988 |publisher=British Museum |pages=104}} The taxidermy puppy is now kept at the Natural History Museum at Tring, and is one of the museum's oldest specimens.{{Cite web |date=2021-10-21 |title=The Mexican Lap Dog on the left is one of the oldest mounted skins to be listed in the collection and was exhibited for many years @BritishMuseum in Bloomsbury before the building of @NHM_London. They are both now on display at Tring. |url=https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=5247975741928037&id=1954291937963117&set=a.2053100914748885 |access-date=2025-04-11 |website=Facebook |publisher=Natural History Museum at Tring}}