Hairless dogs in competition; meet Mexico's Xoloitzcuintles

Spend any time on the streets of Mexico, and you will eventually see them. Mexico's hairless brown or red-skinned dogs -- the Xoloitzcuintle (pronounced sholo-squint-lay).

Love them or hate them, they've played a long-term part in Mexico's history, according to Gabriel Mestre, who is a small-scale Xoloitzcuintle breeder and author of a number of books on the subject. He says this breed of dog can be traced back at least 2,800 years in Mexico, and that some Mexicans believed that the animals had curative powers.

But that doesn't stop him from showing them off, and he's a regular at national and international dog shows around the world. We went along with him and one of his dogs, 8-month-old Aztlan, to a recent show here in Mexico City.

Hairless dogs in competition; meet Mexico's Xoloitzcuintles