Dogs of the Aztecs

At the time Europeans arrived in the Aztec world dogs, basically, came in three or four flavours: the Techichi, (‘Te chee chee’); the Itzcuintle, (‘Ish kwint lee’) and the Xoloitzcuintle (‘Show lo ish kwint lee’) and the Tlalchichi (‘Tlal chee chee’). Of course, some of these dogs were not specifically Aztec in origin but had been living among the people of Mexico for a very long time. While wolves, coyotes and foxes were native to the western hemisphere, dogs were not. Dogs and people arrived in the new world together and dogs were very much a part of the life of native peoples in Mexico long before the Aztecs arrived.

Pic 1: Stone Aztec statue of a dog, Museo Nacional de Antropología, Mexico City

While there were various sizes of dogs, most fell into the three main categories above. The Tlalchichi was a small to medium sized dog with a longer body and very short legs; bred and used for food a perro cebado (fattened dog), the Itzcuintle and the Techichi were local ‘village dogs’ used as pets, to hunt and to guard the village. The difference is that the Techichi was slightly smaller and had a short nose. The Xoloitzcuintle was another kind of dog entirely. Xolos are hairless.

Pic 3: Ceramic effigy of a dog bred and fattened for food; Colima (West Mexico), 100 BCE-300 CE, Walters Art Museum

They were used in cleansing rituals where the disease was drawn from the person by stroking the patient with a Xolo pup. The pup was supposed to take the malady onto itself. It would seem that Xolos were also a prestige item, and around 1200 CE effigies of hairless dogs appear in the pottery of the Chimú people of Peru, indicating that Xolos had been traded down the west coast that far.

Pic 5: The ‘Xolo’ dog, Florentine Codex Book XI

The tenth day of the Aztec calendar is called the Dog day. People born on this day were considered to be exceptional breeders of dogs. Often they would be expected to breed dogs for the great markets of Tenochtitlan where dogs were sold as a food source. ‘One Dog’ was an especially lucky day.
Dogs were also the mascot of the traders called Pochteca possibly because dogs guarded them and carried packs of trade goods.

Pic 7: Model of the great market at Tenochtitlan (note the Xolo being carried, on the right); Dog - 10th day sign in the Aztec calendar

When a person dies he (or she) is supposed to be greeted by one of his dogs from his life and helped to cross the terrible river of the underworld where black and white spotted dogs will greet him on the other side. Traditionally, the dog that helps him cross the river is a yellow dog. Among the Maya, this dog was a rather silly looking spotted dog but very powerful as he was the first god of the underworld. This was because he could see the way to the place of the dead.

Pic 9: A Maya dog plays a pot-drum in a mythical scene; detail from a mural, Sala Maya, Museo Nacional de Antropología, Mexico City