2011 National Dog Show: The Only Place to Find Xoloitzcuintli on Thanksgiving

Seriously, how awesome is Thanksgiving? You get to hang out with your family and eat tons and tons of amazing food, and you even get to watch pro football.

Or the National Dog Show, if you're into that kind of thing. I guess I can't blame you if you're not.

However, the National Dog Show does have one thing that you're not going to find in a football game, or anywhere else for that matter:

A Xoloitzcuintli.

Say the name out loud (it's pronounced "show-low-eats-queen-tlee") and see if one of your family members says something like, "Oh yeah, my neighbor has one of those."

Whoever says that is lying. While it's possible that so-and-so's neighbor actually does have one of these dogs, I refuse to believe that somebody could actually recognize the word "Xoloitzcuintli" and know exactly what it is.

So what is it, you ask?

Well, according to the American Kennel Club's website, a Xoloitzcuintli is a hairless breed of dog from Mexico. They're supposedly ancient, though 2011 marks the first year a Xoloitzcuintli has been featured in the National Dog Show.

Within the parameters of the show (see NBC Sports), Xoloitzcuintlis belonged to the "non-sporting group," which consists of every breed that doesn't belong in the other six groups: terrier, toy, working, sporting, hound and herding.

It's too bad the dogs are judged based on things like appearance, temperament and movement. If the judges were on the lookout for breeds with awesome names, the Xoloitzcuintli would win this year—and probably every year afterwards, too.

Oh well, I guess even the great Xoloitzcuintli can't win 'em all. 

I'll tell you one thing, though. Right now, I'm looking at my sheepdog and wondering if I might be able to get away with passing him off for a Xoloitzcuintli next time I'm at the park. That would be a hell of a conversation starter.

Actually, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go give that a shot. I could use a walk anyway.