CHINESE CRESTED. A fine-boned, elegant toy dog that craves human companionship. It is believed that Chinese mariners sailed with this breed – believed to have evolved from African hairless dogs – on board. During the time of the Chinese plagues, hairless dogs were stowed aboard ships to hunt vermin. By the mid-nineteenth century, Cresteds began appearing in European art, and entries of the breed in American dog shows began in the late 1800s.