The Peruvian Hairless Dog, Peruvian viringo, naked dog, or Chimú dog is one of several breeds of hairless dog. It is native of Peru and it is usually raised as a pet. It has been officially recognized as part of Peru's Cultural Heritage. Like all dog breeds, there are some health problems. The Spanish conquest of Peru brought much larger breeds. Many people avoided Peruvian Hairless strays in cities, believing that they lacked fur because of illness. The breed survived in rural areas where the people believed that they held a mystical value, and because of their reputation to treat arthritis. In 2018, an analysis of DNA from the entire cell nucleus indicated that dogs entered North America from Siberia 4,500 years after humans did, were isolated for the next 9,000 years, and after contact with Europeans these no longer exist because they were replaced by Eurasian dogs. The pre-contact dogs exhibit a unique genetic signature that is now gone.
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