Accessories

Yorkie: How a Rat-slayer Became Today’s Fashion Model

Yorkshire Terrier Dog History

Today’s Yorkshire Terrier dog seems to be nothing if not a modern fashion accessory having eclipsed the Chihuahua as the apparent Toy Dog of choice for the seen-about-town starlet. But this was not always the case because the Yorkshire Terrier (or Yorkie as it is commonly referred to for short) evolved from an extremely humble working-class background, having been developed for the somewhat gritty task of killing rats!

During the peak of the Industrial Revolution in the Victorian Ages, Scottish laborers migrated south to the northern boundaries of England in search of better employment opportunities. Very commonly they would take their small Scottish terriers with them on their travels, and unsurprisingly when they eventually settled in Yorkshire those dogs invariably bred with the local dogs of the region. The ultimate result of that crossbreeding is the dog today known as the Yorkshire Terrier.

Yorkshire Terrier Dog Breed Roots

The Yorkshire Terrier was originally known as the Broken-haired Scotch Terrier (probably in recognition of the strong Scottish dog influence in the breed) and was very popular as a vermin exterminator in a region exploding with factories and mining centers; veritable havens for large rat populations. Due to its miniscule size (the Yorkshire Terrier dog was small enough to fit in its owner’s pocket…hmmm, I guess pocket sizes back in the day were somewhat larger and more utilitarian than today) and ferocious temperament the Yorkshire Terrier (or more accurately, the Broken-haired Scotch Terrier as it was still known) was perfectly suited for its original function as rat slayer!

By 1870 the Yorkshire Terrier dog was finally recognized as a separate dog breed and was hence forth known by its modern name. However up to now there is no single voice of concordance to the exact progenitors of this dog breed although it is generally acknowledged that the following dog breeds were involved in some manner or other in the development of the modern Yorkie:

• Long-haired Leeds Terrier
• Black and Tan Terrier
• Skye Terrier
• Paisley Terrier
• Clydesdale Terrier
• Dandie Dinmont Terrier
• Manchester Terrier
• Waterside Terrier
• Maltese

The Waterside Terrier which was taken to Yorkshire by weavers from Scotland played a significant part in the development of the Yorkshire Terrier dog breed and is probably most responsible for the silver-blue hue characteristic of many Yorki’s coats; the Waterside Terrier usually sported a blue-grey coat color.

Yorkshire Terrier Foundation Stock

A single dog has been identified as the founding father of the Yorkshire Terrier dog breed and that dog was known as Huddersfield Ben. Huddersfield Ben was born in 1865 and by 1886 his offspring were spread far and wide enough to cement the establishment of the Yorkshire Terrier as a recognized dog breed by the Kennel Club in that very year.

Although originally shunned by the wealthier classes because of its less than stellar origins, the Yorkshire Terrier’s innate beauty and miniature size could not be resisted for long by the well-heeled ladies of the day. The Yorkie’s appeal as a ladies companion dog was irresistible and in rapid success through a series of selective breeding programs, the already small Yorkshire Terrier dog shrunk to an even smaller size.

The Yorkie migrated to the shores of North America as early as the late 1800s, and at that time there was significant variation in the breed’s size. Many of the Yorkshire Terrier specimens weighed in at around 12 to 14 pounds and featherweight as this may have been it was decided by fanciers on both sides of the Atlantic that the smaller variant of the dog was more desirable.

Following a concerted and selective breeding drive to develop a truly miniature dog that scaled in at a maximum weight of 7 pounds, contrastingly the coat of the Yorkie did not resize proportionally to the dogs new shrunken stature, resulting in an exceptionally long coat. The coat of the modern Yorkie is so long, especially in prize show dogs, that those awaiting to enter the show ring need to have their coats fashioned in curlers to avoid ruining the coat!

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