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HOW THE BREED WAS FORMED Today's Yorkshire Terriers are very different from the early Yorkshire Terriers of the North of England. There are varying accounts of the origins of this breed and its development. I have tried to give the most accurate, and most widely agreed upon history of the Yorkshire Terrier assembled from books and publications written by reliable and experienced fanciers of the breed in the U.S. and the U.K. Before 1750, most British people worked in agriculture. The onset of the Industrial Revolution brought great changes to family life. In Yorkshire, small communities grew up around coal mines, textile mills and factories. People were drawn to these areas to seek work from as far away as Scottland. They brought with them a breed known as the Clydesdale Terrier, or Paisley Terrier. These were primarily working dogs, much larger than today's Yorkies, and were used for catching rats and other small mammals. These terriers were inevitably crossed with other types of terrier, probably the English Black and Tan Toy Terrier, and the Skye Terrier; it is also thought that at some stage the Maltese Terrier was crossed with these breeds to help produce long coats. As the outline of the Maltese resembles that of many of today's Yorkies, this is very likely. Unfortunately, no records in the form of Pedigrees exist to confirm these crosses (possibly because of the poor level of literacy in these times), but a great deal is known about the type of people who bred them, and there can be no doubt that early breeders had a very clear idea of the type of dogs they were attempting to produce. We can see in today's Yorkies how strongly the terrier temperament has been retained. FUN FACT: DID YOU KNOW THAT YORKSHIRE TERRIERS WERE TRAINED TO GO DOWN INTO THE MINES TO RETRIEVE THE RATS BEFORE THE MINORS WENT IN TO WORK? DOCKING OF THE TAILS BEGAN BECAUSE THE RATS WOULD ADHERE THEMSELVES TO THE DOGS TAIL! Early Yorkshire Terriers and Breeders One of the most famous early Yorkies was Huddersfield Ben, bred by a Mr. Eastwood and owned by Mr. M.A. Foster. Huddersfield Ben was born in 1865 and died in 1871, and can be said to be the father of the modern Yorkie. In his day "Ben" was a very popular stud dog who won many prizes in the show ring, and had tremendous influence in setting breed type. In 1874 the first Yorkies were registered in the British Kennel Club stud book. They were referred to as "Broken Haired Scottish Terriers" or "Yorkshire Terriers", until 1886, when the Kennel Club recognized the Yorkshire Terrier as an individual breed. The first Yorkshire Terrier breed club was formed in 1898. During these early years, one who greatly influenced the breed was Lady Edith Wyndham-Dawson. Lady Edith was secretary of the Yorkshire Terrier Club for some time and did much early work for the improvement of the breed. Later, a Miss Palmer, who was Lady Edith's kennel maid, started her own Yorkie kennel under the "Winpal" prefix. When Lady Edith returned to Ireland at the start of World War I, Miss Palmer went to work for Mrs. Crookshank of the famous Johnstounburn prefix, a name with a long list of champions, which is now in the care of Daphne Hillman, who was entrusted with this prefix, and still uses it along with her own Yorkfold prefix. Many others have worked very hard since these early years to improve this breed, and to these breeders much is owed. Many of their early dogs became the foundation stock of kennels in North America and elsewhere. Yorkies Today The Yorkshire Terrier now flourishes throughout the world and the early breeders who were instrumental in producing the diminutive toy terrier of today would surely be astounded at the success of this delightful breed. In 1932 only 300 Yorkies were registered with the British Kennel Club, in 1957 the number was 2313, and in the 1970's Yorkies were the most popular breed in Britain. This trend continued until 1990 with a record of 25,665 Yorkies registered. However, this figure has now begun to drop, and in 1994 there were 12343 registrations, with the Yorkie being recorded as the 7th most popular breed. The most famous Yorkshire Terrier of modern times in the UK was CH Blairsville Royal Seal. He was by CH Beechrise Surprise and his dam was CH Blairsville Most Royale. "Tosha" to his friends (of whom he had many) was bred, owned and handled by Mr. Brian Lister and his wife, Rita. Tosha was definitely a 'King' among dogs and no one who saw him flowing around the ring could ever forget him. His prescence could be felt, even by a complete novice, and many say that just thinking of him brings a lump to the throat. During his show career Tosha won 50 CCs, all under different judges. He was 12 times Best In Show at all breed CH shows, and 16 times Reserve Best In Show. He took 33 Group wins, and went Reserve Best In Show at Cruft's in 1978, just as his dam had done before him. Tosha was Top Dog, all breeds, for two consecutive years. He became the sire of many prolific Champions and still features in the pedigree of many of today's Yorkies. Ironically, when Royal Seal died, aged 15, in 1988, that year his breed record for the highest number of CCs in the breed was broken by Osman Sameja's CH Ozmilion Dedication "Jamie", who finished his show career with 52 CCs, although a few of these were duplicated under the same judges. Jamie also has two all breed CH show wins, and his many Toy group wins helped him to win the Top Dog title in 1987. The Ozmilion kennel is the top Yorkshire Terrier kennel of all time, and holds the record for the number of Champions produced. Following on from this, Jamie's grandson, Ch. Ozmilion Mystification broke another record in 1997 by being the first Yorkie ever to win the coveted Best In Show award at the most prestigious dog show, Cruft's. "Justin" was retired after this event, having to his credit a total 51 CCs, 48 with Best of Breed, 22 Group wins, 9 Club BIS, and at All Breed Shows, 7 RBIS and 3 BIS awards. He was Top Yorkie from 1994-1997, Top Dog All Breeds 1996, Crufts Supreme Champion 1997, and Pedigree Chum Champion overall Stakes winner 1997. Some record of achievement! In this same year, the great "Jamie" died. Yorkies in North America The first Yorkie to become an American Champion was Bradford Harry, who gained his title in 1889. He was the great-great-grandson of Huddersfield Ben, and was imported from England by P.H. Coombs of Bangor, Maine. Some of the most noteable early American kennels are Janet Bennet and Joan Gordon (Wildweir) who imported many English Yorkies, including lines from Johnstounburn, Haringay and Buranthea. The Mayfield-Barban kennels owned by Anne Seranne and Barbara Wolferman have also done much to improve the breed. Whilst CH Blairsville Royal Seal dominated the British show scene, his American counterpart, CH Cede Higgens was making his mark in the USA. These two dogs were both shown during the same era, and were inevitably, constantly being compared. However, although they were both outstanding specimens of the breed, those who had seen them both, agreed that they were totally different in type. Bred by C.D. Lawrence, Cede Higgens was closely line-bred to the Clarkwyns and Wildweir lines, by CH. Wildweir Pomp 'N Circumstance. Another dog who had significant influence on the North American Yorkies was CH Finstal Royal Icing, bred by Sybil Pritchard in the UK and exported to the Jentre kennels after Sybil died. He is by CH Finstal Johnathan, who still has winning progeny in the UK today. Johnathan was looked after by Wendy White (Wenwytes) after Sybil's death, until he died in 1994 aged about 17. The Yorkshire Terrier is also very popular in North America today. In 1992, Yorkies were #14 on the AKC's list of most popular breeds with 39,904 registrations. In 1994 they were #11, although registrations had dropped to 38,626. It may seem strange that Yorkies have risen in popularity in North America while the number of registrations has dropped, but overall, AKC registration, is down (as is UK registration), with some popular breeds having dramatic reductions in the numbers now registered. As far as the U.S. is concerned, the numbers are on a rise today. This breed, has proved to be just as popular if not more here in the good old U.S.A. For more information on this breed, visit www.AKC.org for more statistics. RECOMMENDED READING MATERIAL Book of The Yorkshire Terrier, by Joan M. Brearley The Yorkshire Terrier 3rd ed., by Gwen Bulgin Le Yorkshire, by Joel DeHasse Yorkshire Terriers, by Kerry Donnelly Yorkies Today, by Anne Fisher * The New Complete Yorkshire Terrier, by Joan B. Gordon Your Yorkshire Terrier 2nd ed., by Morris Howard All About The Yorkshire Terrier, by Mona Huxham uk Yorkshire Terriers, by Armin Kriechbaumer & Jurgen Grunn How To Raise & Train A Yorkshire Terrier, by Arthur Liebers The Yorkshire Terrier, by Aileen Markley Martello Pet Owner's Guide to the Yorkshire Terrier, by Douglas McKay Yorkshire Terriers, by Mario Migliori The Popular Yorkshire Terrier 9th ed., by Edith Munday A Dog-Owner's Guide to Yorkshire Terriers, by Jackie Ranso Yorkshire Terriers, by Osman Sameja. Know Your Yorkshire Terrier, by Earl Schneider |
| By the 1850's, dogs were being exhibited at shows. Many of these would have been haphazard affairs, often held in public houses. Yorkshire or Scotch Terriers were shown in various classes as Toy Terriers, Broken-haired Scotch, Scotch Terriers, Blue and Fawn Terriers, and Yorkshire Terriers. This must have been very confusing for the judges since, as a single dog could go into so many varying classes, it did! They had weight limits to, so a Yorkshire could have been anything from 5-18lbs. No doubt the original Yorkie could have been shown as a Paisley or Clydesdale, and probably would have got away with it. Although Yorkshire Terriers had a separate stud book entry by 1862, they were still classed under the Scotch Terrier for show purposes. When the Kennel Club was founded in 1873, its stud book was compiled, so pedigrees of principals winners to that date were available. Breeds were then divided into Sporting and Non-sporting, our Yorkshire being Non-sporting, but the breeds were less clearly defined - many would have been entered in the stud book as various toy terriers. It was not until 1886 that the Kennel Club actually recognized them. Consequently, the Scots said goodbye to their Scotch Terrier, and our glamorous, long-haired Toy finally became known only as the Yorkshire Terrier. Finally our little dog had his own identity and home where, over the years to come, he would keep the now extinct Paisley/Clydesdale blood still flowing through his veins. This new breed soon attracted many admirers who took up the fancy: Peter Eden of Salford, Lancashire, Mr. Inman and Mr. Burgess of Brighhouse, Yorkshire, and Mr. J. Spink, who owned Bounce, grandsire to Huddersfield Ben, and also Sandy, sire of Lady, Huddersfield Ben's dam. HUDDERSFIELD BEN We now come to the year 1865, when a dog was born who was not only going to put his stamp on the breed, but would forever be known as "The Father of the Breed": Huddersfield Ben, Kennel Stud Book No. 3612. His debut in the ring was at Manchester, where he won second prize as a "Scotch Terrier". Bred by Mr. Eastwood of Huddersfield, Yorkshire, and shown at this show as owned by Mr. J. Foster, thereafter he was in the ownership of Mrs. Jonas Foster, of Bradford, Yorkshire. Ben's pedigree is interesting as his dam is also his sire's dam. Mr. Foster's veterinary surgeon sums up the dog in Ladies Dogs as Companions, 1876. Assuming this information is correct, we can trace Ben's ancestors back even further through an article by Mr. E. Bootman of Halifax, Yorkshire, which appeared in The English Stockkeeper in about 1887. For further information about the origins of the Yorkshire Terrier, please refer to the book "The Yorkshire Terrier Today", author Veronica Sameja-Hilliard. In this book, you will find the rest of the story on the history of the breed. NOTABLE YORKIES * Mr. Famous, Audrey Hepburn's beloved Yorkshire Terrier, appeared with her in a scene in Funny Face. During the shoot of The Children's Hour, Mr. Famous was run over on Wilshire Blvd. and killed. After the death of Mr. Famous, Mel Ferrer gave Hepburn another Yorkie named Assam of Assam. * In the movie Meet the Fockers, The Fockers' (Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand) family dog, Moses, is played by a female Yorkie mix named Terem. * Horror film Urban Legend features a Yorkie in the role of Hootie, a fraternity house dog who drinks beer through a beer bong. Hootie is murdered by a serial killer in an imitation of the infamous urban legend of "the dog in the microwave." * In the film Daltry Calhoun, Aunt Dee (Beth Grant) has a Yorkie named Pickles. * The character of Mrs. Coady (Patricia Hayes) in A Fish Called Wanda owns three Yorkshire Terriers. Throughout the movie, an animal lover named Ken Pile (Michael Palin) repeatedly tries to assassinate Mrs. Coady, but instead accidentally kills the Yorkies one by one. Following the death of her last little dog, the woman dies of a heart attack. * In the movie Amazing Grace (film), one of the characters refers to the main character, William Wilberforce (loan Gruffudd), as a "Yorkshire Terrier." * In the movie High School Musical Sharpay Evans is seen carrying a small male Yorkshire Terrier, named Boi, around with her at the Lava Springs Country Club. WHITE HOUSE DOGS * Pasha, Tricia Nixon's pet Yorkie, lived in the White House during the Richard Nixon presidency. WAR DOGS * Smoky, a war dog & hero of World War II, was owned by William Wynne of Cleveland, Ohio. Wynne adopted Smoky while he was serving with the Air Force in the Pacific. The Dog Show World One of the best ways to see if your puppy has championship potential is to attend a match show which is usually organized by the local kennel club or breed specialty club. Such shows provide a useful learning experience for the amateur and they offer you the opportunity to see how well your dog measures up to the others being shown. There you can mingle with owners and professional handlers and pick up basic guidelines in showmanship, performance, and procedure. You can learn a great deal merely by closely observing the professional handlers performing in the ring. The age limit is usually reduced to two months at match shows so that puppies can have four months of training before they complete in the regular shows when they reach six months. This time also helps them to overcome any "crowd nervousness." As class categories are the same as those includes at a regular show, much experience can be gained in this informal atmosphere. Entry fees are low and paid at the door. Before you go to a show, your dog should be trained to gait at a trot beside you, with head up and in a a straight line. In the ring you will have to gait. The most prestigious dog show in America is the Westminster Kennel Club Show held annually in Madison Square Garden, New York City. Have fun and Good luck! Whitney Houseton & her baby "Doogie"! PARIS HAS HER HANDS FULL! HILLARY DUFF ON HER WAY TO THE VETERINARIAN. |
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| "My dog is worried about the economy because Alpo is up to 99 cents a can. That's almost $7.00 in dog money" |
| Sharon's AKC Yorkshire Terrier Puppies (History) |
