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The Yorkshire Terrier
is a man-made breed. The contributing breeds of the Yorkshire
Terrier has long been disputed and will never be completely
resolved. There are no early records to truly verify any one
theory which is mainly due to the fact that most of the original
breeders of the yorkie were weavers, miners and factory workers
who were illiterate.
The early Yorkshire
Terrier is quite different from today’s yorkie that we all know
and love. Yorkshire terriers can be traced back to the mid eighteenth
century in great britain. In the early years in great britain
only royalty could have large hunting dogs and hunting land.
The serfs were denied this privilege. To prevent poaching, laws
were written to limit the size of dog a serf could own. Serfs
could only keep their dogs if they passed a test, with the determinate
being that they could pass through a small hoop. This hoop or
ring had a seven-inch diameter. These little dogs owned by the
serfs earned their keep on the farms, in the mills and mines
by controlling the varmint. In general they killed rats and
kept rabbits out of vegetable patches and fields. In some cases
they even supplied small game for the farmer’s table. This was
the beginning of the yorkshire terrier’s ancestor’s diminutive
size.
Their humble beginnings
originated in a large shire in england called yorkshire. With
the onset of the industrial revolution in the late 1700’s, yorkshire
had become the site for many coal mines, mills, and factories.
The abundance of work available in yorkshire attracted men and
women alike from far away lands in pursuit of employment. Crafters
from scotland arrived in yorkshire seeking work in the mills
as weavers and in the mines, bringing with them several scotch
terriers. Among these terriers were the paisley terrier, the
clydesdale terrier and the skye terrier. It is believed that
these three breeds are a large part of the development of the
yorkshire terrier. In order to get a better idea of how these
three dogs contributed to the yorkshire terrier it is valuable
to briefly describe each breed.
THE PAISLEY
TERRIER
The Paisley terrier was a small, silky-coated dog of various
shades of blue and light blue, weighing up to sixteen pounds.
One interesting aspect of this breed is that it once was considered
it’s own breed until the clydesdale eventually merged with the
paisley terrier to become a single breed.
THE CLYDESDALE
TERRIER
The Clydesdale Terrier was a small, silk-coated dog with shades
of blue and tan and weighing up to eighteen pounds. The Clydesdale
was extinct by the end of World War I.
THE SKYE
TERRIER
The Skye Terrier were larger dogs weighing eighteen pounds and
over with harsh coats that varied in color, including blue and
tan, grizzle and wheaten. The Skye Terriers originated approximately
three centuries ago on the isle of skye, scotland. Their coats
were originally quite short but evolved into a longer growing
coat to suit the wet climate of the isle in which they lived.
Bred by farmers, they were most prized for their ability to
destroy fox, badgers and otters. They could locate vermin and
tear them from their burrows with their strong muscles and powerful
jaws.
Another possible
contributor to the yorkie breed is the Waterside Terrier (extinct).
The Waterside Terrier was mainly found in the county of yorkshire
around the end of the 18th century. The waterside terrier was
a small dog weighing from six to twenty pounds and actually
resembled the airedale terrier of today except on a smaller
scale. The waterside’s coat was quite long and had blue tones
on the body with tan on the head.
When the owners
of these small dogs began to breed these combinations it was
obvious that the resulting dogs were most desirable. It wasn’t
until later that they adopted the name yorkshire terrier. They
were first known as scotch terriers, or broken-haired scotch
terriers.
Due to the Yorkshire
Terrier’s exceptional ratting abilities around the homestead
serfs invented the sport of "ratting" or "rat-baiting". Local
inns would attract people into their pubs by sponsoring these
contests. Matches were arranged by the weight of the dog. The
heavier the dog, the more rats it was required to kill. The
dog killing his quota of rats in the least amount of time was
the winner. The size of the dog for this sport required the
breeders to breed for the smallest dog possible. It is thought
that the sport of ratting is partly responsible for the yorkie
being bred down in size.
Although the
Yorkshire Terrier was of humble beginnings its popularity grew
quickly. As the yorkshire terrier breeders strengthened desirable
traits the development of the two-colored, long-coated, spunky
dog emerged and stuck. The ratters of yesterday soon became
favorable in the royal families and a favorite lap dog of the
ladies of that day. From rags to riches, this little dog endeared
the hearts of many and came to be known as a "glamorous" breed.
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