About Yorkies
Some information about our favourite breed of dog
Yorkshire Terriers Origin
The Yorkshire Terrier originated in Yorkshire. In the mid-nineteenth century, workers from Scotland came to Yorkshire in search of work and brought with them several varieties of terrier dogs.
Breeding of the Yorkshire terrier was “principally accomplished by the people – mostly operatives in cotton and woollen mills – in the counties of Yorkshire and Lancashire”. In the 1800s, miners wanting to develop a ratting terrier, bred Black-and-Tan Terriers with the Paisley and Clydesdale Terriers.
The Yorkie’s coat is similar to human hair
Yorkies are known for their long, flowing, silky coats, which swish around the show ring. But this beautiful feature is also incredibly time-consuming to care for. Because the coat is similar to human hair, it tangles into knots if the owner doesn’t brush it every day (it can also break easily when brushing against carpets in the home). The bonus is that Yorkies don’t have an undercoat so their coat doesn’t shed anymore than your hair does. Many breeders recommend that owners keep their pet Yorkies in a “puppy cut,” which is short and easily to maintain.
One Yorkie was a war hero
In World War II, a Yorkie named “Smoky” credited with saving the lives of soldiers by dragging a communications cable through an 8-inch-wide, 60-foot-long drainage culvert. She is also thought to be the world’s first therapy dog, visiting wounded soldiers in hospitals. Smoky was found by an American soldier in 1944 in a Papua New Guinea jungle, and when he brought the little dog back to the barracks, U.S. Army Corporal William Wynne took her under his wing. He later wrote a book about Smoky called Yorkie Doodle Dandy. There are six U.S.-based memorials honoring Smoky, including one in AKC’s Museum of the Dog, and one international memorial in Australia.