American Canine Association

Breeds

Yorkshire Terrier


History

It comes as no surprise that the Yorkshire Terrier was originated in no place other than Yorkshire, England. Small and so smart, this breed was bred for hunting rats and other small rodents that would invade properties, causing damage. After breeding several types of Terriers together, including but not limited to, the Manchester Terrier, the now extinct Paisley Terrier, Skye Terrier and the Maltese, they finally produced what we now know of as the Yorkshire Terrier. After very carefully choosing the smallest of every litter, this breed is much smaller today, than it was back in the very late 1800s. No longer is the Yorkshire Terrier used for hunting rats, but now used as a companion that leads a very luxurious life.

Appearance

Topping out at an average weight of 5 to 11 pounds for males and females at an average weight of 4 to 9 pounds.. Mostly known for their black and tan color combination, they can also tend to be a blue or silver and tan combination. This breed does come in a "parti-color" combination as well, though not as common. Yorkshire Terriers have very tiny feet and legs, generally always a cropped tail with large ears that normally stand upright. Eyes and nose are always black in appearance. Their hair should be silky to the touch and very straight to the floor as well.

Temperament

The Yorkshire Terrier may be small, but their personalities are mighty. Clearly, this breed is fearless and very unaware of their size. Yorkshire Terriers are protective, watchful, curious, energetic, generally always happy, and consistently seraching for their owners love and affection. This breed surprisingly can do very well with larger dogs if raised properly together, children and the elderly. Great for appartment living conditions as well. This breed travels exceptionally good as long as they are by their owners side. Please remember due to the extremely small size of this breed, to always have water and food available at all times, espeically if you are traveling a lot with your dog. They need to be handled delicately and watched closely so they stay away from trouble and eating anything harmful to them.

Grooming

This breed requires a lot of grooming needs due to their long hair. Daily brushing is needed to stay clear of forming knots within their coat. Regular hair trims and bathing is a must as well. Typically you'll notice bows holding up the hair on the center top of their head, this is actually nessecary if you choose to keep their hair longer, to keep the hair out of their eyes and clean.

Special Notes

The Yorkshire Terrier is known for many health disorders due to how tiny this breed is. Teeth cleanings are highly reccomended and regular vet check ups are very important for this breed. Hypoglycemia is extremely common in this breed and can be completely avoided if your dog is getting proper care, food and water at all times. Please make sure you have the time and finances to properly care for a Yorkshire Terrier prior to adding one to your family. All dogs originate from wolves (Canis Lupus). Each breed of dog was originally created by mixing different breeds together in an effort to bring forth certain characteristics. Once a breeder has created acceptable “breed characteristics” within their bloodline and these “breed characteristics” have shown to be reliably reproduced in the offspring for three (3) generations, the bloodline may be upgraded from the category of “foundation stock” to “pure-bred”. The same “pure-bred” breed standards vary from different continents, countries, territories, regions, breed clubs, and canine pure-breed registries depending on the goals of their breeders. Dog DNA testing companies can have accurate results for a specific bloodline of a small colony of dogs. However, there are tens of thousands of different bloodlines in the world which have not yet been tested for marker baseline results by Dog DNA testing companies as of 2017. For this reason Dog DNA testing companies do not guarantee the 100% accuracy of their breed lineage results and will also show different marker results for the same pure-bred breed in different continents, countries, territories, regions, breed clubs, and canine pure-breed registries depending on the goals of their breeders.

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