Pictures of Yorkies

The Yorkshire Terrier was originally bred in -- yup, you guessed it -- Yorkshire, England in the 1800s. These dogs were originally bred the for the not-so-glamorous job of keeping down the rats in the coal pits and cotton mills. After a hard day in the mines, the guys would wager on these little terriers in rat-killing contests.

Yorkies back then weighed about thirty pounds and came in more colors than just blue and tan.

The Yorkshire Terrier breed descends from larger but similar Scottish breeds such as the now extinct Paisley Terrier and the Skye Terrier. In its turn, other breeds have been created from the Yorkshire Terrier, such as the Australian Silky Terrier and the Biewer Terrier.

Each of the three breeds necessary to arrive at the final breed of Yorkshire Terrier are now extinct.

Along the path to their disappearance the breeds simply merged into other breeds or their type gave way to another version. The primary breed that is responsible for the Yorkshire was the Clydesdale Terrier (the blue and tan silky coated version of the Skye); the second breed was the Waterside Terrier (or Otter Terrier) and the third was the Old English Terrier (toy rough and broken haired).

The Yorkshire Terrier was originally bred in -- yup, you guessed it -- Yorkshire, England in the 1800s. These dogs were originally bred the for the not-so-glamorous job of keeping down the rats in the coal pits and cotton mills. After a hard day in the mines, the guys would wager on these little terriers in rat-killing contests.

Yorkies back then weighed about thirty pounds!!!!! and came in more colors than just blue and tan.

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 Scotland. 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.

They were a huge hit when people saw them publicly at a dog show in 1870. It seemed that everyone wanted to have one of these toy Yorkie dogs.

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 recognised the Yorkshire Terrier as an individual breed.

Through selective breeding, the dog was made smaller which made it an ideal pet for working class individuals, particularly weavers, in England. Because of their Scottish roots, they were known as the Broken-Haired Scottish Terrier when they were shown for the first time in 1861. Just nine years later, their name was changed to Yorkshire Terriers in honor of the English county.

Two years after the name change, the breed came to America. The first Yorkshire terrier born in the United States was named Jack, and he was probably larger than most of today's yorkies.

These were all working men's dogs, used to keep the vermin under control in the textile mills and coal mines.

What bloodlines were used to establish the Yorkshire Terrier is subject to much speculation, due to the fact that the breeders of these dogs did not write down who was bred to whom. If they liked the spirit and looks of the dogs, they mated them. It was chancey at best.
It is guessed that the Yorkshire county miners crossed the Black and Tan English Terrier, this dog was rough-coated, and the long-coated, blue-gray Waterside Terrier breeds were infused in the Scottish Terriers. The Maltese and Skye Terrier are also possibilities.

painting by Greg Olsen http://susuangels.com/olsen_greg.html