Keyes Yorkshire Terrier

1. Auflage 2011
ISBN: 978-1-59378-858-2
Verlag: CompanionHouse Books
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 158 Seiten

Reihe: Comprehensive Owner's Guide

The experts at Kennel Club Books prsent the world's largest series of breed-specific canine care books. Each criticaly acclaimed Comprehensive Owner's Guide covers everything from breed standards to behavior, from training to health and nutition. With nearly 200 titles in print, this series is sure to please the fancier of even the rarest breed!

Autoren/Hrsg.

Keyes, Rachel

Leseproben

While the Industrial Revolution led most of the world toward pursuing the bigger and better, some brilliant engineers sought smaller and better. The Yorkshire Terrier is a remarkable man-made creation of the mid-19th century, at a time when British dog enthusiasts were crossing many types of terriers in order to develop dogs handsomely suited for their needs. In the counties of Yorkshire and Lancashire, the breed we now know as the Yorkshire Terrier emerged in its most recognizable form. The first shows for toy terriers in Great Britain began in 1860, and “Yorkshires” from these two textile counties were counted among the first ribbon holders.

The Yorkshire Terrier is a unique British creation and is counted among the world’s most popular dogs.

The Toy Manchester Terrier may have been in the family tree of the Yorkshire Terrier.

EARLY DEVELOPMENT

Which breeds contributed to the composition of the Yorkshire Terrier, however, is still a great debate. Among the contenders are the Toy Manchester Terrier, Maltese, Skye Terrier, Dandie Dinmont Terrier and two extinct breeds known as the Paisley Terrier and the Clydesdale Terrier. The Paisley Terrier is described as smaller than the Skye Terrier and shorter in back, with gray coloration and a rougher coat. The Clydesdale Terrier also bore resemblance to the Skye Terrier of today, with the characteristic well-feathered prick ears, a floor-length coat in dark blue with tan markings on the face, legs and feet, and a long body. Both the Clydesdale and the Paisley were formidable ratters, used by miners down in the shafts to kill rats that interfered with their work. The Clydesdale, Paisley and Skye Terriers receive credit for the Yorkshire Terrier’s length of coat; the Maltese for coat and the diminutive size; and the Manchester for coloration. The silken texture of the Yorkie’s coat could have come from all of the longer coated dogs in the mixture, even though the Paisley and Clydesdale were usually rough-coated. Whenever silky-coated puppies occurred in a Paisley or Clydesdale litter, they were discarded until a fad for silky coats emerged. Both of these rough-coated terriers lost favor and their numbers began to diminish significantly.

The Skye Terrier, although significantly larger than the Yorkie, is thought to be in the breed’s bloodlines, possibly contributing its unique color genes.

The Maltese, with its long, flowing hair, may be a Yorkshire Terrier ancestor.

The smaller Manchester Terriers that were incorporated into the early stock were fierce ratters, working side by side with the miners, killing off the vermin, with neither fear nor sympathy towards their prey. These dogs killed rats not only for employment but also for entertainment. Toward the end of the 19th century, rat-killing contests became very popular. The small black and tan terriers, with their smooth coats and fiery temperaments, proved very adept at the quick-fire killing of their ratine foes. Judged against the clock, the dogs had to kill as many rats as possible in a given time frame. Some dogs were able to slay a couple hundred rats in a mere ten-minute time frame!

PIONEERS IN ENGLAND

From Manchester, England, Peter Eden has been hailed, perhaps erroneously, as the main “manufacturer” of the Yorkshire Terrier, even before the breed acquired that name. Eden was not only an expert breeder of Pugs and Bulldogs but also a top dog show judge. His key stud dog was named Albert, who won many prizes at the shows as a young dog. Albert, the first name in The Kennel Club Stud Book as a Yorkshire Terrier, competed as a Broken-haired, Scotch and Yorkshire Terrier. Eden’s influence on the breed was, without a doubt, considerable, though he probably was not the true “engineer” of the Yorkshire Terrier. It is said that he purchased dogs from the men of Yorkshire and used them in his program. We are certain that he was a master breeder. Mr. Eden’s dogs were among the first to possess the desirable blue silky coats marked with mahogany coloration on the head and legs, and a characteristic tuft of hair on the head to drape over the eyes. In fact, Mr. Eden’s great dog Albert appears in Huddersfield Ben’s pedigree many times on both sides, being twice a great-great-grandfather!

The modern Yorkshire Terrier is a placid lap dog in most cases. Its ratting days are over, as the modern Yorkie is smaller than its ancestors.

GENUS CANIS

Dogs and wolves are members of the genus Canis. Wolves are known scientifically as Canis lupus while dogs are known as Canis domesticus. Dogs and wolves are known to interbreed. The term “canine” derives from the Latin-derived word Canis. The term “dog” has no scientific basis but has been used for thousands of years. The origin of the word “dog” has never been authoritatively ascertained.

Although Mr. Eden enjoys the credit for engineering the Yorkshire breed, he does not receive more accolades than Mrs. M. A. Foster for showing and winning in the show ring. Mrs. Foster purchased Huddersfield Ben and exhibited him enthusiastically as well as the other dogs that she bred herself. Ben won nearly 100 prizes attached to Mrs. Foster’s leash. Another of Mrs. Foster’s top dogs was known as English Champion Ted, the winner of nearly 300 awards. Mrs. Foster promoted the breed by winning glamorously in the show ring and placing promising puppies in the hands of enthusiastic newcomers to the show scene. Mrs. Foster did for the Yorkshire Terrier breed, back in the 1860s, what we can only hope prominent breeders do for new owners today: encourage and guide new fanciers in the breed, and teach responsibility and proper care. Mrs. Foster raised her Yorkshire Terriers with the utmost care, showed the dogs in top condition and only exhibited the desirably typey dogs. Unlike many exhibitors today, who will enter the ring with a second-rate dog, Mrs. Foster blazed trails for the Yorkshire Terrier breed. She was never seen promoting an inferior dog. Additionally, she was the first woman to be invited to judge a dog show in England. This occurred in 1889. Although her prowess in the sport was well known, it was previously unheard of for a woman to serve in this prestigious capacity.

An early 20th-century Yorkshire Terrier, Mrs. M. A. White’s dog called Sensation, was considered a model for the breed.

Very popular Yorkies in 1903 were Mr. C. E. Firmstone’s dogs: from left to right, Mynd Damaris, Mynd Idol and The Grand Duke.

At this point in the development of the breed, the set weight of the dogs was around 8 to 10 pounds, significantly reduced from the original size of up to 15 pounds. These smaller dogs, typical of the ones bred by Mr. Eden and Mrs. Foster, represent the trend that the breed would take over its first few decades. The Victorian sensibility for the petite and beautiful had a lasting effect on the breed, and full-grown dogs would eventually weigh in at around 2.5 to 3 pounds!

YORKIE EXPERT AND WOMEN’S LIBBER

Prominent Yorkie breeder and exhibitor Mrs. Foster was the first woman ever to judge a dog show. The year was 1889, when the Women’s Movement was well under way.

Eng. Ch. Victoria, bred by Mrs. A. Swan, was born in July 1932 and won many awards at shows in Britain.

AH, POSTERITY!

The only known photograph of the great Huddersfield Ben appears in the first book on the breed, The Yorkshire Terrier, authored by Sam Jessop. It is a most unflattering portrait of this prepotent sire and grand little gentleman. It was taken after his death, fully mounted by a taxidermist.

While the first dog show, in 1859, at Newcastle-on Tyne, only offered classes for sporting dogs (pointers and setters), the show at Birmingham the following year included toy terriers. Birmingham, by the way, is the present location of England’s most prestigious and oldest show, the Crufts Dog Show. “Yorkshires,” though not by name, were present at the show. “Scotch” or “Broken-haired Terriers” were the names usually applied to dogs in these toy terrier classes. The ancestors of our Cairns, Scotties, Dandie Dinmonts and Skyes were likely included in these classes. Not until the Yorkshire Terrier Club became established in 1898 did the dogs compete under the uniform appellation “Yorkshire Terrier.”

The term “toy terrier” would seem to have initiated a veritable scandal for those interested in the Yorkshire Terrier. Since many of the Yorkie’s contributing forefathers were rough-and-tumble, rough-coated terriers, certain fanciers preferred the Yorkshire to be a true working terrier. The other camp, guided by their Victorian ideals, sought a diminutive silky-coated dog, suitable for warming your lap instead of exterminating the vermin in your stables. This camp desired a toy dog, not a terrier! Some dedicated Yorkshiremen, well known as industrious and clever dogmen, wanted a competent rat-killer that was also attractive. Thus, the first batch of “Yorkshire pudding” was whipped up, crossing the talented and fearless Broken-haired terriers with the smaller and somewhat unusual Clydesdale, no less undaunted in the rat pits. There is no doubt that it took many additions to the recipe, at least six different terrier types, to finally reach the desirable, dutiful Yorkshire Terrier—a diminutive charmer in blue and bronze, capable of the task at hand. It would seem that the long coat of the Yorkshire Terrier would interfere with the task of killing rats underground. Not necessarily, as some historians purport that the long coat gave the miners something to grab onto to pull the...