40 Fun Facts About Yorkshire Terrier

What is the maximum weight for a Yorkshire Terrier?

The Kennel Club caps the breed at 3.2 kg (7 lb), yet the 4 lb Yorkie war dog Smoky flew a dozen combat missions in World War II.

The Yorkshire Terrier's coat is tan on the head and what colour on the body?

Dark steel-grey covers the body, yet Hugh Dalziel's 1878 breed chapter asked for a clear, soft, silvery shade that today's standards reject.

Workers from which country brought terriers to Yorkshire in the mid-19th century, seeding the breed?

Workers from Scotland brought the terriers, and the dogs that seeded the breed worked as ratters.

The Yorkshire Terrier was chiefly developed by workers in which industry?

Cotton and woollen mills of Yorkshire and Lancashire were where the breed took shape, but the mill workers wrote almost nothing down, so its exact bloodlines are unknown.

Which long-coated terrier, now extinct, was crossed into the early Yorkshire Terrier?

The Paisley Terrier was a soft-coated offshoot of the Skye Terrier, and some Skye breeders objected to it being shown as a Skye, calling it cross-bred.

Which show dog of the late 1860s defined the Yorkshire Terrier type and is called 'father of the breed'?

Huddersfield Ben was the top stud dog of his day, and by 1891 most show Yorkies had one or more crosses of his blood in their pedigrees.

What does the AKC standard require of a show Yorkshire Terrier's tail?

Docked to a medium length is the AKC rule, a custom so old that early breeders already shortened the pups' tails.

Americans took up the Yorkshire Terrier as they embraced the customs of which era?

The Victorian era made the Yorkie a fashionable pet in England and America, but its US popularity slumped in the 1940s until the war dog Smoky revived interest.

In 1944, Yank Down Under magazine named the Yorkie war dog Smoky the champion what of the Southwest Pacific?

Mascot was the title, earned while Smoky performed tricks for troops with Army Special Services during the war.

Traditionally, how is a show Yorkie's long coat arranged?

Parted down the middle of the back, the show coat hangs straight on each side, and it may be trimmed to floor length so it doesn't hamper movement.

How do the breed standards say a Yorkshire Terrier's small V-shaped ears should be carried?

Erect ears are the rule today, though early breeders generally cut Yorkie ears into shape.

The white in a rare particolour Yorkie is caused by which gene?

A recessive piebald gene makes the white, and the Yorkshire Terrier Club of America warns buyers not to be fooled into buying 'new' particolour Yorkies.

Under the AKC standard, what happens to a solid gold adult Yorkshire Terrier in the show ring?

It is disqualified under the AKC standard, yet sellers have long advertised 'rare gold' Yorkies to buyers at premium prices.

Which German-origin breed was once considered a Yorkshire Terrier variant?

Biewer Terrier backers had its DNA tested, and geneticists concluded it was a separate breed rather than a Yorkie, clearing its path to AKC recognition in 2021.

How long can it take a Yorkshire Terrier's coat to reach its final adult colour?

Three years or more can pass before the coat settles, which is why the AKC standard applies its colour requirements to adult dogs.

Under the AKC standard, what holds up the long hair falling from a show Yorkie's head?

One or two bows keep that long hair up, since left loose it would fall over the dog's eyes.

In 1878 Hugh Dalziel described greasing the Yorkie's coat with which oil and keeping its feet in stockings?

Coconut oil greased the coat, Dalziel wrote, and the stockings on the hind feet stopped the dog scratching and breaking its long hair.

The Kennel Club says the ideal Yorkie's very upright bearing conveys what?

An important air fits a lapdog that still has a terrier's nerve: the Kennel Club says a Yorkie can still account for any domestic rodent.

Colour dilution alopecia in Yorkies is associated with which coat colour?

Colour dilution alopecia strikes dilute coats, and in Yorkies it is the blue body colour, a diluted black, that is affected, causing patchy hair loss.

Legg–Calvé–Perthes syndrome in Yorkies causes which bone to degenerate?

The head of the femur loses its blood supply and collapses, and the standard treatment is surgery to remove the affected part of the bone.

Which common Yorkie problem, graded 1 to 4, can make the dog run on three legs for a few strides?

A slipping kneecap is graded 1 to 4, and many dogs never progress past grade 1 or 2, so surgery isn't needed for every dog with it.

A liver shunt, common in Yorkies, is a malformation of which blood vessel?

A liver shunt is a malformed portal vein that lets blood bypass the liver, so toxins the liver would filter reach the rest of the body.

What is usually the first sign of tracheal collapse in a Yorkie?

Tracheal collapse usually announces itself with a 'goose honking' cough; vets recommend a harness over a collar so lead-pulling does not strain the weak windpipe.

A 2019 study found 98% of young Yorkies already showed early signs of what?

Gum disease: by 37 weeks, 98% had early periodontitis on at least one tooth, so researchers urge prevention from a young age in breeds like the Yorkie.

What colour are Yorkshire Terrier puppies at birth?

Black and tan at birth, Yorkie pups show their ancestry: the Kennel Club traces the breed to the old working Black and Tan Terrier.

Which breed was created from the Yorkie?

Silky: the Silky Terrier came from crossing Yorkies with Australian Terriers and was first called the Sydney Silky, after the city where most were found.

Champion Ozmilion Mystification made history in 1997 by becoming the first Yorkie to do what?

Crufts is the world's largest annual dog show.

The Yorkie war dog Smoky was found in 1944 in an abandoned foxhole in which jungle?

New Guinea was where soldiers found her in an abandoned jungle foxhole in 1944, and after Wynne bought her she shared his rations.

Corporal William Wynne bought Smoky for two Australian pounds so the seller could do what?

Return to his poker game was all the seller wanted, yet the bargain dog later saved Wynne's life by guiding him to duck incoming shells on a ship.

Smoky the Yorkie flew a dozen combat missions on air-sea rescue and which other kind of flights?

Photo reconnaissance was her squadron's work, and despite army rations and jungle tents, Smoky was never ill during the war.

According to an Animal Planet investigation, Smoky was the first recorded what?

Animal Planet's investigation named Smoky the first recorded therapy dog; she began visiting wounded soldiers in a field hospital in 1944 and kept up the work for 12 years.

Pasha, a Yorkshire Terrier who lived in the White House, belonged to whom?

Tricia Nixon Cox's Yorkie Pasha stayed on at the White House with the president and first lady after both Nixon daughters married.

What do allergists say triggers reactions in people allergic to Yorkies?

Dander and saliva carry the allergens, so a person allergic to dogs would still be allergic to a non-shedding breed like the Yorkie.

Hypoplasia of dens, seen in Yorkies, is a non-formation of the pivot point of which bone?

Second cervical vertebra: the dens, the peg the neck pivots on, fails to form, which can damage the spinal cord.

What does the Yorkshire Terrier's coat lack that makes it shed so little?

An undercoat is missing: the Yorkie has a single layer of hair, so it sheds little but needs regular brushing to prevent mats.

After the Yorkshire Terrier's foundation sire died in 1871, what was done with his body?

It was stuffed and displayed under glass, so admirers could still see the breed's founding sire long after he died.

What killed the Yorkshire Terrier's foundation sire at the age of six in 1871?

A carriage ran him over at about six, but by then his offspring had already fixed the Yorkshire Terrier type.

Which trick was part of the Yorkie war dog Smoky's post-war touring act?

Walking a tightrope was part of her act, and she appeared on dozens of live TV shows without repeating a trick.

Smoky pulled a telegraph wire through a 70-foot pipe at Lingayen Gulf on which Philippine island?

Luzon's Lingayen Gulf airfield was the site, and Smoky's run through the 70-foot pipe did in minutes a three-day dig that would have put 40 planes at risk.

The 2005 bronze memorial to Smoky in Lakewood, Ohio shows her sitting in what?

Susan Bahary's life-size bronze shows Smoky sitting in a GI helmet atop a two-ton granite base placed directly above her burial spot.