About Yorkies
Read how these little dogs got their start... not so long ago.
A famous year for Yorkie owners.... the Yorkshire Terrier was introduced in the United States in 1872 and the first Yorkshire Terrier was registered with the American Kennel Club (AKC) in 1878, making it one of the first 25 breeds to be approved for registration by the AKC.
The Yorkshire Terrier was very popular in England during the Victorian era as a pet and a show dog. Americans loved all things Victorian, so the Yorkshire Terrier became popular there too. customs, so too did they embrace the Yorkshire Terrier. The breed's popularity dipped in the 1940s, when the popularity of all small breeds took a big dip - to an all-time low of just 18% of registered breeds.
Smoky, a fabulously famous war dog from World War II, is credited with beginning a renewal of interest in the breed.
Today, the Yorkie is the 3rd most popular breed in America; and #6 in Canada. In New York City, the Yorkie is the #1 pure breed! click chart ↓
The Yorkie’s Working Class Start
The Yorkshire Terrier originated in - no surprise - Yorkshire (and the adjoining Lancashire), a rugged region in northern England. In the mid-nineteenth century, workers from Scotland ca
me to Yorkshire in search of work and brought with them several different varieties of small terriers. 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." Details are scarce.
Old Crab - Meet Kitty!
What is known is that the breed sprang from three different dogs, a male named Old Crab and a female named Kitty, and another female whose name is not known.
The Yorkie breed is not very old, and its origins are uncertain but it’s likely that the first Yorkies were created by working men of north England, who developed the breed for catching the terrible rats and mice that infested clothing mills and mine shafts. The dog was small enough to penetrate badger and fox burrows, and had a fighting spirit. 
Scotsmen seeking work in the woollen mills of Yorkshire brought with them various types of terrier, including the Skye Terrier, Dandie Dinmont, Manchester Terrier, Maltese and the now extinct Clydesdale. These were then crossed with local dogs --the rat fighters -- to start today’s Yorkie.
Today the Yorkie is often a fashion accessory; carried by women in their bags and under their arms.
Huddersfield Ben lived only 6 years, but they were busy times... Experts agree, he was the ‘founder’ of today’s Yorkshire Terrier. Naturally he lived in Yorkshire, England (1865 - 1871). “Ben” won more than 74 prizes in major dog shows.
Smoky was a famous war dog who served in World War II. She weighed four pounds and stood seven inches tall.
In February 1944, she’d been found by an American soldier in an abandoned foxhole in the New Guinea jungle.
For the next two years, Smoky back-packed through the rest of the war going on combat flights in the Pacific.
She faced adverse circumstances, living in the New Guinea jungle and Rock Islands, suffering the primitive conditions of tents in equatorial heat and humidity. After the wr, Smoky was smuggled back to the U.S. in an oxygen mask, and for the next 10 years, appeared in Hollywood, on TV and was a very popular entertainer at veterans' hospitals.
Smoky the dog parachuting during World War II; taken by owner and trainer, Mr. Bill Wynne
Paris Hilton
Miley Cyrus
Movie Star Audrey Hepburn with her yorkie, “Mister Famous”
When were yorkies officially introduced?
They came to the U.S. in 1872, and were added to the registry of the American Kennel Club in 1878.
The AKC registration form for Yorkshire Terriers allows for four choices:
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✓blue and tan,
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✓blue and gold,
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✓black and tan,
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✓black and gold.
Traditionally, the Yorkshire Terrier's tail is docked to a medium length.
Docking, or cutting off part of the tail when the dog is a pup, is a controversial practice.
Breeders and vets will amputate part of the puppy’s tail when it is less than 10-14 days old. There’s no anaesthetic. And it’s done just for “looks.”
These people defend it as a freedom of choice thing:
These people say it’s cruel and unusual and just plain stupid:
Anti-Docking Alliance. And I’d have to agree, their pictures are pretty gruesome.
Yorkie with a docked tail:
1872
Yorkshire Terriers -Mrs. Foster's "Huddersfield Ben" and Lady Giffard's "Katie" c. 1870
Early Dog Shows
In the early days of the breed, "almost anything in the shape of a Terrier having a long coat with blue on the body and fawn or silver coloured head and legs, with tail docked and ears trimmed, was received and admired as a Yorkshire Terrier".
But in the late 1860s, a popular Paisley type Yorkshire Terrier showdog named Huddersfield Ben, owned by a woman living in Yorkshire, Mary Ann Foster, was seen at dog shows throughout Great Britain, and defined the breed type for the Yorkshire Terrier.
Breed Standards for the Yorkshire Terrier