and has been a success with the breed. Ask questions, watch and learn. Take notes. Go to as many shows as pos- sible and just watch. Afterwards ask questions. Get opinions and informa- tion from different breeders, and then do research. Any breeder that you are thinking about purchasing a puppy from should be able to answer most any question about their line with knowledge and expertise, or be able to find the answer for you. 16. How do you determine the stud dog you will select to breed to your bitch? When determining a stud dog I look at the puppies that have been produced
by the stud I am considering. I look at the bitch the stud was bred to that pro- duced those puppies. I want the weak- ness in my bitch to be the strong point in the stud dog. 17. If you were starting a kennel would you buy a bitch first or a dog? Explain If I were starting a kennel I would purchase the best bitch I could get. In my opinion, a kennel is only as good as its foundation bitch. 18. What three words best describe your breed? Attitude, spunky and loving. 19. What is the single biggest mis- conception about your breed?
I think the biggest misconcep- tion about Yorkies is that they are lap dogs only. 20. What is the most defin- ing physical characteristic of your breed? I really think there are two physi- cal characteristics. The texture of a correct coat is like spun silk and should reflect light and feel cool to the touch. The other is color. While color is subjective, and each person inter- prets it slightly different, our standard states “dark steel blue”. Which to me is a color very similar to black, but on a mature dog has a bluish hue that reflects light. ber doing the same thing. This little puppy’s name was Gracie and she was never well. She did manage to earn her Canine Good Citizenship award and she was the light of our lives. She died very young and I have never forgiven the horrible excuse for a breeder who refused to take responsibility for her. We would have never given her back to the “breeder”, but we were stunned and so disappointed at her lack of concern. Because of Gracie’s poor health, I start- ed talking to other breeders for help. I ended up going to dog shows to talk to them and one thing led to another. I soon subscribed to The Yorkshire Terri- er Magazine and saw a picture of Cana- dian Champion Pastoral Johnny Hand- some on the cover. That was it for me. I had to have something from this dog. I had never met Lorraine Hayes, but I started calling her. I called and called, and called and called. Finally she was willing to sell me my foundation bitch, Ch Pastoral Head Over Heels, ROM. 2. What attracted you to the breed? I fell in love with the breed from the start because of the larger than life personalities that these little dogs have. From a practical standpoint, we needed a hypo-allergenic dog because my husband has allergies; and we knew we wanted a small dog with a lot of personality. Over the years I have researched other breeds and come close to investing in another breed to show. But we always come back to Yorkies. It is the perfect breed for us!
with LISA FARMER
a completely new, unknown owner/ handler I won the National Specialty in New York under Richard Sedlack with Bravo. What a thrill! I was certainly hooked by then! In 1998 I bred and whelped a very special litter of boys. (Ch Elite Keep My Memory, ROM x Ch Pastoral Head Over Heels, ROM) This was an all champion litter of boys, and each boy earned their ROM and went on to make lovely contributions to the breed. The pride of this litter was my Frankie—BIS/BISS CH TipTop Come Fly With Me. Frankie was a multiple Best in Show and Best in Specialty show winner, a Pedigree Award Win- ner, the #1 Yorkie All Systems in 2002, Westminster Kennel Club breed win- ner, and the spokesdog for Royal Canin Yorkshire Terrier dog food. He was co- owned with my friend Amy Tan and I always showed Frankie myself. Over the years I have bred and finished many champions from the Bred-By Exhibi- tor class. These days I don’t have time for as many shows. I try to fit them in between soccer and football games and all my childrens’’ other activities. 1. When and where did you first become interested in your breed? Around the time we were married, my husband gave me my first Yorkie as a gift. We did not know better and bought from a horrible puppy mill. Looking back, I certainly should have seen the red flags. To this day I feel sorry for those who are duped into buying dogs from puppy mills and back yard breeders, because I remem-
My name is Lisa Farmer and togeth- er with my friend Ann Fultz we raise and show Yorkshire Terriers under the TipTop and TopHat kennel names. I have two young children and so most all of our dogs live with Ann these days. We are just a few miles from each other and work closely together in all things related to the dogs. I have had Yorkies for nearly 20 years and Ann and I met when I sold her a pet Yor- kie around 12 years ago. The first Yor- kie I finished belonged to Robyn Huff. Her name was Meriview’s Josie Doe. Robyn groomed Josie while I watched and then I showed her. I was so proud to finish her. After finishing Josie, my first show dog was given to me by a lady named Jodi Hudspeth. He was BISS CH Honeycrest Brave’s Fever and we called him Bravo. He had a lovely coat and gorgeous head and topline. As
82 • T op N otch T oys , J anuary 2017
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