BLAST FROM THE PAST OUR DOGS AND ALL ABOUT THEM written by F. T. BARTON First edition; undated, circa 1910
submitted by PAM GUEVARA
The “button” ears on the dog in the photo were not unusual in the breed a century back. Prior to 1898, British Yorkies were commonly cropped, so upright ears were not bred for. After cropping was banned it took a period of years for ear carriage to
The body must be compact and the back level. The ears small v-shaped, erect or semi-erect, and be of a rich deep tan. The eyes be of a medium size, dark and expressive of intelligence. Straight legs, small feet, and black toe-nails essential. The hair on the legs should be of a rich golden tan, the hair being a little lighter at its tips than at the roots. The hair on the body should be long, quite straight, fine and silky in texture. The color of this hair should be a deep steel blue (never a silver blue) and extend from the occiput to the root of the tail. The presence of dark colored or fawn hairs constitutes a fault. The hair on the tail should be of a darker shade than that on the body. The tail must be docked to a medium length, and its carriage be a little above the level of the back. The hair on the head should be long, of a rich golden tan, and of a slightly deeper shape at the sides of the head. The tan on the head must not extend to the neck, and wherever there is tan hair it must be of a pure color. Head rather small, flat on the skull. Reviewed as a whole, the Yorkshire Terrier should be a compact, active, clean, limbed, long-coated, dark-tanned, keen Terrier, of good temperament and intelligent. A popular error in the feeding of Yorkshire Terriers is that of withholding meat. A little raw meat night and morn- ing, plenty of exercise and a few dog biscuits with a bone to gnaw at, is all that a Yorkshire requires in the way of food. Sweetmeats are unsuitable.
stabilize in the breed. Until it did photos of the time often showed specimens with “button” and “rose” ears, as well as erect ear carriage. Erect or dropped ears were considered equally acceptable.
T he Yorkshire Terrier was, at one time, a very popular variety, but subsequently, for some reason or other, seemed to fall into disfavor. These little Terriers, however, are again coming to the front, as evidenced by the fairly strong class- es that have recently appeared at the greater shows. Being a long-coated variety, and of no particular service to man, in all prob- ability accounts for the same amount of patronage accorded to it. The older type of Yorkshire Terrier was larger and shorter in coat than the dogs of today, in fact, it was really a more useful-looking dog, but the craze for the production of small dogs is on the increase, no matter what the variety may be, providing only it is one appeal- ing to ladies. Anyone desiring a York- shire Terrier for companionship should endeavour to procure a specimen with medium length of coat, thus avoid- ing unnecessary worry over the dog's toilet. The chief patrons of the breed have been mostly found amongst the working classes. For show purposes it is almost impos- sible to have a Yorkshire too small, but for those contemplating breeding
operations, it is better to buy a bitch of about 5 lbs. weight. It is a variety that is hardy, of good temperament, and one that thrives very well when kept indoors. When the puppies are born they are black—the blue shade in the coat not making its appearance till the puppy reaches three months, or from this time to six it months. It takes about eighteen months for a Yorkshire Terrier to attain full development. The color of the hair on the body and the richness of the tan are most important points, so much so that the Yorkshire Terrier Club allocate thirty percent of marks a for quality in the direction named. In order to keep the coat in first-class condition, constant grooming is neces- sary, special Terrier brushes being sold for this breed. Stimulating applications are often applied. One of the best—but some- what objectionable—being, one part of paraffin to seven parts of camphor- ated oil. To prevent it the hair on the feet from being damaged, stockings are a used. Yorkshires are classified according to weight, viz., over 7 lbs.; 7 lbs. and under, but over 5 lbs.; 5 lbs. and under.
T op N otch T oys , J anuary 2017 • 99
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