JUDGING THE YORKSHIRE TERRIER A BREEDER-JUDGE’S VIEWPOINT
By Jim Hupp
I n this issue of Top Notch Toys , they are showcasing the Yorkshire Ter- rier. As a breeder judge, I have been asked to share my viewpoint on how to evaluate the Yorkshire Terrier, and in doing so, hopefully to assist new judges to the breed, with their future assignments. In the past 30 plus years, I have seen the Yorkshire Terrier go through many changes, depending on what was “in” at the time. I can remember the black, soft-coated dogs being the popular choice to exhibit. Then, the lighter blue, silk dogs became the col- or of choice. Every breeder and judge will have his or her interpretation of what the cor- rect type is for evaluating the York- shire Terrier. Because of the differ- ent type of Yorkies being exhibited today, as well in the past, many judges express that it is a difficult breed to judge. The Yorkshire Terrier standard de- scribes the breed as ‘a long-haired Toy Terrier whose blue and tan coat is parted on the face from the base of the skull to the end of the tail and hangs evenly and quite straight down each side of body. The body is neat, com- pact and well proportioned. The dog’s high head carriage and confident manner should give the appearance of vigor self-importance0 This state- ment gives one a mental picture of an ADULT dog, approximately three years of age.
The Yorkshire Terrier is born black and tan and the coat has a slow meta- morphosis from the black to tan pup- py to the blue and tan adult. I believe this timeframe is the most difficult for judges to evaluate. As the Yorkie matures, the body coat may look black to a light blue, while the tan pattern, can go from a gray/ whitish color, before the rich shaded golden tan comes in on a mature dog. I have heard many new judges ask, “what is that whitish/gray color on top of the head?” This is why Judges Education, discussion with long time breeders, and ring side mentoring is so important. The body coat of many puppies can look light and sparse. This coat can also be misconceiving, as this type of coat develops very slowly. The puppy with the heavier coat that appears black, yet has a good natu- ral sheen to the hair, can be mis- conceived as a poor coat texture to non-breeder judges. I have seen judges part the coat, at the shoulder area, to look for breaking of color toward the skin. This is fine, but the correct coat should always have a natural luster and sheen close to the skin in a younger dog, and it will be the correct texture as an adult. The cute puppy with a heavy wooly coat will have no luster or sheen to the hair, and the tanmarkings will be pro- fuse and have a creamcolor. This type of coat should be severely faulted, as
when the dog matures, the body color will become a clerical gray and the shaded rich golden tan markings will be a cream/white color. Along those lines I personally feel that many judges put too much em- phasis on the wording “dark steel blue”. This is the ideal description in our standard, but even breeders have their own interpretations of what is the ideal color. The standard states “quality, texture and quantity of coat are of prime importance.” The coat is glossy, fine and silky in texture. When I am evaluating dogs in the ring and if I have a very nice balanced, sound moving dog, with overall Yor- kie type, which carries the blue and tan pattern, I have no problem merit- ing a dogwhichhas a lighter blue color. Please Do NOT let the dark steel blue wording consume your every thought and ultimately award an unsound dog based on the ideal color alone. There are two big misconceptions I hear and feel should be clarified per our standard. First is that a Yorkie is to weigh four to seven pounds. That might be a preference in general, but not worded in our Standard. Accord- ing to Yorkshire Terrier standard it simply states “Weight: Must not ex- ceed seven pounds.” This is where weight and height can be so deceiv- ing. A four pound and a seven pound dog is a big difference when both are exhibited in the ring, especially if they are in the same class. The keyword for
64 • T op N otch T oys , J anuary 2020
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