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Originally Posted by OwnedByJezebel  I keep on seeing references to Hudderfield Ben being around 30 lbs. Does anyone really know how much he weighed?
I also find this statement on the BBC website: BBC - h2g2 - The Yorkshire Terrier
"It's difficult to believe that before the 1930s, the Yorkshire Terrier usually weighed around 30 lbs, rather than the three to seven pounds of today's Kennel Club Standard for the Yorkshire Terrier. However, as the popularity of the Yorkie has expanded, the breed has started to become larger again; most of today's family pet Yorkies are somewhat bigger than the Breed Standard. In large part due to their size, Yorkshire Terriers are actually classified as toy dogs rather than terriers by the Kennel Club."
I think it is clear that prior to the 1930's there were plenty of the "under 7 lb" Yorkies around, so I'm not sure that I agree with the word "usually" in the first sentence. But I do think it is interesting that they point out that there were plenty of larger Yorkies around in the past, and even more interesting that they are noting a trend to today's Yorkie increasing in size.
ETA: I would love to see Yorkies moved into the Terrier group by the AKC and allowed to officially compete in Earthdog trials. My first Yorkie would have made an incredible earthdog. |
I don't recall ever seeing Ben's exact weight, but the breed was developed from dogs weighing usually between 10 to 15 pounds. There were some smaller dogs even at that early date. In Joan Gordon's book, there is a page from an old book, copyright 1872, that shows the standard for the "Yorkshire Blue-Tan Silky Coated Terrier" and the weight range is given at 10-18 pounds.
There is mention of Ch. Ted, a great-grandson of Huddersfield Ben, that was a top winner in the 1880's. Ted weighed 5 pounds.