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Originally Posted by FlDebra  Where are you getting that? Over and over in this thread people are writing that original yorkies were 15, 20, 25, and now 30 pounds??? Better read the actual history of the Yorkshire Terrier.
"Yorkshire Terriers were given their breed name by 1874, although it had been around since 1870. Originally they were known and shown as Broken Haired Scotch Terriers or Toy Terrier (rough and broken haired).
Broken Haired Toy Terrier
Almost all of the classes were divided by weight. The classes were for Broken Haired or Rough Scotch Terriers less than 5 lbs. or 6 lbs. and under; Toy Terriers 4 lbs. and under, or 5 lbs. not exceeding 7 lbs., or 6 lbs. and over; or Blue Scotch Terriers under 7 lbs. or 7 lbs. not
exceeding 9 lbs. The largest weight class in which they were reported
to have been shown was for Broken Haired Scotch Terrier 9 lbs. not exceeding 12 lbs. This record should prove that although there were larger Yorkshires they were not being shown at the dog shows. The record proves that the small size was available for breeding from early days." From Joan Gordon's The Complete Yorkshire Standard and part of the official History of the Yorkshire Terrier on the YTCA site.
You have to be careful with some of the online references. One person mis-speaks and then it gets repeated a hundred times, perpetuating a myth. |
I think a lot of people think this, because Huddersfield Ben, known as the 'father of the Yorkie' in a way was between 9-12lbs himself. He was a larger dog who produced smaller pups. And a lot of the terriers that were used to create the Yorkshire were also bigger terriers. 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" (P. H. Coombs in The American Book of the Dog, pg 443). So, it seems before there was a proper standard put forth, Yorkies were considered lots of different things and there probably were some terriers in the 20lb range called Yorkies back then.