Quote:
Originally Posted by Bella Yorkie  This blogpost was published on my teacup yorkie dogs website but contained gross misinformation. One of our previous writers, hired through a writing co-op but who is no longer involved with our site wrote an article, meaning no harm, about "bigger" yorkies and the "world's biggest yorkie" because he thought it would be a fun, novel idea. However after reviewing some comments here on the forum I changed the post because, as commentors have said well & accurately, the article wrongly gave the impression that dogs up to 20 and 30 pounds could be called "yorkies"- however that is indeed NOT the case. 20-30 pounds is SO far outside the required weight for a yorkie...I do apologize, this is rather embarrassing to be honest.
The updated & more accurate post: 20 pound yorkies are Impossible & Cannot Exist! |
Do you know what "standard" means, as in the "breed standard?" It is the description that a specimen of that particular breed must meet in order to be PERFECT. It is used to judge a dog in the conformation show ring, and only one of many factors in deciding which dogs are breeding quality. Here is the breed standard for the Yorkshire Terrier:
General Appearance
That of a long-haired toy terrier whose blue and tan coat is parted on the face and 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, compact and well proportioned. The dog's high head carriage and confident manner should give the appearance of vigor and self-importance.
Head
Small and rather flat on top, the skull not too prominent or round, the muzzle not too long, with the bite neither undershot nor overshot and teeth sound. Either scissors bite or level bite is acceptable. The nose is black. Eyes are medium in size and not too prominent; dark in color and sparkling with a sharp, intelligent expression. Eye rims are dark. Ears are small, V-shaped, carried erect and set not too far apart.
Body
Well proportioned and very compact. The back is rather short, the back line level, with height at shoulder the same as at the rump.
Legs and Feet
Forelegs should be straight, elbows neither in nor out. Hind legs straight when viewed from behind, but stifles are moderately bent when viewed from the sides. Feet are round with black toenails. Dewclaws, if any, are generally removed from the hind legs. Dewclaws on the forelegs may be removed.
Tail
Docked to a medium length and carried slightly higher than the level of the back.
Coat
Quality, texture and quantity of coat are of prime importance. Hair is glossy, fine and silky in texture. Coat on the body is moderately long and perfectly straight (not wavy). It may be trimmed to floor length to give ease of movement and a neater appearance, if desired. The fall on the head is long, tied with one bow in center of head or parted in the middle and tied with two bows. Hair on muzzle is very long. Hair should be trimmed short on tips of ears and may be trimmed on feet to give them a neat appearance.
Colors
Puppies are born black and tan and are normally darker in body color, showing an intermingling of black hair in the tan until they are matured. Color of hair on body and richness of tan on head and legs are of prime importance in adult dogs, to which the following color requirements apply: Blue: Is a dark steel-blue, not a silver-blue and not mingled with fawn, bronzy or black hairs. Tan: All tan hair is darker at the roots than in the middle, shading to still lighter tan at the tips. There should be no sooty or black hair intermingled with any of the tan.
Color on Body
The blue extends over the body from back of neck to root of tail. Hair on tail is a darker blue, especially at end of tail.
Headfall
A rich golden tan, deeper in color at sides of head, at ear roots and on the muzzle, with ears a deep rich tan. Tan color should not extend down on back of neck.
Chest and Legs
A bright, rich tan, not extending above the elbow on the forelegs nor above the stifle on the hind legs.
Weight
Must not exceed seven pounds.
Disqualifications:
Any solid color or combination of colors other than blue and tan as described above. Any white markings other than a small white spot on the forechest that does not exceed 1 inch at its longest dimension.
I guess you weren't aware that there is no such thing as a dog that meets the breed standard 100%. 100% is what they try to achieve, but even with the best of efforts and knowledge applied, the resulting dogs in a litter will always have one or more faults.
By your logic, if anything is outside the standard, then the dog isn't a Yorkie. Well, then, that means there are NO Yorkies, or no dogs of any other pure breed, because no dog meets the standard (goal) perfectly.
Just because a dog has a fault according to the breed standard, does not mean it is not pure bred or is not a member of that particular breed. This includes the size stipulated in the standard. If all you had to do is slap together two pure bred Yorkies and you would always get a dog under 7 lbs, then there would be NO need for the standard to even mention "not to exceed 7 lbs." Just the fact that they have to mention this as one of the goals of the standard illustrates clearly that some will not meet this goal.
By your logic, if anything is outside the standard, then the dog isn't a Yorkie. Well, then, that means there are NO Yorkies, or no dogs of any other pure breed, because no dog meets the standard (goal) perfectly.
The ancestors of Yorkies included much larger terriers. Through selective breeding, the size in the majority of Yorkies has been decreased, but the genes for the larger size are still there, albeit in much smaller numbers in the population. Get the right two dogs together, and get the right egg and sperm together, and BOOM, those genes can express themselves again in a genetic throwback to a larger Yorkie.
The statement in your "article:"
Those desiring to own one should look for yorkies that at full adulthood are estimated to weigh between 3 -7 lbs. These are the weight requirements for yorkies to be considered full bred, and should be considered by anyone reasonably interested in yorkies healthy.
Any estimate of what a puppy will be when full-grown is nothing better than a guess. If you have a history of the breeding pair and what they have produced together in past litters, then you can give a better guess, but there are no guarantees. And the size result has NOTHING to do with whether the dog is pure bred.
I would also like to see the source for your claim that "These are the weight requirements for yorkies to be considered full bred, and should be considered by anyone reasonably interested in yorkies healthy." Size has nothing to do with health. They can be tiny and healthy, meet the size standard and be healthy, or be larger than the standard and be healthy. They can also have a multitude of problems at ANY size. There is no link that I have found between size of the dog making a dog healthier. (The inverse can sometimes be true, since a liver shunt dog won't eat well so it tends to be smaller, but it is the health problem that influences the size in this case, not the size having an influence on the health).
I sure hope people are not reading your site and taking the information as fact, because there many problems with your "facts" and "logic."