What were Yorkies bred for
 

Could someone tell me what Yorkies were bred for? I thought they were bred to go down into small places to hunt out mice and rats. At Puppy school from H*ll last week they went around the room to tell what their dog was bred for and how difficult would their pupy be to train. My DGS (handler) said the bit about hunting and the Instructor very curtly said they were bred to sit on people's laps so that their (that is the humans) fleas could jump off onto the Yorkie. My DGS then said he thought his puppy would do good and again she very curtly announced that they were extremely difficult to train. Things just got worse I won't bore you but has anyone ever heard that about the fleas and is this true?

I have always understood that they were bred to be ratters. Sounds like you had a wonderful time at that class.....NOT:eek:

That doesnt sound like a very nice trainer at all:thumbdown

Exactly. If you do a bit of googling on the history of Yorkies, you will come up with enough documentation to fill volumes that they were in fact bred as hunting dogs. I am sure that many Yorkies served other purposes as well. Your "trainer" sounds like he needs some training himself - in human relations.

I'd be inclined to do some....extra credit and print it out to take to class.

Just what is this person's credentials? Cause they certainly do not know about the yorkshire terrier breed.

I read that they were mine hunters. But I'm gonna do a little looking

PURPOSE OF BREED:
This little terrier once worked as a ratter in the Yorkshire coal pits and cotton mills. Selective breeding resulted in the tiny dogs you now see representing this breed today. These small dogs were highly favored by wealthy English women, who used to call them ”the dresser drawer dog”

I'm not an expert on this breed but I have done alot of research on Yorkies and how they originated, where, what they were used for ect. and I have never run across anything even close to what this instructor is saying about them...Ask her where she was able to find her information, that you were telling some of us dumb yorkie owners about it and we were just wanting to continue to study about them...maybe thats what some of her ancestors used them for...teehee...she sounds like she looooves her job...

From what I understand, fur stoles were used to attract fleas off the owner...that was THEIR original purpose...never heard of any dog being used as flea bait. Sounds like a great class...your instructor is an idiot. :D :animal-pa :animal-pa :animal-pa :animal-pa :aimeeyork

trainer
 

I posted this a few weeks ago...a friend went to a Petsmart class and the trainer was from the UK..she started by saying there was one breed she did not like to train and it was the Yorkie...all were usually spoiled, hyper and poorly adjusted...I have heard a few trainer state their dislike of Yorkies...

Tell that trainer he needs to go back and learn some manners. Jack a$$. He sounds ignorant as hell.

They were bred to catch rats and mice in the mines in Yorkshire London. I have had a few Yorkies in my time that were better at catching mice then any cat.

sounds like your trainer just doesn't like yorkies at all! i dont know if i would train my dog with someone who didnt like him, dogs arent stupid and can pick up on that hint lol

Lol !!!
Read my post above yours hee hee
They came from SCOTLAND....and Yorkshire is not in London-London is a city not a country....Yorkshire is a region in England and London is the capital of England but in a different region to Yorkshire...
They were taken to Yorkshire from Scotland yes...and you are right about the coal pits. (Scotland is not England as many of you think either...it is a country in it's own right north of England)
I would be lost about places in the USA too don't worry hee hee :)
:D Debra x x x

A friend of mine called Petsmart to check into training classes for her yorkies and was told that her yorkies were untrainable. The trainer had never even met her yorkies. I was surprised by this. My yorkie did great in class and she just won a prize at Petsmart for performing the best trick.

I recently met a guy in the park who has a 5 month old yorkie. I have been showing him how to train the little guy and within a couple of weeks he can do sit, shake hands, and down like a champ. I showed him leave it and stay and I know next time I see him the pup will be doing leave it and stay like a champ too. I don't know why trainers would tell people that yorkies can't be trained. I don't agree. The ones I have trained have been quick learners.

We know the UK...ya'll have the Queen. :D

Actually some of us did pay attention to geography class. ;)

My understanding is that they were brought to the Yorkshire and Lancashire areas of England by poor Scottish immigrants and the breed was refined in these areas and given the name Yorkshire terrier.

The immigrants were poor and the land owners allowed them to tenant farm with certain conditions. They were allowed to own only dogs that would fit through a seven inch hoop, this assured they could not hunt large game. The immigrants typically worked as day laborers and in addition to coal mines they worked mowing fields, where their rat killers were very welcome to come and hunt. They would dig pits for the rats to jump into before mowing the fields and once the days work was done they would wager on how quickly a given dog could kill all of the rats in a pit.

The genetic experts of the day were horse breeders. Carriages owned by the affluent would be pulled by more than one horse and the best breeders produced matched sets of horses to pull carriages. The day laborers were hired to clean stalls and do manual labor but were also exposed to the genetic expertise of the horse breeders and they applied what they learned to their beloved breed. The Yorkie was very quickly refined into a valued companion, one that would guard the families food supplies from rats with deadly efficiency and still be beautiful at the end of a leash for an afternoon stroll.

I don't hold this out as fact, it's just bit's and pieces I have picked up reading about the history of the breed. JMHO :cool:

For Hundreds of years, scots working-class people were accompanied by their terriers. The wealthy elite owned almost all the land, and only people with prosperity and high social standing were allowed to own large hunting dogs. Poor people in scotland were only allowed to have small dogs. The game dogs whom these people developed hunted all kinds of creatures, including rabbits, rats, squirrels, otters, badgers, and foxes.
The scots came to Yorkshire county in northern England in the 1800's. to work in the mills and mines. They brought with them their little dogs, who hunted the rats in the factories and became house pets.
Yorkie fanciers came from surviving a hard life, not from books. They were breeding for dogs who were good game ratters. tough little dogs who could keep the vermin at bay. The Waterside Terrier is said to be is an ancestor to the Yorkshire Terrier.
The Yorkshire Terrier in the mid 19th century England wern't quite the same as the Yorkies of today. They were larger weighing approx. 12 lbs. their coats were medium , rather then floor length. Still , they were distinct from other terriers of the time, and you can see the family resemblance in the yorkies today.:aimeeyork
History:
the Yorkshire Terrier
by Deborah Wood,&
Wayne hunthausen, DVM .

How annoying and what a coincidence. I was in PetSmart over the weekend. A training class was taking place while I was in there and I stood and watched for a short time. I really wasn't too impressed and the dogs didn't look that impressed either:~(.

I guess you don't have to have too many smarts to qualify for a job as a pet trainer at PetSmart!

Not Petsmart
 

In an interest to fairness this did NOT happen at Petsmart, but a rather large dog training facility here in Tulsa called TDTC. Also the instructor was a woman not a man.:aimeeyork

Regarding PetSmart - I just thought that I would mention that I posted my message after reading post # 11 & 16.

Good News!
 

Out of the blue and totally unexpectedly the President of this place called me about an hour ago. She said she had heard about this incident just last night and she had wanted to hear my side of things. She was extremely nice and professional. She has offered a new instructor or our money back.

That IS good news! Congratulations!

I had heard this about the Maltese. The maltese was used by English nobility (women) to sit on their laps and used as flea deterrents.

Wanted to add: That even though the maltese may have been bred to be lap dogs, they are still very intelligent and smart enough to train.

Im a little upset... as i was A PETSMART trainer for 4 years... and yes you do have to qualify and go through a training program....

but thats besides the point... because unfortunately... not every trainer is the same... and i know that alot of people have had bad experiences with them.

ive heard alot of horror stories of people who had gone to other petsmarts, or even petcos where they were told their dogs were untrainable, or felt like they didnt get their moneys worth. i usually spent extra time with these people to prove that their dogs were in fact trainable.

yorkies were actually one of my favorite breeds to train, along with min pins, and chihuahuas who are also "untrainable" just cause it was more rewarding.

im sorry you had such a bad experience. i know there was once a trainer i was working with who use to just make things up if he didnt know the answer to a question... to try to make himself look like he knew it all...

Well I am a little geographical challenged...LOL There are places in the United States I couldn't tell you the exact location but thanks for the correction.