Yorkshire Terrier

The Yorkshire Terrier, also known as a Yorkie, is a British breed of toy dog of terrier type. It is among the smallest of the terriers and indeed of all dog breeds, with a weight of no more than 3.2 kg (7 lb). It originated in the nineteenth century in the English county of Yorkshire, after which it is named. The coat is tan on the head and dark steel-grey on the body; no other colour is accepted by either The Kennel Club or the Fédération Cynologique Internationale.

It is a playful and energetic dog, usually kept as a companion dog. It has contributed to the development of other breeds including the Silky Terrier, and also to cross-breeds such as the Yorkipoo.

The Yorkshire Terrier originated in Yorkshire. In the mid-nineteenth century, workers from Scotland came to Yorkshire in search of work and brought with them several varieties of terrier dogs. Breeding of the Yorkshire terrier was "principally accomplished by the people – mostly operatives in cotton and woollen mills – in the counties of Yorkshire and Lancashire." In the 1800s, miners wanting to develop a ratting terrier, bred Black-and-Tan Terriers with the Paisley and Clydesdale Terriers.

Details are scarce. Mrs A. Foster is quoted as saying in 1886,

If we consider that the mill operatives who originated the breed were nearly all ignorant men, unaccustomed to imparting information for public use, we may see some reason why reliable facts have not been easily attained.

The breed originates from two^{[clarification needed]} distinct dogs, a male named Old Crab, a female named Kitty, and another female whose name is not known. The Paisley Terrier, a smaller version of the Skye Terrier that was bred for a beautiful long silky coat, also figured into the early dogs. Some authorities believed that the Maltese was used as well. "They were all originally bred from Scotch Terriers (meaning dogs from Scotland, not today's Scottish Terrier) and shown as such the name Yorkshire Terrier was given to them on account of their being improved so much in Yorkshire."

Yorkshire Terriers were shown in a dog show category (class) at the time called "Rough and Broken-coated, Broken-haired Scotch and Yorkshire Terriers". Hugh Dalziel, writing in 1878, says that "the classification of these dogs at shows and in the Kennel Club Stud Book is confusing and absurd" in lumping together these different types. 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". But in the late 1860s, a popular Paisley-type Yorkshire Terrier show dog named Huddersfield Ben, owned by a woman living in Yorkshire, Mary Ann Foster, was seen at dog shows throughout Great Britain, and defined the breed type for the Yorkshire Terrier.

Huddersfield Ben was a Yorkshire Terrier whose portrait was painted by George Earl and in 1891 an authority on the breed wrote, "Huddersfield Ben was the best stud dog of his breed during his lifetime, and one of the most remarkable dogs of any pet breed that ever lived; and most of the show specimens of the present day have one or more crosses of his blood in their pedigree." A show winner, Huddersfield Ben, through his puppies, helped define the Yorkshire Terrier breed. He is still referred to as "father of the breed".