Yorkshire Terrier - TOP 10 Interesting Facts

1) Ratters

Yorkies were bred from all kinds of terriers, including the Waterside terriers. Their main purpose was to hunt rats. They were mainly used by miners and weavers to keep their workplace rodent free. And Yorkie small size and fearless personality was the best for this job.

2) Therapy Dog

It is believed, that the first therapy dog was a Yorkshire Terrier. During the world war II, an american soldier Bill Wynne find a yorkie in a foxhole and took her with himself. This Yorkie traveled hospitals around the Pacific and the United States, working as a therapy dog for wounded soldiers.

3) Protectors

Yorkies might be small, but it seems they are aware of it. They are capable of stand out for your or themselves against much bigger dogs, people or other animals. They were bred to be fearless and they carry this personality trait to these days.

4) Weird noises

Yorkshire Terriers are prone to reverse sneezing, or a gag reflex. Instead of pushing the air out like a normal sneeze, they gasp for air, which is creating a honking sound, kinda like a goose. When you hear this for the first time, you might be scared about your Yorkie, but reverse sneezing is absolutely harmless and pass after a few minutes.

5) Human like hair

The yorkshire terrier coat has very similar texture to human hair. And the coat is very beautiful, long and silky. But they are not maintance free, it takes a lot of time to také a proper care of the coat. Many breeders recommend that owners keep their pet Yorkies in a “puppy cut,” which is short and easily to maintain.

6) Yorkie in White House

Richard Nixon and his family were a big fans of Yorkies and they had several of them. The yorkie named Pasha even lived in the white house. The most famous Richard Nixons Yorkie was Checkers, the subject of richard nixons speech during his run for vicepresidency.

7) Biewer Terrier

In 1984 a Yorkie with unusual coat color was born. He was named Schneeflocken von Friedheck and he has blue white and gold color. The breeders decided to use this to create a brand new breed. With carefull selective breeding they created a Biewer Terrier, which is nowadays recognized by the AKC.

8) Picky eaters

It is pretty common, that Yorkshire Terriers have a delicate digestive systém and they are kinda picky dogs. If your Yorkie is showing discomfort when eating or after eating, take him to the vet for a checkup.

9) Health

Yorkies are generally very healthy dogs, but as all dogs, even they suffer from some health issues. The most common are Patellar luxation, Progressive retinal atrophy and hypoglycemia. The lifespan of Yorkies is good 12-15 years.

10) AKC registration

Although yorkies do not have ancient history like some other breeds, they were one of the first breeds to be registered by the AKC. Yorkshire Terriers were first registered in 1885 with some other dogs like Beagle or Bull Terrier.