Call that a dog?

How did a scrawny little mutt bred to catch vermin down Yorkshire coal mines get to be the world's best loved toy dog. Blogga investigates...

I first came across a Yorkie whilst doing paper rounds as a kid. Any eleven year old will tell you that these dogs are the scourge of the letterbox.

Size has bugger all to do with it. At least with a farm sheepdog you can see the thing coming and leap atop of the fence. Forget the big guard dogs - its the spoilt little toy breeds that are the most trouble. Jack Russells, Chihuahuas you can take or leave - the one varmint guaranteed to clamp its damp little molars around your brand new Reeboks (and their owner's copy of the Daily Mail) is the good old Yorkshire terrier.

How this skinny little pup got to be named after our rugged county first seems baffling. Yorks is after all good hunting territory - hunts going back donkeys years have been going on hereabouts, and strapping gun dogs have always been in the thick of things. This scag-haired shortarse yippy thing doesn't seem strong enough or hardy enough to be of much use huntingwise. But it turns out that the Yorkie did indeed have its roots around here. And it made its mark down't pit and in the cotton mill.

Breeders are still debating the precise origin of the Yorkshire Terrier. Its commonly held that the bloodline goes back to Scotland via Paisley Weavers, who moved to the thriving mill towns of Yorkshire and Lancashire around the turn of the 19th century. The dogs they brought with them were terriers - The West Highland, the Cairn, the Clydesdale, the Skye and of course the Paisley Terrier. These dogs were rather bigger than today's Yorkie. Some stood thirteen to fourteen inches tall and could weight up to 200 pounds.

The breed most connected to the Yorkshire is the Broken-Haired Scotch, which had distinct black, white and tan colouring. Local hooligan dogs like the Black and Tan English terrier, dodgy-looking Maltese imports, and the Waterside Terrier (a small, long haired little ratter) were also chucked into the meld. This were working men's dogs - The Skye for instance had a long back from generations of badger hunts. It soon got to work catching rats in the mills and coal mines. Mating was chancy, and breeding down to success in rat catching contests as much as anything else.

How the breed got its Yorkshire name goes back to a couple of characters called Swift and Kershaw - both Halifax men. Swift had a black and tan terrier called Old Crab, reputedly purchased after a Manchester gaming match around 1850. J Kershaw meanwhile had a dog called Old Kitty, a dropped eared Paisley/Skye Terrier. Kitty too had spent time in Manchester - apparently stolen from there - before she arrived in Halifax.

By this time Toy Terriers were entering dog show circles, initially under the categories of Rough and Broken Haired. Broken Haired Scotch terriers were limited to under 5lbs in weight. Others could weigh up to 30lbs - far heavier than the 5lb nippers you see around today.

By 1874 the name had changed. The Yorkshire Terrier had arrived. In 1886 the Kennel Club made it officially an individual breed.

The Legend of Huddersfield Ben

Old Kitty and Old Crab entered legend as the great great great grandparents of one of the most celebrated show dogs of the day. Huddersfield Ben was owned by a Bradford woman - Mrs M. A. Foster and he is popularly held to be the father of all modern Yorkies. He was first shown in Manchester in 1869 and went on to win over 70 prizes, including shows in London's Crystal Palace. He was also a champion on the rat-catching circuit, which was popular in 19th century Yorkshire.

Ben was bred by a Mr W Eastwood of Huddersfield and would grow to be a very popular stud dog, setting standards for the breed that last to today. He would eventually meet a sorry end on 23rd September, 1871 under the wheels of a carriage. He was just six years old. Mrs Foster would continue to win in the dog rings for thirty five years with dogs of his pedigree.

By 1872 the Yorkshire Terrier had turned up to shows in the States, recognized as a breed by the AKC in 1878. Eleven years later a great great grandson of Huddersfield Ben called Bradford Harry won the American Kennel Club Championship. The Yorkshire is a wildly popular and pampered breed in the USA - in 2002 the Yorkie was number 6 in the list of most popular registrations. In England he's 10th.

Sissy lapdogs rule!

The route from being a scruffy little rat catcher in the dank mills of northern england to a preened, shampooed fashion accessory has been swift. The poor sucker is most likely to be attached to some huge matron covered in jewellry, wrapped in little coats, and forced to wear silly little show bows in broad daylight. You can buy everything from Gucci collars and Louis Vuitton pet carriers to antique gold beds for the little blighters.

The moral of this story is that whilst the majority of Yorkies look like a cute toy or a hand muff it will still have your hand off if you go anywhere near their letterbox. Every preened, overmedicated, supergroomed Yorkshire is a seasoned champion ratter at heart. Paper lads, you have been warned!