Yorkie Facts That You Have Never Heard
Probably you have read a lot about Yorkies, if you have one. You probably had interest in their character, in what food they eat, what health problems they have, how to take care of them and so on. But there are a lot more interesting things to know about your dog. In this article I will share with you interesting Yorkie facts that you have never heard of. Yorkshire terriers appeared in public already in the middle of 19th century so the breed has a long history. I myself found it interesting to know more about the family of my dog and maybe in this way discover more traits of the breed.
It is well known that Yorkshire Terriers are good watchdogs, they are affectionate and popular among celebrities, require a lot of care and maybe for this reason they are so pretty. These tendencies are proven through the history of the breed and here I will present some facts which you might suspect about your Yorkie, if you know him well, but haven’t really heard.
Fact 1: Yorkshire Terriers used to catch rats
Weavers brought Yorkie to England from Scotland in the middle of 19th century. Before that the breed was called Broken-Haired Scotch Terrier but renamed after the region of England where the breed was supported the most. Not just weavers but also miners and other business owners used these tiny dogs to exterminate rats in their work places. Because of their tiny size Yorkie could squeeze in even the smallest spaces and because of their fierce personalities they could be pretty persistent catching rats. For the fearless and fierce character Yorkie were taken to hunts to flush prey out of its den.
Fact 2: Yorkie was a WWII hero
This is a story of one Yorkie named Smoky. In WWII an American soldier Bill Wynne found a Yorkie in a foxhole and took her with himself to his travels around New Guinea. Soon this small doggy was of some help in the war zone where she was sent off to string communication wires under a former Japanese strip. Her size and obedience took a big part in her work and in this way probably she saved American soldiers from death: without her the enemies could have noticed the intruders. As if it was not enough, Smoky toured hospitals throughout the Pacific and the United States as a therapy dog for soldiers wounded in war. After her job was over, she and Wynne went to Hollywood to perform in some TV shows.
Fact 3: Yorkie’s hair never stops growing
Yorkie don’t have undercoat and not even a real dog’s fur – Yorkie’s hair is more like of a human’s and it has a tendency to grow until it is cut or dies. Basically it means that if a Yorkie is unattended, he will turn very messy and look even worse than a stray dog. Yorkie’s hair can grow up to 2 feet long. That is why you can fairly say that Yorkie is Rapunzel of the dogs. However, differently to Rapunzel, Yorkie usually are left with short hair to keep them from tripping or getting food stuck in the hair.
Fact 4: A Yorkie lived in the White House
There is a long list of celebrities who have or had Yorkie: Audrey Hepburn, Paris Hilton, Miley Cyrus, Whitney Huston, Carmen Electra, Hillary Duff, Natalie Portman and many more (for example me :)) Maybe it is a part of their image to have a pet who is as much good looking as the celebrity must be. One well known story about a famous Yorkie started even in the White House, in the family of president Richard Nixon. It is known that Pasha, their dog, was the most favorite pet of the president’s daughter Trisha. Besides Pasha, there were two more canine companions of the White House family. One of them – an Irish Setter King Timahoe – was the best friend of Pasha and despite of the big difference of the size they were inseparable. Pasha was so loved that Julie Nixon even wrote a children story about him, called “Pasha Passes by”.
Fact 5: Dorothy’s from Oz dog probably was a Yorkie
Probably most of you know the story of Dorothy from the novel “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”. It was written in 1900 by American L. Frank Baum. A girl named Dorothy after tornado rips through Kansas where she was living travels to the magical land of Oz with her dog Toto and experiences adventures. It happens to be that this dog, many people believe, was a Yorkshire Terrier. The original drawings of Toto in the book resemble a lot a Yorkie. This breed was very popular back when the book was illustrated and the illustrator himself had a Yorkie so it is probable that the belief is true.
Fact 6: Yorkshire Terriers are small but brave
Yorkie usually weight from 4 to 6 pounds and is 8 to 9 inches tall at the shoulder. And even though the first Yorkie used to weight a lot more – between 12 to 14 pounds – now they have become one of the smallest breeds which usually are called toy dogs. When you hear the name “toy dog”, you imagine a small scared trembling doggy which hides behind the back of the owner. I believe there are such small dogs but it is not Yorkie. He is fierce, loud, brave and can save you even from an animal a lot bigger than he himself. There are some heroic stories when a Yorkie distracted a bear when one was attacking dog’s owner and in this way the owner had time to run away and save his life. Another Yorkie fought against an Akita and saved an elderly woman’s life, even managing to survive himself. So if you think that only a big dog can protect you, think twice.
Fact 7: Yorkshire Terriers have a star-ancestor
You have already read about a war hero Smoky. But this breed has more famous individuals. Huddershield Ben (yes, that’s right, it’s a name of a dog) is considered as the father of the breed. If we compare this significant (which you can say only by his name) dog with people, probably we can call Ben an accredited model. During his short life which lasted just 6 years he was a confident rival of many other representatives of his kind in dog shows and he won over 70 awards. He weighted 11 pounds and was a hefty dog but his puppies weighted around 5 pounds which was the standard back then. It is believed that most Yorkie today are the offspring of Ben.
Fact 8: There is one myth about Yorkie
On the internet you can find such a breed as Teacup terriers on sale. The demand of this breed is getting more and more viral because people want to have really small dogs. However, Teacup terrier is a myth. The name was invented by puppy mills for people to buy more Yorkshire terriers. The sellers take pictures of puppies and state that they are full-grown dogs when in fact it is just a puppy. Even if a Yorkie can be smaller than a standard individual of his breed, no full-grown Yorkie will fit in a teacup.
Bonus facts: interesting yorkie facts
If you felt lazy reading the whole text and wanted just some short facts about this breed, here they are:
- Yorkie love squeaky toys: since long ago they were bred to hunt mice, the squeaky sound induces hunting instincts;
- Yorkie rank in the top 10 most popular breeds in the United States;
- Yorkie should not be left outside alone: predators and even large birds can take your dog for lunch;
- There are 4 standard color combination for this breed: black and tan, black and gold, blue and gold, blue and tan.
- On average, Yorkie give birth just to 4-6 puppies while other bigger breeds can have 9 to 12 puppies at once.
- “Yorkieday” was held in New York in 2013. The event has contests such as the best costume or the loudest bark;
Conclusions
We write books and direct movies about significant people. We invent myths, stories, legends about the heroes of human kind. And still we leave something out – the heroic acts of the animals. We have a lot to learn from our pets – mostly bravery and loyalty. So why not to create stories about dogs which saved the world? Maybe these facts will inspire some undiscovered writer who loves this breed to write a bestseller about a Yorkie which changed the future. I hope you enjoyed this article about interesting yorkie facts and learned something new.