By Janet Jackson Steppin’ Up Yorkshire Terriers THE YORKSHIRE TERRIER IN AMERICA
O n February 8, 2009 I had the honor of judg- ing Dogs and Intersex at the Yorkshire Ter- rier Club of America, Inc. National Special- ty. Coincidentally, that year marked my 30th year in the Breed. I must say that the Yorkshire Terrier Breed is in pretty good shape in the United States. Th e Yorkie is 6th in popularity of all breeds and the Number One Toy dog in America. We have come a long way in these past thirty years. Th e toplines are remarkably better than years gone by and the general showmanship and training of the dogs is much better as is the grooming. Due to our championship requirements in the US, class dogs are not shown in full coat as they are in the European countries. It takes several years for an exhibit to acquire a truly full coat with facial furnishings to the fl oor. We have more shows and thus more opportuni- ties to put titles on our dogs than many of the foreign breeders. I think this is a good thing since the American show dog has a chance to be a multi purpose and family dog. Most of our show dogs are pets fi rst and the AKC has continued to add extra events and titles for companion events so we can actually put titles on both ends of the name. Yorkshire Terriers are good in obedi- ence but great in agility. We have quite a few Th erapy dogs and even some accom- plished at tracking. Some will go on to be campaigned as Champions while others can move right into companion events. Th e Grand Champion program of which I was a bit skeptical at fi rst has been a huge success. Owner/handlers can com- pete for points and titles locally or even go on to higher levels on their own without need for an advertising campaign or a pro- fessional handler. It gives us the oppor- tunity to see many of the young cham- pions go on to maturity rather retire way
too soon after the 15th point. I’m rather anxious to see if the new Owner/Handler series, which will allow competition right up through Best In Show for the amateur, goes as far as the Grand Champion scheme. We need to increase our entries which have declined in recent years. But once more, in a breed that takes up to four years to fully mature, we will have an opportunity to see some fi ne youngsters in the ring again upon maturity. Recently we have been added to the AKC list of Earth Dogs which opens up a whole new venue for our little terriers.
Smoky—American War Dog Hero.
I have attended my fi rst EarthDog trial and I want to do it! Th ank goodness we can still dock the tails and AKC has stuck with us to preserve our original standards allowing us the opportunity to keep this little terrier as such. How I wish our for- eign counterparts would have fought hard- er to preserve our breed standards. Strange that a breed originated in England must now be seen in America as it was intended to be. Th e look of the Yorkshire “Terrier” is completely distorted by way of a tail of fl owing hair curled over the back and not “slightly higher” as described. A couple of things I see that really need attention are the front assembly and the compact body. Th e dogs with steep upright
Smoky Bronze at AKC Dog Museum War Dog Memorial, Artist Susan Bahary.
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