Yorkshire Terrier Q & A
“If you are interested in showing Yorkies, know that the Yorkshire Terrier is a breed that requires patience! It takes a lot of time and dedication to grow and maintain a show coat. Some grow coat quickly and others may take years to grow a fully mature coat.”
you see me at a show, come on over. I love sharing this passion and can talk Yorkie all day. MICHELE SHUTE I live in Grand Prairie, Texas. I have been a high school math teacher for nine years. I also have a dog show bow business called Win- ning Topknots and often spend my evenings working on bow orders while catch- ing up on my favorite TV shows. My bows have been worn by many Yorkies in the show ring, including several top Yorkies over the past few years. Besides showing, my dogs also recently started modeling for Chewy.com . They have modeled apparel, diapers and belly bands, and first aid and recovery products for Chewy’s website. I got my first pet Yorkshire Terrier in 2004 and attended my first dog show as a spectator in 2007. I started going to dog shows occasionally over the next three years where I was able to watch and learn what was involved with showing Yorkies. In April 2010 I decided I wanted to start showing and began looking for a show puppy. By the end of that year, I got my first show Yorkie, and our first dog show together was in March 2011. I have now been showing and breeding Yorkies for 8 ½ years and have finished 13 Champions (12 Yorkies, one Long Coat Chihuahua) and five Grand Champions. I also have two Yorkies that have earned their Silver Grand Championships, won multiple group placements, and have been top ranked in breed and all-breed points. The secret to a successful breeding program? Breeding healthy, sound dogs should always be the first goal in any breeding program. I utilize the current health testing that is available and use those results to help guide some of my breeding decisions. After health and soundness, my first rule for breeding is to breed for the type I want to produce without sacrificing structure and movement. It is important to have a picture in your mind for what your ideal Yorkie would look like. How I interpret the standard and the look I like may not be what another Yorkie breeder likes, but the important thing is to know what YOU like and to always keep this picture in mind when selecting sires and evaluating puppies. You also have to know which faults you absolutely cannot accept and which faults you can live with, as there is no perfect puppy. Finally, never just breed to the convenient sire; breed to a sire that you feel could pro- duce the best possible puppies with your bitch. I am still fairly new
to breeding Yorkies and only produce one or two litters a year on average, but those are the rules I use to guide my breeding decisions. What do I attribute to the breed’s popularity? Yorkies are an intelligent, loving, energetic dog in a cute, little package. I think the first thing that attracted me to this small breed was its beauty! I loved the beautiful long, silky blue and tan coat and the topknot with a little red bow. Even when kept in a shorter hair trim, the Yorkshire Terrier is still adorable. As I became more familiar with Yorkies, I fell in love with their energetic and playful personalities. I think Yorkie owners love the small size and look of the Yorkie, as well as the larger-than-life personality of the breed. How much trouble is it to attain, and keep, correct coat and coloration? Half of our breed standard focuses on coat texture, color and color pattern. The color should be a dark steel blue (not jet black or silver) and a rich, shaded tan. The coat should be glossy, fine, and silky in texture. Obtaining correct color and texture is very difficult. The gold in a mature adult should be a rich, shaded tan. It should not be cream-colored, sooty with dark hairs, or red-brown. Many dark coats I see are either soft or coarse in texture instead of the correct silk, but I have seen several Yorkies with beautiful cor- rect silky, dark blue coats so it is possible! You also have to keep in mind, especially with bitches each heat cycle, that most Yorkies will get lighter each year as they age. I would not completely eliminate a nice Yorkie in my breeding program just because the color may be lighter that I’d prefer, but breeding toward getting consistent cor- rect color and texture is a goal to work toward. I do want to say that as much emphasis as our standard puts on coat color and texture, I hope that judges and Yorkie exhibitors remember that our breed should not only be a coat hanger. The Yorkshire Terrier is a toy ter- rier and should have breed type, high head carriage, attitude, and sound structure underneath that coat! Is the Yorkie’s popularity an advantage in the Toy group? I’m not sure that it is necessarily an advantage as I see other breeds place in the group more frequently, but in the past few years I have seen Yorkies placing in the group more consistently. When you have a Yorkie in specials coat, beautifully groomed and presented well, with good structure and movement, it is hard not to take notice in the group ring. One of my favorite memories was when I won Best in Special- ty show at the 2015 Bluebonnet Yorkshire Terrier Specialty with BISS GCHS CH Magic Country Fast and Fuogin (Phil). My sec- ond favorite memory was when Phil and I won Select Dog at the 2016 Westminster Dog Show among a fabulous entry of about 27 male specials. If you are interested in showing Yorkies, know that the York- shire Terrier is a breed that requires patience! It takes a lot of time and dedication to grow and maintain a show coat. Some grow coat quickly and others may take years to grow a fully mature coat. Yor- kies are such wonderful little dogs, but they can be quite stubborn at times so, again, patience is a must. Once you get started, I’m sure you’ll fall in love with the breed just as I have!
310 • S HOW S IGHT M AGAZINE , A UGUST 2019
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