"JUVY"

MRS BETTY DULLINGER
LEPRECHAUN YORKIES
BREEDER/EXHIBITOR/JUDGE





SOUNDNESS IN
YORKSHIRE TERRIERS

How can a breeder tell if a Yorkie puppy will grow up with a sound, sturdy front and rear assembly? First of all, one must be cognizant of the overall structure of the breed. By its own standard the Yorkie was designed to be a small, conpact, vigorous TERRIER. He was not designed to be a 'couch potato' or 'pocket pet', but rather a small terrier bred to catch rodents and other small vermin. His ancestry contains many varieties and sizes of local terriers, since we do know that the breed is man made. The ancestral terriers in the background of the Yorkie were terriers of both the short-legged and long-legged variety as well as terriers with different textures of coat ranging from silky and smooth to coarse and wirey. The Yorkshiremen did not have to design a small rough-coated, short-legged terrier - they already had those in the Norwich/Norfolk, Cairn, Scotch & West Highland White. They seemed bent on designing a small, silky coated terrier with a short, compact body and medium length of leg. The small short-legged terriers are 'digging' terriers, thus have a tendency to 'toe out'. This by design so the dirt will fly to the sides of the dog as these little dogs go to ground after their prey. They are also wider in chest than their longer legged cousins.

The Yorkie must have good spring of rib as well as good depth of chest to allow for heart and lung room. I have overheard many convesations regarding shoulder placement or layback; the standard does not have one word about shoulder placement or layback of shoulders, however, the standard does state he should carry his head proudly which would indicate that the length of neck should permit this as well as balance with the rest of the dog. The Yorkie's neck must flow into his shoulders with no sharp angle at the 'withers'.

With these facts in mind, choosing a sound puppy should become somewhat less of a gamble. First, do not look for a puppy with wide movement coming and going. As long as the front feet do not appear to cross over while gaiting the puppy should be fine as an adult. The footfall should have only aboutt 1/2" between the feet as they hit the ground. A good way to determine this is to spread paper in a hallway or long corridor, wet the puppy's front feet and gait him toward you. This same premise holds true for the rear assembly. If you wet all 4 feet, the feet should all travel in two straight lines one directly in front of the other. I have a favorite expression regarding gait:"if the legs are on the 4 corners of the dog it is not sound!"



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