The Silky Terrier is cheerful, sassy, and sturdy, with a lovely blue and tan coat. A bath and a brush once a week — that’s relatively easy care for a long-coated small dog. Very low shedding, the Silky Terrier is bright, happy, and independent. If you are thinking about adding a Silky to your household, you have come to the right place! I live near Tampa, FL and my partner Karen Huey lives near Portland OR.
If you own a Silky and want to get lots of expert advice, you are also in luck — check out our comprehensive Behavior, Training, and Tips sections.
Since 1981, Tessier has been breeding and showing quality Silky Terriers. We are proud to be an AKC Platinum Breeder of Merit — That is, we follow our club-recommended Health Tests and have produced over 100 homebred Champions.
We strive to produce healthy happy dogs that look and act like the breed.
With my partner Karen Huey, (who is the “Wyntuk” in our partnership), we have already completed six AKC Champions this year.
Our multi-Group-winning GCh.B Tessier Wyntuk Red-E to Reign was # 1 Silky Breed and All Breed in 2022, #1 All Breed in 2023, and continues to be top-ranked in 2024, despite being shown much less than last year. He is co-owned, loved and handled by Angela Smith.
This year’s National was great for Tessier. We took Best in Sweeps, Best Puppy, Reserve Winners Dog, Winner Bitch and Award of Merit. In the 4 following shows after the National Tessier took Breed and Group placements each day, either with Reddi or our new Special Lennon (who is currently the # 1 Silky Breed, that is, in competition with other Silky Terriers).
Best in Sweeps 2024 Cantell Tessier Whatever Lola Wants
Best Puppy National 2024 Tessier Wyntuk One O’Clock Jump
Reserve Winners Dog National 2024 Tessier Wyntuk In My Time
Winners Bitch National 2024 Tessier Wyntuk Party All the Time
Award of Merit National 2024 GCh.B Tessier Wyntuk Anytime At All “Lennon”
As part of our mission, Tessier also wants to help others produce healthy Silkys that look and act like the breed. There are now winning Silkys with Tessier bloodlines from Calgary to Helsinki, from Hawaii to Croatia.
Tessier has been blessed over the years with its partners. First was Billie Pruitt, who used the Tagalong prefix and passed away in 2015. She was a true friend. Karen Huey (Wyntuk), who lives in Oregon, joined me in 2002 and has been the best mentor I could ever want. She is a Master Behaviorist, expert puppy whisperer, and dear friend. Janet Aslett, Margaret Cunningham, Angela Smith, Chris Alexander, Holly Pope, and Norma Braun — I feel honored by their help. I certainly couldn’t have done all this alone!
If you are looking for an 8-week-old puppy to love, we are probably not the right kennel for you. As a show kennel, we never place a dog younger than 10 weeks as we are assessing them for show quality. We do breed regularly so if we don’t have something for you right now, we can either refer you to a fellow preservation breeder (that is, a person working on preserving the breed as a whole rather than just producing puppies) or put you on our waiting list.
We sometimes have young adults available (over 1 year old). These are well-trained and socialized dogs whom we started to show or champions we are now retiring to their forever homes.
Such young adults can be a real find as they are ready to go with relatively little effort. They are no more expensive — and are usually less — than a puppy.
Silkys are a long-lived breed, most of ours’ make it to 14 – 19 years. Young adults bond extremely well in their new couch potato environment as they are thrilled to have a whole family of humans all to themselves.
If you think you might like to try out showing your own Silky — welcome to the Fancy! We are happy to mentor you. Silkys are a rare breed and fewer and fewer people are breeding and showing. If you think this might be a fun hobby for you, we are glad to help.
If you are looking for a Silky, puppy or adult, please email me (Sandy) at sandy@smesmer.com and I will send you our questionnaire which allows us to fit the right dog to you.
Male or Female? You Decide
Many people contacting me only want one gender. Their previous dog was a female so they want another one just like her. Or they have heard that boys can be, well, dirty. But both male and female Silkys can make excellent pets.
My rule of thumb, learned over many years, is: Girls want to be loved, boys want to love you. As to the potty training issue: I have found that this comes down to owner consistency from the start, and while some Silkys can be harder to train than others, this isn’t gender-related — girls can be hard, and boys can be quick to train as easily as the other way around.
But here’s the bottom line; whether you are looking for your next canine buddy, a fun partner in a great hobby, or you just enjoy checking out all the cool articles and cute photos, you are here because you love this breed. I think you’d agree:
I had rather have a Silky make me merry.
Me too!
Best, Sandy sandy@smesmer.com