{"id":1170,"date":"2025-06-03T00:02:10","date_gmt":"2025-06-03T04:02:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tessier-silky-terriers.com\/?page_id=1170"},"modified":"2025-06-03T00:05:07","modified_gmt":"2025-06-03T04:05:07","slug":"silky-terrier-history","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/tessier-silky-terriers.com\/?page_id=1170","title":{"rendered":"Silky Terrier History"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Although it may seem to some that the Silky sprang ready-made to life, it was developed from the clever weaving of several now-extinct breeds in the late 18th and 19th centuries. But the origins of this breed go back much farther than that.<\/p>\n

Many hundreds of years ago, most people in England were called serfs and were tied to the land. They were prohibited by law from moving. Furthermore, each child was required to take on the same job as their parents. If Dad was a farmer, so was he. They were not allowed to hunt, nor keep most hunting dogs. As far back as the Canons of Canute (an English king who died in 1035; he set up many laws or \u201ccanons\u201d), these common people were allowed \u201cthe little dogs\u201d because \u201cit stands to reason that there is no danger in them.\u201d The foresters had a hoop, and only the dogs that could pass through the 7-inch diameter could be kept. The little dogs kept home and hearth free of rats and other vermin, as well as providing an occasional rabbit for the pot. They were bred generation after generation to be fearless and independent hunters. As their owners were bound to the land, prohibited from moving away by a system that demanded not only lifelong servitude to a distant master but also that their children and children\u2019s children do the same, their dogs did not move around much either.<\/p>\n

Gene pools were kept small with neighborhood dogs breeding together, and each valley tended to have its version. So it began. Each region had its variety of little dogs, but all needed to be quick-thinking and independent, as their hard-working owners did not have the time to cosset them. They needed to be loyal, as their owners wanted a dog that protected the meager family interests and was cheerful. The common people lived lives strewn with hard knocks \u2014 they needed dogs that were sprightly and optimistic.<\/p>\n

Though some conjecture is inevitable, enough original accounts exist to cover the broad strokes of how Silky Terriers seemingly came \u201cfrom nowhere\u201d to exist as the unique and distinctive breed it is today. Three breeds \u2013 all extinct today \u2013 each contributed to the breed\u2019s unique characteristics.<\/p>\n

THE WATERSIDE TERRIER<\/strong><\/p>\n

By the time of William IV (1765\u20131837), the Waterside Terrier, sometimes blue and tan, was common in Yorkshire. Slightly longer than tall, with a level topline and an erect or semi-erect ear, he resembled a Welsh Terrier \u2013 but much smaller, between 5 and 10 lbs. Prized for his loyalty and independent hunting abilities, he was \u201cbroken-coated\u201d, which means he had a medium-length coat similar to today\u2019s Cairn Terrier. A famous Waterside named Polly weighed 6 lbs. She had 5 inches of body coat and silver furnishings. She wasn\u2019t afraid of water and would swim the river and hunt with the ferret.
\nNews of the Waterside also came from Tasmania in Australia, where settlers prized the small blue and tan dogs for their ability to detect strangers approaching from great distances.<\/p>\n

The Paisley and his close cousin, the Clydesdale Terrier, originated in Scotland. All these dogs had a fierce and loyal disposition. But to start, their mutual ancestor needs to be mentioned.<\/p>\n

THE SKYE TERRIER<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Skye, originating from and named after the Isle of Skye in Scotland, was a unique breed as early as the 1500s. Sweeping long low bodies and swishing coats behind milady through the dank stone corridors of British castles, Skyes were a favorite of the nobility, even the ill-fated Mary Queen of Scots. A Skye Terrier kept Mary company all the years of her long imprisonment. But Skyes are also true terriers, fiercely loyal and independent hunters, with courage unmatched in dogdom. They have a hard, nylony, floor-length coat with a definite undercoat and an erect or semi-erect ear.<\/p>\n

THE CLYDESDALE AND THE PAISLEY TERRIER<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the late 18th century, several Skye breeders tried to miniaturize their breed. Speculation can imagine heated letters moving back and forth and drawing rooms echoing with voices raised in loud argument, but the purists of the day won out. No way could these smaller dogs be called Skyes. Denied recognition by the parent club, the \u201cmini Skyes\u201d were called Paisleys or Clydesdale Terriers, named presumably after those valleys in Scotland. They resembled Skyes, being long and low, but instead of the bigger dog\u2019s vigorous 40 to 50 lb proportions were about 15 lbs. in weight. They also had a much softer and finer coat than the Skyes and had the gloss factor, which makes a Silky\u2019s coat reflective like blue burnished steel.<\/p>\n

The Paisley was blue and \u201cself\u201d colored, which means one single color, while the Clydesdale had what writers of the day called a \u201clinty\u201d coat \u2013 tan or flax furnishings with a blue body coat.
\n<\/strong>So there are the three elements: the blue and tan, broken coated, slightly longer than tall<\/p>\n

Waterside, the short-legged, blue, long-coated, glossy Paisley, and the identical Clydesdale with golden tan, \u201clinty\u201d furnishings. Unique elements came from all three, but they had one thing in common: they were all independent, cheerful, feisty, and loyal.<\/p>\n

THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION<\/strong><\/p>\n

Another event in the creation of the Silky Terrier occurred in the late 18th century\u2014 the Industrial Revolution, which began in northern England. The newly established factories and foundries quickly developed an insatiable appetite for workers. Scottish weavers and other workers flocked south, bringing along their families, and of course, their dogs.
\nThe workers, streaming out from their backbreaking and monotonous jobs, longed for a pint and <\/strong>a \u201ctickle\u201d (a wager on something, anything to take them away from their drab surroundings) at their favorite pub. They loved to wager on how long it would take for a big dog to bring down a bull or a bear. But in 1825, bear and bullbaiting were outlawed. So now what? The publicans were desperate for something new to entice customers.<\/p>\n

Eureka! A small dog was thrown into a pit with 30 or 40 rats. It wasn\u2019t a matter of whether dog or rat would win\u2014it was a matter of how fast the dog could dispatch all the rodents. The smaller the dog, the more audacious the contest and the better the betting. Favorite breeds must have been the scrappy and tenacious Paisleys, Clydesdales, and Watersides. Polly, the Waterside mentioned above, was famous for her ability to dispatch rats in a pit.<\/p>\n

The pub owners, in their search for ever smaller, ever-hardier dogs, liberally wove the three breeds together. So, the hands that began the creation of the tenacious sprite we know today as the Silky Terrier were gnarled and working class. They bred their dogs smaller to earn more money, and they bred them tough as nails.<\/p>\n

WHAT HAPPENED AT THE DOG SHOW<\/strong><\/p>\n

As the three breeds were woven together, something interesting occurred. Genes from the glossy, long-coated Clydesdale and Paisley and the short-backed Waterside occasionally combined to create small, short-backed puppies with straight, shiny blue and tan coats. How lovely! And as the publicans sat back and admired their creations, they had an idea. Why not create even more pub business by putting on dog shows? So, as early as 1849, the British public was introduced to the little dogs at shows.
\nIt was love at first sight.<\/p>\n

THE INFLUENCE OF HUDDERSFIELD BEN<\/strong><\/p>\n

The father of the Yorkshire Terrier — and therefore the Silky — was a dog named Huddersfield Ben, born in 1865 and weighing about 12 lbs., and slightly longer than tall. He was owned by Mrs. Jonas Foster, who set the early fashion in Yorkies. Ben is the first dog to be recorded as a Yorkshire Terrier. Mrs. Foster entered Ben in a number of dog shows, winning 74 prizes along the way. Through Mrs. Foster\u2019s breeding program under the \u201cBradford\u201d prefix, her dogs quickly became the longer-coated, shorter-backed, and smaller dogs they are today.<\/p>\n

AND THEN THERE WERE SILKY TERRIERS <\/strong><\/p>\n

We have records of Hudderfield\u2019s Ben grandmother Katie emigrating to Tasmania, Australia. And if we know about Katie, there must have been lots of other little blue and tan terriers making the long voyage as well.<\/p>\n

According to another source, in the period 1820-30, a Waterside Terrier bitch of a blue sheen color, bred in Tasmania, was taken to England and mated with a Dandi Dinmont Terrier. Mr. MacArthur Little of London purchased some puppies from this litter and experimented with further breeding to produce the soft Silky coat. Later, Mr. Little emigrated to Sydney and continued to breed.<\/p>\n

Katie (and her unsung relatives) are the direct progenitors of the Silky Terrier. A newspaper article shared by Jan Broadby Klaus described her great-great-grandfather John Gillon\u2019s masonry business in Hobart, 1860 \u2013 1880. In the forefront of the newspaper picture is a small terrier that could be a Silky. The breed was intended to be snake hunters and house watchdogs. This was while Yorkies were being bred to be dainty companions in Northern England. So, you can imagine that different attributes in very different areas were valued!<\/p>\n

Silky Terriers — tapping deep into their genetic hard wiring of a tough little watchdog, bred to be the last line of defense to practical pioneer farmers in the Outback. Sweet to their people, sometimes not so nice to strangers, and not thrilled about strange dogs. Quick to chase (and bring down) anything that scurries or slithers. In our modern age, it is easy to wish for every breed, no matter what its size and shape, to be sweet and biddable in all circumstances. That is not the genetic blueprint of the Silky Terrier.<\/p>\n

So, then, why bother? A Silky CHOOSES to obey, to comply… to bond. And when those eyes look deep into your soul with love because they have decided that you are worthy, there is no feeling like that in the world.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Although it may seem to some that the Silky sprang ready-made to life, it was developed from the clever weaving of several now-extinct breeds in the late 18th and 19th centuries. But the origins of this breed go back much farther than that. Many […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":2,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1170","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tessier-silky-terriers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tessier-silky-terriers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tessier-silky-terriers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tessier-silky-terriers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tessier-silky-terriers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1170"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tessier-silky-terriers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1170\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1172,"href":"https:\/\/tessier-silky-terriers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1170\/revisions\/1172"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tessier-silky-terriers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tessier-silky-terriers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}