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The Only Australian Toy Dog
ARTICLE
RESEARCHED BY HELMUT DRESSLER AND BRETT WALTHER FOR THE -
AUSTRALIAN
SILKY TERRIER CLUB OF S.E. QUEENSLAND.
MANY
DIFFERENT THEORIES HAVE BEEN GIVEN OVER THE YEARS REGARDING THE
ORIGIN OF THE
AUSTRALIAN SILKY TERRIER. THE TRUE ORIGIN IS CLOUDED BECAUSE
LITTLE, IF ANY TRUE RECORDS
EXIST FROM THE LATE 19TH CENTURY WHEN THE SILKY
FIRST APPEARED.
IN
THE EARLY COLONIAL DAYS, TRAVEL TO AUSTRALIA TO ENGLAND TOOK MANY MONTHS.
SPACE
ON THE SHIPS WAS RESTRICTED , AS WAS THE AMOUNT OF FOOD THAT COULD BE CARRIED .
SO EXCEPT FOR A FEW WORKING DOGS. MOST-CARRIED BREEDS ON THE SHIPS WERE
SHORT-LEGGED TERRIERS,
SUCH AS THE SANDY ROUGH COATED SCOTCH TERRIER,
PAISLEY
TERRIER, SKYE TERRIER, CLYDESDALE TERRIER AND WATERSIDE TERRIER. ROSENEATH -TERRIER,
THESE WERE INTERBRED OVER THE YEARS TO PRODUCE A BROKEN
-COATED TERRIER.
FROM
THIS STAGE THERE ARE SEVERAL THEORIES REGARDING THE PRODUCTION OF THE SILKY
TERRIER.
ONE THEORY IS THAT IN THE EARLY 1800"S BROKEN- COATED DOGS WITH A
BLUE BODY COLOR
AND TAN MARKINGS WERE DEVELOPED IN TASMANIA.
THEY WERE
EXCELLENT WATCH DOGS, ALERT AND WITH AN INSTINCTIVE REACTION TO BARK AT
ANY
APPROACHING STRANGERS. BETWEEN 1820-1830 SOME BROKEN-COATED TERRIERS
WERE
EXPORTED TO ENGLAND. THESE WERE MATED WITH THE DANDY DIN MONT TERRIER.
SOME OF
THESE OFFSPRING WERE IMPORTED BACK TO AUSTRALIA BY MR. MAC ARTHUR
LITTLE.
THE RESULT CAN BE SEEN IN THE SOFT SILVER TOP KNOT OF THE
AUSTRALIAN SILKY TERRIER.
SEVERAL HAD DEVELOPED A SOFTER COAT AND WERE REFERRED
TO AS THE SOFT SILKY BLUE COATED TERRIER.
IN FOLLOWING YEARS , TWO SEPARATE
STRAINS OF TERRIERS WERE DEVELOPED,
ONE THE AUSTRALIAN TERRIER AND THE OTHER
SOFT- COATED TERRIER ALTHOUGH SIMILAR IN COLOR.
IN
THE EARLY 1900"S FANCIERS OF THESE SOFT-COATED TERRIERS PREFERRED A LONGER
AND
EVEN SOFTER AND SMOOTHER COAT TO ENHANCE THE DOGS'
ATTRACTIVENESS AND DRAW
IT AWAY FROM THE RUGGED TERRIER APPEARANCE. THIS IS
WHERE THE YORKSHIRE TERRIER
WAS INTRODUCED TO THE SOFT-COATED AUSTRALIAN -
TYPE TERRIER TO PRODUCE THE
AUSTRALIAN SILKY TERRIER.
THE
SECOND THEORY STILL FOLLOWS THE THOUGHT THAT THE AUSTRALIAN TERRIER ORIGINATED
FROM THE CROSS BREEDING OF THE BROKEN-COATED TERRIER AND THE DANDY DIN MONT
TERRIER.
THIS RESULTED IN THE EARLY AUSTRALIAN TERRIERS HAVING A SOFT SILKY
SILVER TOP KNOT.
YEARS LATER THE AUSTRALIAN TERRIER BREEDERS CROSS BRED LARGER YORKSHIRE
TERRIERS
WITH THE AUSTRALIAN TERRIER TO IMPROVE THE BLUE AND TAN COLORING WHICH
WAS LACKING .
THE RESULTS OF THESE MATINGS INTRODUCED A NEW BREED, THE AUSTRALIAN
TERRIER.
THE CROSS BREEDING BETWEEN THE THREE BREEDS CONTINUED FOR MANY YEARS
UNTIL PROHIBITED.
IN 1904 A SILKY TERRIER AND
YORKSHIRE TERRIER CLUB WAS FORMED IN MELBOURNE,
WHERE A BREED STANDARD WAS WRITTEN FOR BOTH BREEDS.
SYDNEY FOLLOWED WITH THEIR OWN SILKY- AND STANDARD TWO YEARS LATER.
IN
1932 THE KENNEL CONTROL COUNCIL OF VICTORIA PROHIBITED CROSS BREEDING BETWEEN
THE SILKY,
AUSTRALIAN TERRIER AND YORKSHIRE TERRIER TO PROTECT BREED IDENTITY,
AS SMALL SILKY TERRIERS WERE BECOMING DIFFICULT TO SEPARATE FROM LARGE YORKSHIRE
TERRIERS.
ON 30TH MARCH
1959 THE
AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL KENNEL COUNCIL APPROVED AND ADOPTED
A STANDARD FOR THE BREED
AND CHANGED THE NAME TO THE AUSTRALIAN
-SILKY -TERRIER.
DURING
THE DRAFTING OF THE NATIONAL STANDARD, THE SILKIES WERE WEIGHED ,
MEASURED IN
HEIGHT AND SIZE, COLOR WAS DEFINED AS BLUE
AND TAN
OR GREY BLUE
AND TAN
AND BODY CONFORMATION WAS DEFINED.
THE
STANDARD WAS LATER AMENDED IN THE 1970'S TO INCLUDE A FAWN TOP KNOT AS
ACCEPTABLE.
SEVERAL OTHER THEORIES EXIST, BUT WE BELIEVE THAT PART
OF BOTH STORIES ARE NON-FICTION
AND COMBINE TO REPRESENT THE TRUE ORIGIN OF THE
AUSTRALIAN SILKY TERRIER- WHO KNOWS ??!!
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you for viewing our Website. Goodbye -
H & H & E Dressler, 4280, Jimboomba, Queensland, Australia.
"AUSILK"
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