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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. WERE EXPORTED TO ENGLAND.
BETWEEN 1820-1830 SOME BROKEN-COATED TERRIERS
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 ??!! |
