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The Only
Australian Toy Dog
ARTICLE RESEARCHED
BY HELMUT DRESSLER AND BRETT WALTHER FOR THE
AUSTRALIAN
SILKY TERRIER CLUB OF QUEENSLAND.
THE HISTORY
(Die Historische Geschichte des Australien Silky
Terrier)
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 MATING 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 SILKY'S 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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