Personality of the Yorkshire Terrier

There is much to be told about the Yorkshire Terrier, especially about it’s personality. The personality of the Yorkshire terrier is often misunderstood as being an aggressive little dog, much similar to that of the Chihuahua, which of course couldn’t be further from the truth. Yes they were bred originally to attack and kill rats and therefore they still contain that aggressive nature in their genetic makeup, however over the many years of select breeding, the personality of the Yorkshire terrier has changed a lot and now they tend to be less aggressive, when bred properly.

The Yorkshire terrier originated from the earlier breed of terrier that was of course much larger and was specially trained to catch and kill rats as in that time, there was a infestation of rats in the Northern parts of England . They were also trained to be very territorial and today you may notice that in the personality of the Yorkshire terrier. Over the years however a lot of select breeding took place, mainly to reduce the size of the Yorkshire terrier and turn it into more of a show dog or also into a toy dog that the upper class people were able to keep as pets.

With the many years of select breeding, the appearance of the Yorkshire terrier began to change a lot and with it also the personality. The personality of the Yorkshire terrier you see today is much less aggressive than what it used to be a century ago. With the correct breeding, it is more likely that you are going to get a Yorkshire terrier that is pleasant and willing to share its space with other dogs and people for that matter.

So what else affects the personality of the Yorkshire terrier? The other thing that affects their personality is the environment they are brought up in. Sure, they do have the normal genetics of any terrier, however genetics only play a part in the personality of the Yorkshire terrier. If you are able to bring your Yorkshire terrier up in an environment that is one where you keep you dog in contact with other dogs, then it will be more likely to become a more friendly kind of dog and loose all its associations that come with the terrier breed.

The second thing that affects the personality of the Yorkshire terrier is the quality of the breeding. There are many quality breeders out there that only breed between the best line of Yorkshire terriers and from this they are able to get some great results. This way they’d have a better idea as to what to expect with a Yorkshire terrier. Most of the dogs they breed tend to have less of the attributes that the normal terrier carries with it. Select breeding over the years has naturally reduced the likelihood of breeding more terrier-like ‘Yorkies’ and therefore it’s more unlikely that you are going to buy a Yorkshire terrier that has a bad temperament.