Yorkshire Terrier

Bold and quick to bark at strangers, affectionate at home.
A Yorkshire Terrier
Photo: Joselodos
Adult male
4.1–7 kg
9.1–15 lb
Adult female
3.6–5.9 kg
7.8–13 lb
Lifespan
13.3 yrs
Class · Lap dog
also Companion

What it's like

In temperament the breed keeps much of the terrier in a small frame: alert, bold and quick to bark at strangers, yet affectionate with its household. One Yorkshire Terrier, Smoky, found in New Guinea during the Second World War, is recorded as having later pulled a telegraph wire through a narrow pipe beneath an airstrip in the Philippines, sparing the soldiers a great deal of digging.

Owners who rated their dogs' everyday behaviour found Yorkies more independent-minded than most, and less often among the friendliest with other dogs. With people and on calmness, they were about average. Breed is only a small part of any one dog's personality, so meet the dog before you decide.
Day to day
Activity
A good daily walk and play
Intelligence
Learns readily, likes games
Handler demand
Needs steady training
With people
Affection
A lap or leaning dog
Loyalty
Sticks close to its people
Independence
Decides for itself
Around the home
Sensitivity
Average
Voice
Very vocal
Prey drive
Chases; needs managing
Breed explains only about 9% of how individual dogs differ in behaviour1. Meet the dog. A good breeder breeds for temperament as well as health, and matches each puppy's personality to the right home2,3.
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Living with one

A Yorkie's coat is much like human hair: kept long, it needs daily brushing and a bath every week or so. The hair on top of the head is trimmed short or tied into a topknot so it doesn't irritate the eyes. It needs a moderate amount of exercise compared with other breeds.

Size and growth

A Yorkshire Terrier is a small dog, about the weight of a grown Jack Russell. Males end up clearly heavier than females. It is one of the lightest small breeds.

The Yorkshire Terrier today is a compact toy terrier with an upright, confident bearing. Its coat is straight and silky, with no woolly undercoat, and in show dogs it falls to the ground like a curtain parted along the back. The body is a dark steel blue and the head, chest and legs a rich golden tan. Puppies are born black and tan, and the blue develops as they mature.

Puppy growth

Reference curve · community data appears as owners log
By about 3 months, a male Yorkshire Terrier puppy is already as heavy as a grown Chihuahua. They grow fastest between 3 and 4 months old.
Fully grown
10 mo
Both sexes, at 99% of adult weight9
Male
Female
Shaded: expected range
024682m4m6m9m12m18m
024682m3m4m6m9m12m18m
Age
Male
Female
2 months
1.3–2.3 kg 2.9–5.1 lb
1.3–2.1 kg 2.9–4.6 lb
3 months
1.7–2.8 kg 3.7–6.2 lb
1.5–2.5 kg 3.3–5.5 lb
4 months
2.2–3.7 kg 4.9–8.2 lb
2.0–3.2 kg 4.4–7.1 lb
5 months
2.6–4.4 kg 5.7–9.7 lb
2.3–3.8 kg 5.1–8.4 lb
6 months
2.9–4.9 kg 6.4–10.8 lb
2.5–4.2 kg 5.5–9.3 lb
7 months
3.2–5.4 kg 7.1–11.9 lb
2.7–4.4 kg 6.0–9.7 lb
8 months
3.4–5.7 kg 7.5–12.6 lb
2.8–4.7 kg 6.2–10.4 lb
9 months
3.5–5.9 kg 7.7–13.0 lb
2.9–4.9 kg 6.4–10.8 lb
10 months
3.6–6.1 kg 7.9–13.4 lb
3.0–5.0 kg 6.6–11.0 lb
11 months
3.7–6.2 kg 8.2–13.7 lb
3.1–5.2 kg 6.8–11.5 lb
12 months
3.8–6.3 kg 8.4–13.9 lb
3.2–5.3 kg 7.1–11.7 lb
15 months
3.9–6.6 kg 8.6–14.6 lb
3.3–5.5 kg 7.3–12.1 lb
18 months
4.1–6.9 kg 9.0–15.2 lb
3.5–5.8 kg 7.7–12.8 lb

Health and lifespan

Vets record these more often in Yorkies than in crossbreeds. Dry eye and a slipping kneecap are much more likely and gum disease more likely, all three moderate. Cushing's syndrome and a torn cruciate ligament (both serious) are slightly more likely. These are figures for the breed as a whole, not a prediction for your dog.
Listed by likelihood level, highest first, then by how serious it is, then by name. These are the first 5 of 7 measured.
  • Dry eye
    Much more likely
    Impact: moderate
  • Kneecap slipping out of place
    Much more likely
    Impact: moderate
  • Gum disease
    More likely
    Impact: moderate
  • Cushing's syndrome
    Slightly more likely
    Impact: serious
  • Torn cruciate ligament in one knee
    Slightly more likely
    Impact: serious

Lifespan

In UK vet records, the typical Yorkshire Terrier lived to about 13 and a half years, about average for a small breed.

Where it comes from

The Yorkshire Terrier was made in Yorkshire in the mid-19th century, from broken-haired terriers that Scottish weavers brought south and the local Waterside Terrier, a ratter kept around mills and mines. Crosses with other terriers, the Paisley and Clydesdale among them, so improved the dog in its new county that around 1870 it took the Yorkshire name. Within the decade breeders had made it far smaller5,17.

The Yorkshire Terrier's shift from working ratter to companion came quickly in the later nineteenth century. Breeders selected for small size and an ever longer coat, and the dog was soon shown widely and kept as a lap dog in fashionable Victorian households. The breed is often traced to Huddersfield Ben, a show winner and prolific sire of the late eighteen-sixties whose offspring helped fix the type.

Breed standard

The Yorkshire Terrier is judged against standard no. 86, in group 3, Terriers5.

Questions people ask

General guidance for dogs rather than a measured Yorkshire Terrier figure: most females have a first season somewhere between six and fifteen months, and cycles then settle to roughly every 180 days. Smaller breeds tend to start earlier and larger ones later, so a small breed is most likely at the early end.

Compare with related

Australian Terrier
Terriers · Small
West Highland White Terrier
Terriers · Small
Miniature Schnauzer
Pinschers & molossoids · Small
Norwich Terrier
Terriers · Small
Or compare the Yorkshire Terrier with any breed you choose
Track your own Yorkshire Terrier
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Sources

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Parts of this page were written by AI ·