By 1875 the little dog was not being used much for ratting, but he was still rising in popularity among wealthy women. Even at his then-larger size, the dog was carried about as a fashion accessory. And while the women enjoyed the company of their little pets, the weavers continued enjoying the extra cash they made selling the ratters to the upper classes.

The small terriers started adapting themselves to their new position in life right away. They bonded well with their mistresses and tolerated being carried around. But they still snuck around when they could get away to search for rats in the kitchen and storerooms.

Name Change

When a dog named Mozart won first place in the variety class at a show in Westmoreland, a reporter suggested that since the breed had been improved mainly in Yorkshire, the dog should become known as the Yorkshire terrier. The Kennel Club was formed in Great Britain in 1873, and included among the original forty breeds was the “broken-haired Scotch and Yorkshire terrier.” The Yorkshire designation stuck.

The breed crossed the sea to the United States at about the same time. The first known litter was born on U.S. soil in 1872, and classes were offered at shows from 1878 on. However, these dogs were not regarded as anything special through the first decades of the twentieth century, and they nearly vanished from the states during the world wars. But ever since the 1950s, the breed's popularity has been on the rise. The Yorkshire terrier first made the AKC's top-ten list in 1995.