Yorkshire Terrier

The Yorkie was bred in the cotton and woollen mills of Yorkshire, England in the mid-1800s, primarily to catch rats in the mill basements. Scottish weavers who'd moved south for work brought their working terriers with them — including the now-extinct Clydesdale, Paisley, and Waterside Terriers — and the small ratting dog that emerged became the Yorkshire Terrier. By the late Victorian era she'd been adopted by upper-class English ladies as a fashion accessory and the breed's coat became the standard show feature it is today, but the original ratter is still in there under the silk.

Yorkies are bright and food-motivated, which makes the formal training itself easy. The trap is that they're cute enough to get away with things larger dogs never would — jumping on guests, growling possessively over the sofa, refusing to walk on leash because they'd rather be carried. Train the same rules you'd train a Lab. Housetraining is the most-cited difficulty: Yorkies have tiny bladders and don't love going outside in the rain or cold, so consistency, frequent breaks, and (often) a covered indoor potty area for bad-weather days are all reasonable. Crate training is your friend.

Generally a healthy small breed with a long lifespan. Conditions to know about include luxating patella (slipping kneecaps), tracheal collapse (use a harness, never a neck collar, on a Yorkie), portosystemic liver shunt (worth screening puppies for), and dental disease — Yorkies pack 42 teeth into a tiny mouth and the crowding leads to plaque, gingivitis, and early tooth loss without regular dental care. Daily tooth brushing makes a real difference; annual dental cleanings under your vet's care become standard from middle age onward.