My Dog, Cat - Order Your Copy
Yorkshire Terriers might just be the cutest dogs in the world. Usually not weighing more than seven pounds, they are definitely lap dogs. Through a long history of careful breeding for diminutive size, they always seem to look like puppies, no matter how big they get. It's not unusual to go out for a walk with an elderly Yorkie and have some passer-by stop to ooh and aah over your "puppy" and wonder how big it will be when it "grows up."
Yorkies are thought to be a cross between a Skye and a Black-and-Tan Terrier, with a little Maltese and Dandie Dinmont thrown in for good measure. The breed traces its roots back to the Middle Ages when English royalty wanted to keep commoners from hunting in their game forests. They did this by making sure peasants didn't own hunting dogs. A delegation would ride from village to village with a board that had a small hole cut in it: seven inches in diameter. Any dog too big to fit through that hole was either confiscated or killed.
But the villagers were a lot smaller than the King gave them credit for being. They soon bred tiny terriers who would tackle badgers and foxes twice their size in a hunt -- and win! Thus the Yorkie, thought of today as the pampered pooch of the rich and famous, really began as a dog for the working class. Recognized today as a "toy" breed, Yorkshire Terriers were developed as a distinct breed over 100 years ago in the West Riding area of Yorkshire. They have long silky coats that hang down over their dark button eyes if not either pulled back or trimmed. They are fast and smart, and pack an amazing amount of pure dog into a very small package.
My Dog, Cat was inspired by my own Yorkie, registered with the American Kennel Club as "Jessamyn the Jumper," but better know as Jessie. The first version of My Dog, Cat was titled "Munchkin." That was eventually changed to A Dog Named Cat which turned out to be a title too much like a terrific book by another Holiday House author (a book I highly recommend!) titled A Dog Named Kitty.' I toyed with the idea of changing the title to "C-A-T Spells Dog." But, in the end, My Dog, Cat seemed to best sum up the relationship between Abbie and Cat. True Kelley (I already owned Lois Lowery's "Stay" with True's illustrations) became the illustrator, and voila, a book was born.
Pictures of my dog Jesse, the inspiration for My Dog, Cat.
Yorkies are thought to be a cross between a Skye and a Black-and-Tan Terrier, with a little Maltese and Dandie Dinmont thrown in for good measure. The breed traces its roots back to the Middle Ages when English royalty wanted to keep commoners from hunting in their game forests. They did this by making sure peasants didn't own hunting dogs. A delegation would ride from village to village with a board that had a small hole cut in it: seven inches in diameter. Any dog too big to fit through that hole was either confiscated or killed.
But the villagers were a lot smaller than the King gave them credit for being. They soon bred tiny terriers who would tackle badgers and foxes twice their size in a hunt -- and win! Thus the Yorkie, thought of today as the pampered pooch of the rich and famous, really began as a dog for the working class. Recognized today as a "toy" breed, Yorkshire Terriers were developed as a distinct breed over 100 years ago in the West Riding area of Yorkshire. They have long silky coats that hang down over their dark button eyes if not either pulled back or trimmed. They are fast and smart, and pack an amazing amount of pure dog into a very small package.
My Dog, Cat was inspired by my own Yorkie, registered with the American Kennel Club as "Jessamyn the Jumper," but better know as Jessie. The first version of My Dog, Cat was titled "Munchkin." That was eventually changed to A Dog Named Cat which turned out to be a title too much like a terrific book by another Holiday House author (a book I highly recommend!) titled A Dog Named Kitty.' I toyed with the idea of changing the title to "C-A-T Spells Dog." But, in the end, My Dog, Cat seemed to best sum up the relationship between Abbie and Cat. True Kelley (I already owned Lois Lowery's "Stay" with True's illustrations) became the illustrator, and voila, a book was born.
Pictures of my dog Jesse, the inspiration for My Dog, Cat.
Yorkies Go Down in History!
Yorkies are shown in the picture, left, approaching a caged rat before a match. In the 19th century sport of "ratting"or "rat-baiting," dogs were handicapped by their size. "The local pub was a likely place to see this sport and matches were arranged so that the heavier the dog was, the more rats he had to kill. Usually, a champion ratter had to kill as many rats as there were pounds in his weight, the dog disposing of his quota the quickest being the winner. This put rather a premium on small dogs and breeds were developed especially for this sport." -The Complete Book of the Dog, a late 19th century English reference book by Robert Leighton
This is one big reason why Yorkies were bred to be small.
This is one big reason why Yorkies were bred to be small.
The Yorkshire Terrier gained fame as the canine character, "Toto," in L. Frank Baum's "The Wizard of Oz." Toto was based on illustrator W.W. Denslow's own pet Yorkie. Another famous Yorkie was "Greyfriars Bobby," the Scottish dog who waited faithfully for many years by his master's grave. In Hollywood movies featuring this dog, Toto "The Wizard of Oz," 1939) was played by a Cairn terrier and Greyfriars Bobby ("Greyfriars Bobby," 1961) by a Skye terrier. But both the Toto of Denslow's original illustrations and the real-life Bobby were Yorkies. Pictured above: two W.W. Denslow illustrations from L. Frank Baum's "The Wizard of Oz," Rand McNally & Co, 1900
Pictured left, "Smokey," the famous World War II Yorkie of U.S. Army Corporal Bill Wynne hangs out in the helmet that also served as her bathtub on a battlefield in New Guinea. Smokey was a decorated hero and servicemen voted her their top pick to be "Mascot of the South Pacific."
Smokey, the most famous of Yorkie war dogs (yes, there have been others!) was found in a foxhole near Nabxab on New Guinea in Feb. 1944. At first, her rescuers thought she must belong to the Japanese and took her to a nearby prisoner-of-war camp. But it turned out she didn't understand commands in either Japanese or English. The year-old Yorkie soon ended up as the mess mate of Corporal Bill Wynne of Cleveland, Ohio. She was seven inches tall and weighed four pounds. Smokey lived through 150 air raids on New Guinea and was a crew member on 12 air-sea rescues. She became a hero in her own right when she helped build a crucial airfield for Allied war planes.
Bill Wynne, himself, told this story when he appeared on NBC-TV after the war: (An officer of the Communications Section came up and said) `Bill, we have a long pipe to run a wire through under the airstrip. It's eight inches high and seventy feet long and we are stumped as to how to get the wire through. The wire simply has to go through and we wondered if Smokey could do it?'...(when we got to the airfield) I knelt and looked through the pipes and saw that soil had sifted through each of the corrugated sections at the joinings, and in some places the pipe was half filled...in some places, Smokey would have only four inches of headway. I tied a string (tied to the wire) to Smokey's collar and ran to the other end of the culvert...(Smokey) made a few steps in and then ran back. `Come, Smokey,' I said sharply, and she started through again. When she was about 10 feet in, the string caught up and she looked over her shoulder as much as to say `what's holding us up there?' The string loosened from the snag and she came on again. By now the dust was rising from the shuffle of her paws as she crawled through the dirt and mold and I could no longer see her. I called and pleaded, not knowing for certain whether she was coming or not. At last, about 20 feet away, I saw two little amber eyes and heard a faint whimpering sound...at 15 feet away, she broke into a run. We were so happy at Smokey's success that we patted and praised her for a full five minutes.''
Smokey slept on a blanket made from a green felt card table cover in Bill's tent and shared his C-rations and an occasional can of Spam. She lived a long life after the war, traveling all over the world with Wynne and giving demonstrations of her remarkable skills, which included walking a tightrope -- blindfolded!
Smokey, the most famous of Yorkie war dogs (yes, there have been others!) was found in a foxhole near Nabxab on New Guinea in Feb. 1944. At first, her rescuers thought she must belong to the Japanese and took her to a nearby prisoner-of-war camp. But it turned out she didn't understand commands in either Japanese or English. The year-old Yorkie soon ended up as the mess mate of Corporal Bill Wynne of Cleveland, Ohio. She was seven inches tall and weighed four pounds. Smokey lived through 150 air raids on New Guinea and was a crew member on 12 air-sea rescues. She became a hero in her own right when she helped build a crucial airfield for Allied war planes.
Bill Wynne, himself, told this story when he appeared on NBC-TV after the war: (An officer of the Communications Section came up and said) `Bill, we have a long pipe to run a wire through under the airstrip. It's eight inches high and seventy feet long and we are stumped as to how to get the wire through. The wire simply has to go through and we wondered if Smokey could do it?'...(when we got to the airfield) I knelt and looked through the pipes and saw that soil had sifted through each of the corrugated sections at the joinings, and in some places the pipe was half filled...in some places, Smokey would have only four inches of headway. I tied a string (tied to the wire) to Smokey's collar and ran to the other end of the culvert...(Smokey) made a few steps in and then ran back. `Come, Smokey,' I said sharply, and she started through again. When she was about 10 feet in, the string caught up and she looked over her shoulder as much as to say `what's holding us up there?' The string loosened from the snag and she came on again. By now the dust was rising from the shuffle of her paws as she crawled through the dirt and mold and I could no longer see her. I called and pleaded, not knowing for certain whether she was coming or not. At last, about 20 feet away, I saw two little amber eyes and heard a faint whimpering sound...at 15 feet away, she broke into a run. We were so happy at Smokey's success that we patted and praised her for a full five minutes.''
Smokey slept on a blanket made from a green felt card table cover in Bill's tent and shared his C-rations and an occasional can of Spam. She lived a long life after the war, traveling all over the world with Wynne and giving demonstrations of her remarkable skills, which included walking a tightrope -- blindfolded!
Yorkies today are every bit as tough as their ancestors. A recent Associated Press article told the story of Oliver, a 10 lb. Yorkie in Buffalo, N.Y., who heard a commotion outside and pushed open the screen door of his home to investigate. He found an 80 lb. Akita on the sidewalk out front, attacking an elderly woman, and Oliver began to snap and growl at the bigger dog. The Akita broke off his attack on the old lady and came after Oliver, who scampered under a car just as neighbors came to the rescue. If you've read "My Dog, Cat," you can easily see where some of the ideas for Cat's adventures were hatched.
