Adopting a Silky Terrier! – Introduction to the personality of this unique breed!
so you’re thinking of getting a silkie
terrior congratulations in this video
we’ll cover some helpful tips to prepare
you for adoption
and to paint a picture of life with a
silky Terrier all carriers have unique
spunk and personality
this is a byproduct of their original
purpose to capture small game which is
done individually without the help from
the path hey mister
so Terriers tend to have their own mind
about things the silkie terrior came
about in Australia during the early
1900s
when your keys were brought over from
England and bred with the established
Australian Terrier rat so the Australian
Terriers a bigger terrier with a harsher
coat your keys are smaller with a very
fine coat and so they started breeding
them together they also think silkies
have a little bit of sky terrier in them
but no matter they started breeding this
in between breed and the breed
characteristics are a combination of
both the yorkshire terrier and the
Australian terrier so when we’re talking
about them sometimes we’ll say well this
one looks a little more Aussie or this
one looks a little more in Yorkie and
that’s not because they really look like
a your gear look like an Aussie but
there’s those nuances that we’re trying
to make sure the dog is true to type for
a silky terrier not an Australian
Terrier or Yorkshire Terrier
silkies are the closest relative to the
yorkshire terrier while the Yorkie
became more of a show dog and apartment
dweller thanks to the Australian
upbringing the silkie terrior came to be
a larger sturdier dog with a more
tenacious hunt an instant
so unlike the Yorkie that would be
square see she has a little bit more of
a rectangular body which is what they’re
supposed to have you can see with his
face he’s cleaned pointed because his
hair you know just comes down a little
bit your keys have a lot of hair on
their ears if silkies have that they’re
considered to be over coated yes they do
have eyelashes that are long some of
them have longer ones than others but
they do have eyelashes that make them
kind of look exotic when you look close
you really want to have a dark pigment
around the eye so when you look at their
eye rim they should have a black room
almost like you took up eyeliner and
outline to the eyes the hair just goes
around their eyes and looks really
elegant by their breed standard silkies
can be a lot of color but sometimes they
can get a gold tone to them and that
comes back from our cousin red
Australian Terrier so we still have that
color in our background and sometimes
we’ll have a silky that has more of the
the gold color in them
silky terriers are supposed to have ears
that stand up and once in a while you’ll
have a line where the ear leather isn’t
as strong and you’ll just know that in
their background genetically their
parents are carrying that trait for it’s
called a drop ear it’s not a health
problem
they can still hear as well they’re born
black and tan and it actually look like
Rottweiler puppies because their ears
are down and and they’re just very snub
nosed and black and tan
you’d never know into silkie terrior
despite their size do not underestimate
their hunting ability his hunting
instinct is very strong it’s scary that
he is as good as he is because he can
catch him on the run
I came out one evening it was dark and I
couldn’t get him I couldn’t call him in
he would not come in but I could see
through what little ambient light there
was out here that he was out here in the
backyard was something that he had
caught a bunny in the yard and he was
all wool girls me I’m sorry was
disgusting but he had gotten that bunny
it was it was bad Terriers aren’t for
everybody I’m very careful about placing
them because while they’re wonderful
pets they still have that breed
characteristic they’re a terrier and
part of a standard talks about their
toyish nassif sometimes people will say
I’m interested in a silky because I
don’t really want that small of a dog
and then I’ll tell them the differences
between well if you get a Yorkie their
personality would be like this you get a
silky it’s gonna be more terrier like so
they understand um you know those
nuances it’s not just the size yeah
they’re definitely not what I would
consider a lapdog he likes to run and so
he will run and run and run and run they
have that hunting they’re always looking
and sometimes men will say oh I don’t
want a little dog and every time we’ve
placed a silky within a home the man
always just oh my gosh you walk this dog
around the neighborhood and he’s the
piece the boss of the neighborhood
they’re a terrier and that means they’re
on their toes
taking charge with this breed
be sure you have a good fence I got Milo
we brought him home and he literally ran
through the fence because he is so
skinny you know easy there’s no bulk to
him and there’s not an ounce of fat on
him he is a lean lean machine and he
literally ran through well we opened the
door and there was a chipmunk running as
soon as he saw the chipmunk
oh he was gone after the chipmunk and he
didn’t care if he loved loved loved me
or not he was after the chipmunk so one
of the things that I look for when I
place a silky is do you have a fenced-in
yard or do you understand the dog needs
to be on a leash they can’t be climbers
and jumpers and so one of the things
that somebody would come to my house and
say could you keep my silky for a couple
days the first question I’d ask is is it
a climber or a jumper I had one that
could get out of anything you could
figure out a way to go to the corner of
the chain-link fence and climb up it so
we could get out these guys love to be
outdoors and will last to go outside
multiple times per day that prey Drive
is very important and I think that’s why
they’ll never be or should be super
popular pet breeds they’ll bolt out the
door you know you open the door they’ll
bolt
but there’s stuff going on they got to
be in on it they’ve got to see what’s
going on out the yard here is you know
guarding the perimeter or in the house
checking the windows they don’t want to
be left out here’s a fun fact
any silky terriers point by lifting a
front paw when they spot something of
interest
sometimes there’s breed traits that get
passed on like the lifting the foot that
can be something that one line of
silkies will do more than maybe another
line of silkies silkies are amongst the
most loving of breeds they’re very very
affectionate dogs they follow you around
they want to be with you
they love to snuggle very very loving
very loving in fact the problem is with
having the number we have they also get
a little testy if there’s too many near
them on the lap you know they’ll look at
the other dog coming into one of those
like it’s my lap in fact they tend to
like people company sweet better than
dog company silkies are not bred to be
pack animals they were never raised and
bred to see who would hunt well together
so I always tell my veterinary office
when they say oh my gosh your dogs I
always say look if I wanted to pack up
Eagles I’d get a pack of beagles they’re
very independent when they chase that
rodent or that snake it’s their rodent
their snake and they don’t want to share
and so they’re kind of like that in your
house – it’s there – toy I’m not sharing
it’s my toy or I’m gonna take it away
from you
while silky terriers are sharp as a whip
you might not find them to be the most
trainable dog silkies have a million
thoughts quick and there is nothing
funnier than watching silky sand
obedience are always checking everything
out so they’re paying attention to you
but hey wait there’s 100 other things
that could be checking out so if you
catch them at the right moment on the
right day they know what to do it’s just
a matter of but do I feel like doing it
today well they do have their Terrier
outbursts all silkies are very quiet
around the house they’re very quiet and
calm in the house but as soon as
something happens they’re up looking at
it because it’s that they look for
differences they’re always looking for
something that’s different something new
and exciting he’s by far the easiest of
the personalities and the mostly you
know easygoing he loves to go fishing he
loves to be on the boat gets really
excited around bobbers because he knows
there’s Bishop the other end but I just
their personalities are a third they’re
so expressive and so outgoing and they
just you know they were their hearts on
their sleeve I love the breed it’s a
unique breed I love them thumbs it up
recommend them for anybody to think that
they want you know a little bit of
liveliness in their home that’s the joy
they can bring if they’re placed in the
right home where people appreciate those
unique characteristics that they have
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