Silky Terrier

So you guys have met Ginger, right?

I've had Ginger for about a year, and all this time, I was under the impression that she was a Yorkie. She's about 4 years old, and about 13 pounds. Okay, so a really huge Yorkie - what? So, someone finally put the bug in my ear that she might not be a Yorkie after all, and I go searching for her true breed.

After much sweat, tears, and confusion, I figure out that Ginger is a Silky (Sidney) Terrier. And in case there are (m)any others out there that are confused, I thought I'd put together a fairly easy-to-read and interesting list of things that Silkys are, and Yorkies aren't. If you enjoy reading the standard from the AKC, by all means, knock yourselves out.

If there is anything you know that I don't yet, feel free to add it in!

On with the list:

• If you shine a light in the eyes of a Silky, they reflect green.
  
• If the dog weighs between 8-13 pounds, its a Silky. AKC Yorkies usually don't get over 7.
  
• Silkys are bred from short, wirey-haired Austrailian Terriers and long-haired Yorkies. The colors on both are almost identical. Put them together, and you get a shorter- and softer-haired dog that's the same color. Thus the name.
  
• Silkies are snake- and rodent-hunting dogs (thus the name Sidney Terriers - like, Australia - there are lots of snakes there, I hear). Yorkies are mousers (like Ireland - lots of mice there). Ginger has killed 7 opposums on her own, some over 20 pounds. (Yorkies don't -or can't- do that.)
  
• Silkies are great diggers. Just ask that old tree that Ginger dug a tunnel under. Get down real low when you ask - it's on the ground. Horizontally.
  
• Silkies are also fantastic escape artists (thanks, mdrummerp!) Fences, gates, walls, doors, you name it, they find a way out.
  
• As they get older, the blue hair is what turns white.
  
• Silkys that aren't socialized with cats or children at a young age tend to chase them and eat them as adults. Or bite them, as with the kids and all.
  
• Silkys are prone to diabetes and epilepsy. Daily seizures, if left untreated, may lead to stroke. Fewer than a few a week, according to my vet, are better left untreated. The side-effects of the medication can be more harmful than the seizures if they're occassional, like Ginger's.
  
• Silkys are great apartment dogs - they usually get enough excersize running around indoors - but they love walks like any other dog. My hero, Cesar Milan, would have me tell you that the stubborn streak could be worked out of them if you take them for a 30-minute brisk walk everyday.
  
• Teaching Silkys can be a simple process - bribe them, and they'll do whatever you ask. Especially if you start that early. Ginger, on the other hand, doesn't respond to any kind of treat, so we just repeat the exercise a few times until she gets it.
  
• Some Silkys have some trouble keeping their ears erect. This is referred to as ED - Ears Down. It's also called flop-eared.
  
• Ginger loves to go every.where. with us. She has trouble getting into a tall vehicle, but she will try until you lift her into it. She has finally learned (the hard way, sadly) that jumping out of a moving vehicle is NOT a good idea. Now she stays inside when I tell her to stay.
  
• Silky temper tantrums are frequent when left alone. Trash is usually the victim. A Silky will jump into the garbage, topple it, and pull out the garbage all over the floor. Repeat with all trash cans. And THAT'S for leaving her alone. So there! Okay, so maybe that's just Ginger. Good luck with that.