Doubtless all successful breeders and exhibitors of the Yorkshire Terrier have their little secrets and their peculiar methods of inducing the growth of hair.  They regulate the diet with extreme particularity, keeping the dog lean rather than fat, and giving him nothing that they would not themselves eat.  Bread, mixed with green vegetables, a little meat and gravy, or fresh fish, varied with milk puddings and Spratt’s “Toy Pet” biscuits, should be the staple food.  Bones ought not to be given, as the act of gnawing them is apt to mar the beard and moustache.  For the same reason it is well when possible to serve the food from the fingers.  But many owners use a sort of mask or hood of elastic material which they tie over the dog’s head at meal-times to hold back the long face-fall and whiskers, that would otherwise be smeared and sullied.  Similarly as a protection for the coat, when there is any skin irritation and an inclination to scratch, linen or cotton stockings are worn upon the hind feet.

Many exhibitors pretend that they use no dressing, or very little, and this only occasionally, for the jackets of their Yorkshire Terriers; but it is quite certain that continuous use of grease of some sort is not only advisable but even necessary.  Opinions differ as to which is the best cosmetic, but Hairmero, the dressing prepared for the purpose by Miss D. Wilmer, of Yoxford, Suffolk, could not easily be improved upon for this or any other long-coated breed.

For the full display of their beauty, Yorkshire Terriers depend very much upon careful grooming.  It is only by grooming that the silvery cascade of hair down the dog’s sides and the beautiful tan face-fall that flows like a rain of gold from his head can be kept perfectly straight and free from curl or wrinkle; and no grease or pomade, even if their use were officially permitted, could impart to the coat the glistening sheen that is given by the dexterous application of the brush.  The gentle art of grooming is not to be taught by theory.  Practice is the best teacher.  But the novice may learn much by observing the deft methods employed by an expert exhibitor.

Mr. Peter Eden, of Manchester, is generally credited with being the actual inventor of the Yorkshire Terrier.  He was certainly one of the earliest breeders and owners, and his celebrated Albert was only one of the many admirable specimens with which he convinced the public of the charms of this variety of dog.  He may have given the breed its first impulse, but Mrs. M. A. Foster, of Bradford, was for many years the head and centre of all that pertained to the Yorkshire Terrier, and it was undoubtedly she who raised the variety to its highest point of perfection.  Her dogs were invariably good in type.  She never exhibited a bad one, and her Huddersfield Ben, Toy Smart, Bright, Sandy, Ted, Bradford Hero, Bradford Marie, and Bradford Queen—­the last being a bitch weighing only 24 oz.—­are remembered