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The
History of the Biewer Terrier
There are various clubs all seemingly dedicated
to this breed, calling it a Biewer Terrier, Biewer a la Pom Pon, Biewer Yorkshire Terrier a la Pom Pon, or just plain Biewer.
It must however, be made clear, that the originators of the breed named their dogs: Biewer Yorkshire Terrier a la Pom Pon
in the 1980's, however Frau Gertrud Biewer, an honorary member of the Biewer Terrier Club, America has
acknowledged her acceptance of the breed name Biewer Terrier, and signed the standard on 26th
September 2009.
There is certainly much speculation as to the origination and indeed
conception of the breed, and the various clubs around the world all have differing opinions as to their dog’s ancestry.
However, they do agree on the breed’s originators, Herr Werner Biewer and his wife Gertrud Biewer.
The Biewers'
were breeding and showing Yorkshire Terriers for many years, and it is written, that on 20 January 1984 an adorable
“Tricolour” Yorkie pup was born to two Traditional coloured Yorkshire Terriers they owned. Darling von Friedheck
(Sire) and Fru Fru von Friedheck (Dam), this youngster was named “Schneeflockchen”, and blue/white/gold in colour.
The Biewers’ registered their traditional coloured pedigree Yorkie with the KFT in Germany (Klub fur Terrier) under
the umbrella of the VDH (Verband fur das Deutsche Hundewesen). But these new colours were identified as “wrong-coloured”
and were not given breeding status in Germany, and although the Biewer's did show their dogs in March 1988 in
Wesbaden, Germany, they wanted more for them.
The ACH.e.v (Allgermeiner Club der Hundefreunde Deutschland.e.V)(not to
be confused with ACH-L.de) acknowledged their dogs as a separate breed in 1989 and the couple drew up
a very limited standard for their new little dogs, named Biewer Yorkshire Terrier a la Pom Pom ("a la Pom Pon"
translated from French “colourful ball of yarn”, this little nick name attachment came about, one evening
at a dinner party).
In 1997 Herr Biewer died after an extended illness, his wife Frau Gertrud Biewer discontinued
their breeding program, their Biewers were expensive and hard to come by, however there were already breeders
in Germany ready to take up the breed, and there are now many
registration clubs in Germany although non FCI affiliated to date, all claiming to have the original article.
In 2007, BTCA (Biewer Terrier Club America) members Gayle Pruett, Deb Sidle visited
Frau Gertrud Biewer to learn more about the breed’s origins and gained her approval of that club’s efforts to
establish the Biewer as a distinct new breed.
DNA testing was carried out on over 100 of their clubs dogs, with Mars Veterinary in 2007, and it was found that indeed these
dogs were that of a "new breed of
dog", although closely related to the Yorkshire Terrier (a cousin of the Yorkie), there were anomalies
that detected other breeds, and there were at least 3 or more breeds detected in the genetics studies that were carried
out. At that time Mars Veterinary established a marker for the Biewer Terrier. This had never been done before in the history
of the pure bred dog. The BTCA
(Biewer Terrier Club America) BTCSA (Biewer Terrier Club South Africa) BTCUK (Biewer Terrier
Club United Kingdom) BTCB (Biewer Terrier Club Brazil) (Biewer Terrier Club of Thailand)only breed Biewer to Biewer,
and DNA test their breeding pairs and progeny.
The Biewer Terrier have a different character to the traditional
Yorkie, an indicator of other breeds introduction, as coat colour has also been found to be a factor to temperament,
namely tameable, trainable. (James Serpell, Oxford Univesity).
The BTCSA (Biewer Terrier Club Southern Africa), have
already had their Biewer accepted by KUSA, that countries official FCI regulated Kennel Club Registration Authority.The Breed
Standard also has been accepted by KUSA, from 1.4.2012. ARBA, American Rare Breed Association, has accepted the Biewer Terrier
as a rare breed and the BTCA, Inc. as the National breed club for the Biewer Terrier in America. The BTCA will be
showing with ARBA under the standard that they have accepted for our breed.
The long-term
goals of all the Biewer Terrier Clubs are to take the proper steps to gain AKC recognition, so that they can exhibit
as their own unique breed at our own Countries Top shows under the standard that best fits our exquisite Biewer Terrier.
The BTCUK, are now also working towards Kennel Club recognition.
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