Biewer Terrier Breed History
On January 20th, 1984, the first blue, white and gold Yorkie, named Scheefloeckchen von Friedheck, was born to 1981 Dortmund Junior Champion, Darling von Friedheck and 1981 Dortmund World Champion Fru-Fru von Friedheck.This was the start of what is now known as the Biewer Terrier Breed.
After raising and showing Yorkies for 20 years, Werner and Gertrud were intrigued by the extreme amount of white on this puppy. This prompted them to begin looking into the possible existence of a recessive piebald gene in their breeding lines. Their interest quickly shifted to producing a perfect blue, white and gold Yorkshire Terrier.
Mr. Biewer first introduced his tri-colored dogs to the show ring in March 1988, at Wiesbaden, Germany. At this time he presented 2 dogs and called them black and white Yorkies.
Other breeders were intrigued with the beauty of the black and white Yorkies, and began to breed these little spotted dogs. Among the first breeders were the “Agridesheim” and “Sonnenhof” Kennels.
The VDH denied the acceptance of the dogs as being a breed of their own. They instead designated them as being of “wrong color, not for breeding”. Mr. Biewer was unhappy with this decision and began his search for a registry that would accept his beloved black and white Yorkies as a separate breed. The ACH (Allgemeiner Club der Hundefreunde Deutschland e.V.) was the first club to accept them as a distinct and separate breed. The dogs were then registered as Biewer Yorkshire Terrier a la Pom Pon.
While dinning one evening the husband of singer Margot Eskens presented her with a Biewer Yorkie puppy on a platter as a gift. This incident is the very reason that the name “a la' Pom Pon” was added. It translates from French to “a tassel or colorful ball of yarn”, which perfectly described the puppy’s hair.
Mr. and Mrs. Biewer’s Yorkshire Terriers, that produced the black and white Yorkies, came from the Streamglen Kennels. There is some speculation, although not substantiated, that an accidental crossbreeding may have occurred in this kennel that did not show up until some generations later through Mr. Biewer’s dogs. They had 4 Yorkies from the Streamglen kennels, 2 of which produced the black and white colored dogs.
In 1989 when Mr. Biewer signed the standard for the Biewer Yorkshire Terrier a la Pom-Pon, the coloring was stated as white-blue-gold. The most prominently displayed standard posted on just about every Biewer breeder’s web site is signed by Mrs. Biewer. We are all familiar with the details in this brief standard.
Mr. Biewer died in 1997 and his wife Gertrude Biewer has since discontinued her breeding program. Many people have contacted Mrs. Biewer after her husband’s death seeking information about the Biewer Breed and Mrs. Biewer has referred them to Dagmar Przystaw, as she was a close family friend that knew the breed well. Mr. Biewer had always trusted Dagmar’s judgment and opinion when it came to the development of the breed and she has continuously judged the breed since Mr. Biewer stepped into the show ring.
By the year 2000 the Biewer had lost its popularity and the number of breeders had dwindled significantly. It wasn’t until the breed was introduced in America that its popularity was revitalized. The breed standard was never perfected in this short time and has consequently been the cause of many debates amongst today’s breeders. From the very early pictures one can see that there were usually only two colors in the head, and the body was predominantly more black than blue.
In order to set the record straight, Dagmar Przystaw contacted Mrs. Biewer in April of 2007 for clarification of the standard. Mrs. Biewer affirmed that the head coloring for the Biewer is acceptable as follows: (Blue/ Black, White, Gold); (Blue/ Black, Gold); (White, Gold) in good symmetry.
Our goal is to continue to follow and develop the Biewer Terrier in America to the standard approved by Mrs. Biewer. We hope you enjoy our Biewer gallery. It is a beautiful picture history.
Below are Pedigree's of the Yorkies that produced the first Biewer's. You can see that Darling von Friedheck was the main Biewer producing Yorkie.
