The American Morkshire Terrier is a wonderful companion, encompassing the best attributes of several ancient toy breeds from Europe and England. First appearing in the U.S. in late 1998-1990's where this breed has been growing in popularity ever since!
American Morkshire Terrier Kisses & Cuddles There's a time for Play and a Time for Love
A dog breed that's sure to love. The American Morkshire Terrier aka Morkshire or Malki is a fluff-ball of personality, loyalty and love. They are one of the top most popular "rare" breeds. This petite terrier is absolutely adorable, highly intelligent, very affectionate, and overflowing with confidence. Coming from two Toy Parents they are the perfect pooch for Individuals and Families! Friendly and Social Gentle and Spunky Self-Confident Bubbly and Playful
Where did the American Morkshire Terrier come from?
The American Morkshire Terrier 'origin' stories vary in according to the description of the Morkshire Terrier and where they came from, but one thing is for sure -they originated here in the United States!
The American Morkshire Terrier has been known by a variety of names to include the "Morkshire Terrier," and "Malki," pronounced (Mal-Ki) and "Malkie" pronounced (Mal-Kee) and "Morkie" pronounced (More-Key) with other variations giving the breed a combination of nicknames. The name "Morkshire Terrier" and "Malki" were the original names first associated with the Morkshire Terrier when it first appeared in the United States in the late 1998-1990s. But the breed who has been around for 50 years and possibly longer has Never had an 'official' breed name until December, 2019.
It was in 2017 when we, myself and my husband, first acquired our first Morkshire Terrier a cute and colorful little female, we called "Sundae," because she reminded us of a colorful ice cream sundae! I personally found the breed to be unique, exceptionally intelligent and sweet in nature with a coat of hair, I found to be hypoallergenic as I suffer from a host of allergies.
We decided to add the Morkshire Terrier to our breeding practices and the puppy's we had in our litter(s) where consistent in their characteristics - puppies having a combination of up set ears and drop set ears, same body compositions, personalities and depending on the sire we used their coat expressed colors of different patterns and colors ranging from white/black or blue/gold, black or blue and tan/gold, tan w/white and a goldish hue. We wanted to know where this delightful little breed came from and who else may have the same breed. I contacted the breeder for as much information I could get on our dog. After gathering as much information as possible I decided to google the breed to see what other information I could find on the breed..
In my extensive search here in the United States and abroad, I found this breed of dog really had a lot of inconsistent background information, there were no Club's or Registries for the breed itself and no extensive history of where this breed's origin had came from. Because of my profound love for dogs and commitment to the breeds I raise I decided to go in search for breeders, here in the United States and abroad to find and gather some 'true' origin for this absolutely adorable breed that we had come to love.
Over the course of shortly under a year I came in contact with several other breeders who have been breeding the breed I found to be called a Morkshire Terrier for many years to my surprise, and found that breeders had been breeding this breed for an astonishing 50 years, with some accounts from one person stating that the "Morkshire Terrier" is a Maltese, Yorkie and other breed(s) blend, which has resulted in many lines of Yorkies' having traditional to parti- colors, and have been around for decades. Another breeder I spoke with stated she has been breeding Morkshire to Morkshire for 32 years out of California, and I found another breeder, Alison, who had first encountered the Morkshire Terrier when she received a bitch pup for her 30th birthday, named Polly, that lived to be 22 years old from the United Kingdom. She recalls that when she received her pup the breed in the UK, it had no breed name and all she knew of the breed is that it came from a Maltese dam and a Yorkshire terrier sire. She also recalls when she started breeding them that the Morkshire came to the UK 20 years after the United States.
Alison said whatever her Morkshire was combined with that she received 29 years ago was the best dog she had ever owned, so much so, that she decided to breed and raise the dogs, and still does today. She recalls she first started breeding her Morkshire Terrier to a Maltese and from that litter she kept back a pup and bred it to a pup she kept from a different litter and as time went on she had bred her Morkshire Terriers to a Yorkie and would keep a pup from out of that litter and so forth, then she would breed both Morkshire's to each other to now, she has been breeding only Morkshire to Morkshire for the last 25 years. Alison states "she is glad that they now have a name" and that her Morkshire Terriers "breed to type," saying all her dogs characteristically look alike with the exception of color. She said puppies range from black and tan, apricot (a rich-yellow color) to pure white and average a size range from 4-8 pounds with some puppies can be slightly smaller and on occasion slightly larger. Alison states she knows of "only" two other breeders who have been breeding as long as she has and they have different preferences, and says her dogs look distinctively different then other breeders, but that is due to the background of the Yorkshire presence in the background of their kennels vs hers, as to height and ear set.
Because of my commitment and compassion for the breed, I went and established the First Registry for the Morkshire Terrier, the Morkshire Terrier Registry (MHR) in August 2018. The registry was a starting point. Because we, SMM-Ranch are bred with a heart breeders with the American Kennel Club (AKC) and we believe in doing health screen testings on our breeding dogs, felt that MHR should incorporate some health requirement testing's for the registry and to keep the 'origin' of the breeds first acknowledged name - Morkshire Terrier in the name. Therefore, in early 2019, established the First Breed Club for the Morkshire Terrier, the American Morkshire Terrier Club, Inc. (AMTC). In June, 2019 the AMTC wrote a standard for the breed and in August, 2019 the MHR was changed to the American Morkshire Terrier Registry (AMTR). In September, 2019, we contacted the American Kennel Club asking how to go about getting a new breed accepted into FSS - AKC., and with the recommendation of a wonderful individual from AKC we were pointed into the right direction.
In September, 2019 AMTC wrote a proposal to the American Rare Breed Association (ARBA), established in 1991, an association that have been known too except "Rare" breeds that have not been recognized by AKC or heard of, and have contributed to getting full recognition for such breeds. ARBA has been providing conformation dog shows for 25 years. They not only host shows they also register rare breeds and litters, as well as, help parent breed clubs for the "Rare Breed" dog. In December, 2019 the American Morkshire Terrier a.k.a Morkshire Terrier, nicknamed Morkie was accepted into the American Rare Breed Association (ARBA) as a new "Rare Breed" by the American Morkshire Terrier Club, Inc., (AMTC). In January, 2020 the American Morkshire Terrier established their own "Distinct Genetic Profile" for this 'purebred' breed.
EXCITEMENT was an understatement to the news as we, Rick and Anna Stillions, AMTC founders were ECSTATIC!!!!! The American Morkshire Terrier now has a place in history were it belongs and we made it happen!
We call our American Morkshire Terriers - Morkshire's and Morkie's - for short.
American Morkshire Terriers have a single coat, meaning the breed only has a top coat. You can see Morkshire's with two different ear set types, down ears and up ears. They come in a variety of colors similar to the Yorkshire Terrier breed, with common coat colors in; black, tan, white and gold (some refer to as rich-yellow) and a combination of black & white and tan. As the dog ages (in some cases) the black coat can appear to look silver/grey due to the European influence. They are an abundantly confident, energetic and loyal breed that's "full of life". Morkie's are a very loving and sweet natured breed and make wonderful therapy dogs. They are very intelligent and want nothing more, but to be with and please their owners. As with any breed there are differences in personality from dog to dog and the Morkie is no different, but in general this breed is described as above. Below are some of American Morkshire Terrier puppies born to SMM-Ranch!