This wonderful little breed hit the American soil at the beginning of this century from Germany. The heritage of this breed is German Yorkshire Biewer a la Pom Pon. In the beginning, many people believed this breed should be bred back to the Yorkshires to introduce new genetics into the breeding pool. Breeding back to Yorkshire Terriers is allowed in Germany, so why is it not allowed here? As the development of this breed began in Germany, the gene pool was very small; therefore, choices for mating were limited. In order to develop the breed, breeders had to breed back to Yorkshire Terriers. As the gene pool multiplied and Biewers were sent to North America, breeding back to Yorkshire Terriers was no longer needed because the focus became establishing the Biewer breed on its own. As a result, we breed only "Biewer to Biewer". Dr. Jerald Bell, a genetic specialist, has been advising us with the development of this breed. Dr. Bell stated on many occasions that we have the makings of a wonderful little breed with careful breeding. This reinforces what so many have historically believed. The Biewer is now a breed of its own, without breeding back to Yorkshire Terrier, parti-colored Yorkshire Terriers, or using first generation dogs, commonly known as "splitters”.
Some breeders, unaffiliated with BBCA, are choosing to breed with parti-colored Yorkshire Terriers and are obtaining pedigrees from unaffiliated registries based solely on the dog's color. This type of mixed breeding cannot be registered by reputable organizations and is not recognized by BBIR. The breeders in question find registries that will identify the tri-colored dogs as Biewers. They argue that Biewers, Biewer Terriers, Parti-colored Yorkshire Terriers, and Yorkshire Terriers are all the same dog and see no reason why they should not be mixed in breeding. The Biewer was developed to conform to a very specific standard, with the goal of creating a small, hypoallergenic, companion dog. It takes many years to develop a new breed in this manner and choosing to mix them with any other breed but Biewers would be taking a step backward. The technical term for this progression is called "genetic drift". This is the process by which a true breed is developed over time.
There are only a three dog registries that conform to this rule and process. Those are: The Biewer Breed International Registry (BBIR)--USA, The RKF--Russia, and the RVD/UCI--Germany. All requests to register with the BBIR are scrutinized for inaccuracies and misrepresentations. Any pedigrees that contain American Yorkshire terrier lines, including parti-colored Yorkshire Terriers, or any other discrepancy that is a detriment to the breed are denied registration.
If you are serious about maintaining the history, integrity, and original standard of the Biewer, please ask your breeder where the linages of their breeding stock originated. If the answer you receive is anything other than original German blood lines, then you are not buying a true Biewer.