History

The Biewer Terrier came to be its own breed as a result of a Yorkshire Terrier puppy born in Germany in January of 1984 that had an extreme amount of white patterning throughout his coat. This unusual puppy, named Scheefloeckchen von Friedheck, caused his breeders, Werner and Gertrud Biewer, to wonder whether their Yorkies carried a recessive piebald gene, which apparently they did. Over the next several years, the Biewers bred for the piebald gene and produced blue, white and gold Yorkshire Terriers that bred true to their color. Mr. Biewer showed two of his unique dogs as “black and white Yorkies” in 1988, and the breed took off from there. Biewer Terriers were first officially recognized by the Allgemeiner Club der Hundefreunde Deutschland e. V., one of Germany’s dog clubs. The Biewers signed off on the Biewer breed standard in the late 1980s. Mr. Biewer died in 1997; thereafter, his widow stopped breeding dogs. The Biewer Terrier Club of America was established in 2007. Today, this is still considered to be a rare breed.

Health

The average life span of the Biewer Terrier is 12 to 15 years. They may be prone to collapsing tracheas, hypoglycemia, Legg-Calve-Perthes disease, patellar luxation and portosystemic shunts. Their long coat needs daily brushing, and they should be bathed on a regular basis.