Yorkshire Terrier

A chocolate Yorkshire Terrier.

Chocolate

Dogs affected with the recessive brown gene typically are brown with brown or flesh colored noses. If the dog appears brown but has a black nose it is most likely a clear red. A dog does not need to have two copies of the brown gene to have a brown nose and coat. Chocolate Yorkshire Terriers that have absolutely no black on them however, are double recessive for the brown locus.

Arguments

Why AKC members have a problem with Chocolate Yorkshire Terriers.

Health

They feel that chocolate Yorkshire Terriers have health problems because they are chocolate, but this is untrue as that would mean all chocolate dogs have health problems. There is actually more evidence suggesting that dogs with the dominant black pigment have skin problems than there is for dogs with double recessive chocolate pigment.

Standard

Those who breed for AKC standard know that the AKC standard for the Yorkshire Terrier is for it to be black and gold, black and tan, blue and gold, and blue and tan. The AKC and its breeders feel that only dogs who fit breed standards should be bred.

Parti

Parti Yorkshire Terriers are Yorkshire Terriers who are either white with little of the standard color, or they just have white on the chin and chest area. It is believed that the Parti Yorkshire Terriers have the white due to a piebald gene. Although this particular color of the Yorkshire has created quite a following, AKC members still have quite a problem with it.

A parti Yorkshire Terrier.

Arguments

Why AKC members have a problem with the Parti Yorkshire Terrier.

Purity

AKC members feel these dogs simply cannot be pure, and therefore they are not Yorkshire Terriers. However, history shows that there have been white Yorkshire Terriers in the 1800's, this is way before the breed standard was made and shows that a gene causing white did and possibly does exist in Yorkshire Terriers. In the 1980s one show breeder, Nikkos Kennels, refused to destroy the tri-colored pups when born but instead sold them out the backdoor unregistered. The Nikko's line is the most recognized line that produced the Parti colored Yorkies here in the USA. It is not the only one, but is the most talked about and referred to the most. In 1976 Joan Gordon and Janet Bennett published a book, The Complete Yorkshire Terrier. In her Book she states;

"It is not unusual to find small white marks on one or more toes or a fine white line in the lower fore jaw. These will not be visible as an adult. A large amount of white marks on the chest, paws, jaws, or skull, places a yorkie into a tri-color classification and it is very wise to guard against this possibility. Yorkshire terrier puppies can be born of colors that automatically deprive them of the necessary qualities to become the proper colors of the breed. They can be born all black: all tan: tan with black points; tri-color: black, white, and tan; all blue; bluish grey with tan points; and so remain or change to another shade of their newly born colors. These mismarked Yorkie puppies are not the result of the mis-alliances or throwbacks but are rather the net product of incorrectly inherited genes which have failed to activate the pigment glandular system to providing what they require to be in accord with the yorkshire terrier standard. Puppies incorrectly colored or marked should not be sold as rare, they should not be registered as Yorkshire terriers, but should simply be found a loving home If one cannot bring oneself to having them put down."

In an 1895 book entitled The Dog by Stonehenge, he states about the Broken Haired Terriers" Sometimes the Broken Haired dog is White, more or less marked with blue or some other color, but the less the better.