About Yorkies

ABOUT YORKSHIRE TERRIERS

8 month old Yorkie 4 year old Yorkie

COLOUR

The Yorkshire Terrier coat should be a silky flowing coat of steel blue saddle and shaded golden tan furnishings. Puppies are born black and tan. As they grow and mature that colour can stay black and tan on occasion, or they can change into the colour they will be as an adult, namely steel blue saddle or they can go light in colour to various shades of silver and the gold tan can lighten to a light gold and almost white. The breed standard calls for steel blue and clear shaded golden tan.

Lighter shades although incorrect can certainly occur. There is nothing wrong with these dogs and if very light in colour are very nice pets for a pet home. However, keep in mind that the Yorkie can take up to three or more years to completely change colour so it is very difficult if not impossible to sell a young puppy that the breeder can guarantee will stay a steel blue and shaded golden tan.

If you want to buy a show dog, minimum or close to 1 year is the age you would be looking for. Less than that might be a show potential which may not turn out a show dog at all. I would also like to add, buy from a show breeder willing to mentor you, you will need the help.

Blue born puppies are those that are actually born blue not black and tan. They are genetically a health issue. They usually do not live beyond 1 year of age, often end up euthanized because of severe ill health. Usually by about 6 months they are plagued with severe skin allergy issues with other issues soon following. These types of health issues, in my opinion, would point to an immunity problem the puppy is born with that worsens with time.

Chocolate colour can also occur in the purebred. These are not a desirable colour, are not included in the breed standard, and as with any ‘rare’ colours have the potential that there is a health problem showing up by one year of age.

There has also been a new ‘rare’ colour of a parti colour or Biewer Yorkie. These will have large splashes of white and they will mature to dogs with the traditional Yorkie colour plus large splashes of white. The Yorkie does not carry the pied gene that would express this colour pattern at maturity. Some Yorkie puppies are born with white blotches on the chest but these change into the tan/gold colour at maturity. They are not parti colour, Biewer nor carriers of the piebald gene.

The Biewer Terrier of Club of America has noted on their website that these are not purebred Yorkies per the information of the many DNA samples submitted for analyses. Don’t be fooled into buying a ‘rare’ colour that in fact is not a purebred nor Canadian Kennel Club nor American Kennel Club recognized breed. The Biewer Terrier Club of America do not want their Biewers recognized as Yorkies as they now know they are not purebred Yorkies. The Biewer Terrier which came originally from Germany is NOT recognized by the German Kennel Club nor the FCI which is the organization that does the registrations for the various country kennel clubs in Europe as well and provides the FCI judges and rules for the shows in Europe . The Biewer Terrier is only registered with and recognized by the Biewer Club in Germany and the new Biewer Terrier Club in the US .

The gold Yorkie is actually born black and tan and as it matures the blue saddle pattern runs gold from the furnishings into the blue saddle and is an incorrect colour. The Yorkie can actually look gold but when the coat is cut down, you can see the blue saddle underneath although the saddle is not coming down into the area of the dog that it should be. These can be very nice pets but would not be kept in the breeding program of any reputable breeder.

I have seen pictures of gold colour Yorkie pups and from the features of the pups, these are not purebreds. The Yorkie does not carry a gene for solid gold at birth.

A reputable breeder of any breed, will not be breeding for rare colours but will be breeding to produce the best they can to what the breed standard for their breed has outlined.

Be aware, buy informed, there are many claims to sell for high prices dogs or puppies that are not at all what they are represented to be.

Be aware that rare colours can be false claims or severe health issues involved. A reputable breeder will not breed for wrong colours for the breed standard or rare colours.

You can read about the breed standard on the Canadian Kennel Club website at www.ckc.ca or the American Kennel Club website at www.akc.org

SIZE

The Yorkshire Terrier is classed in the Toy Group by the AKC and Canadian Kennel Club. The size of a full grown mature Yorkie should be less than 7 lbs. Some will grow oversize for the breed and be greater than 7 lbs. They are still a very small dog even at 8 or 9 lbs. These will usually be sold for pet only under spay/neuter contracts.

TEACUPS

At the other end of the size issue is the very small sometimes called ‘teacups’ etc. There are no varieties of sizes in the classification of Yorkies such as Toy, Mini, Standard. There is no such thing as a Teacup. A reputable breeder would never use this term to describe an undersize representative of the breed.

Most reputable breeders would consider a Yorkie less than 4 lbs to be undersized. Puppies that mature to 3 ½ lbs or less have a greater risk that they are unusually small due to health problems. I do not breed for under 5 lbs full size. If I do have a pup that will mature particularly small, I do not place until about a year old, health testing and spay/neuter is already done.

GENERAL INFORMATION

The Yorkie is a fun breed to own, terrier first, lap dog second. They love being with their owners so that time commitment from you is a requirement. They are small enough to take almost anywhere with you. They are alert, will usually like to go for walks, don't require a lot of exercise and yet they have a 'big dog heart' to them.

The Yorkie can be very difficult to housetrain. I recommend a fenced yard or deck for them to go out as they often do not understand they can potty with a harness or collar attached to a lead. I also recommend the washable fabric wee wee pads in the house for when they might be caught short to prevent them soiling elsewhere. You can still expect accidents in the home even with an older Yorkie. If this is an issue for you, the Yorkie may not be the right breed for you.

Yorkies, as with any Toy breed of dog, are not good with very young children. They will usually be frightened of toddlers and avoid them. I usually will recommend that in a family considering adopting a Yorkie, the youngest child should be no younger than about 10 years old.

Lorraine Effa

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