Man, I have lots of catching up to do ...
The founders never included parti, chocolate, solid colors, goldens OR
BLACK and tan in the development of this breed but these colors have been showing up since the beginning of the breed (1800's).
I wonder how many of the yorkies born with white spots on their chest and toes are actually parti carriers? I've had several parti carriers born (parti sires x traditional mothers) that had minimal white markings, so when I see a 1 inch spot of white on a pups chest with white toes, well, it kinda makes me wonder.
Back in the old days prior to DNA and the understanding of genetics that we have today, people were ignorant because they knew no better. But today we do know better and science is more advanced, so what was once thought to be in the mid 1800's, we now know isn't true.
Prior to there being an AKC or Official Yorkshire Terrier breed, during the 1700 - mid 1800's these terrier type dogs were used for hunting. Their owners could have cared less if they bred their bitches to blue and tan studs, they just wanted to produce superior ratters and hunters. If Mr. Smyth had the best hunter male terrier in town and his dog just happened to be rust colored or parti colored, the farmers, millers, and spinners didn't care and bred their bitches to that stud regardless of color. These commoners just wanted to try to improve their own breeding stock in order to help feed their families. For them color wasn't an issue; speed, stamina, accuracy and bringing home the dinner was.
If we still thought the way our fore fathers thought, the world would still be flat!
