My story is similar to yorkiekist but I have not yet accomplished what she has but that is what I am striving for.
I started out in the mid 70ies breeding and showing St. Bernards, we owner handled one female to her championship. Back then it took 18 bitches for a major. We also had beagles prior to that and had one we bred that became a champion but she was not owned by us. After going through a divorce, I got away from showing and breeding. Years passed and I remarried, then about 12 years ago some friends of ours that raised yorkies had a cute little 7 month old female they they offered to us at a great price so we bought Dixie and that was our beginning. Dixie has a few champions in her pedigree and is a good representative of the breed. She is still with us and she tucks us in every night.
Of course Dixie melted our hearts and as you all know you can't have just one yorkie so later we got came across another little girl, Channel, that we added to our household. Her picture at age 9 is attached. This little 6 1/2 lb girl had 21 champions in her pedigree and I was proud to own her. Channel was later rehomed to relatives and was later stolen. I have been raising yorkies for 12 years but just started getting interested in showing again the last couple of years. Like others, I have made my share of mistakes but I am slowly learning. I recently added a nice champion sired boy to our household so I am hoping to get back in the ring later this year.
I know that many people are not interested in showing for one reason or another. It is costly and you do have to be tough skinned. But even if you can't show and you plan on breeding, you should at least strive to breed the best that you can. Attend some shows, visit a show breeders home if they will let you. Have someone that is knowledgeable about conformation and soundness go over your dogs. In order to breed properly you have to have a good understanding of what your dogs faults are. Too many people, when they go to purchase a dog or puppy just focus on a pretty face. If you don't have sound dogs in your breeding program then you can never accomplish your dream. If your dog has lots of faults then don't breed it. Some faults can be corrected easily but others cannot. Yorkies are a coat breed and a silky coat is of the utmost importance. You can have a dog with near perfect conformation but if it has a cottony coat then it would be very difficult to ever become a champion. Everyone should strive for the proper silky coats that make the yorkie so special.