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Originally Posted by 2Morkies  I know, I read that in the breed history too. I was amazed to learn that the larger Yorkies were bred to to the Maltese to make them small and give them their silky hair. Maybe long ago the smaller Yorkies actually started as Morkies??? |
I have my doubts as to whether Maltese were ever used in the makeup of the Yorkie. Maltese have pure white coats, and you never see pure white Yorkies popping up as one of the rare colors. Parti colored (white with black / blue and tan / gold) yes, but not pure white. The genes that result in a pure white dog are different from the one that causes a dog to be Parti colored.
In addition to that, by the time the Yorkie was being developed as a breed, the Maltese had long been (for hundreds of years) a pampered lap dog and no longer used for ratting. Terriers were very much prized for their ratting ability, with their looks being a distant second. If I wanted a champion ratter, I would not cross my terrier with a Maltese. (I have owned 3 Maltese and 4 Yorkies, and their personalities are not at all the same).
One of the terriers said to be used in the development of the Yorkie was the Clydesdale Terrier, and it did have a silky coat.