There are 2 different ways to produce gold colored dogs. Yorkshire terriers have a gene known as the Agouti allele (A). This Agouti gene is a gene that controls the amount, location or pattern of black hairs displayed on the dog. The Agouti allele has been mapped to dog chromosome 24.
Most Yorkshire terriers have an Agouti gene that's often referred to as the Saddle or Black and Tan gene; it's gene marker is “at”. This gene causes our dogs to display the typical blue/black and tan markings but some yorkshire terriers display another Agouti allele known as Sable, which doesn't produce the traditional “saddles” seen in most yorkies, instead it displays black hairs of various degrees, sprinkled though out their golden/tan coats. This gene marker is known as “ay.” The “ay” Sable is dominant to “at” Saddle and if the dog has 1 copy of the “ay” gene, the dog will be Sable colored (you do NOT need 2 copies of the "ay" gene to produce a sable golden pup - ONLY 1 copy if the gene is needed). A traditional colored puppy who has one sable parent, does NOT CARRY for the sable "ay" gene as so many people advertise. If a traditional colored puppy has the "ay" gene, they will be sable colored, not traditional colored. A dog who is "ayay" often times has minimal black sabling in their coats and are sometimes called "clear coated sables".
Another gene that is effecting the black markings in our Yorkies is the Extension Allele (E) and this gene affects the Agouti gene, the Extension gene has been mapped to chromosome 5. The Extension gene has two common alleles, “E” and “e”. When a dog is “EE” or “Ee” in their genetic makeup, they will display the normal black markings caused by the Agouti allele but in dogs who are “ee”, no black hairs will be displayed on the dog and the dog will be clear red or yellow in color.
It's noted in other breeds that one way to try to guess if your clear coated golden is “ayay” or “ee” is by checking the color of the dogs whiskers. In other breeds, a dog who is “ee” will have white or tan whiskers but dogs who are “ayay” often have black whiskers. In dogs who are “ee” there will be no production of black hair.
There are other genes and gene modifiers that will affect the intensity of red or yellow in the dog, and that's how we gets shades that range from nearly white to blond to rich dark gold.
First photos displays clear golds and blond caused by ee and 2nd photo displays traditional and sable puppies. |