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Originally Posted by gracielove  I realize people think that because they don't want a show quality dog that that is reason enough to purchase from the most convenient breeder they can find but that is far from the truth. If you want a mixed breed then you can find plenty of dogs out there that came about because the owners didn't take care of their responsibility. But purebreds are genetically manipulated creatures that only maintain their characteristics by continued stringent breeding practices.
While many here attack show/breeders for changing the standard and quality of some of the breeds there is far more of a problem with people who want to call themselves breeders and yet they have never taken the time to learn the genetic background of the poor souls they breed in order to make some money from the current demand for purebred dogs, in particular small breed dogs.
There are still many good breeders out there that do not cave into popular demand for a popular "look" in their breed. Not all judges are crooked and the genetics of purebred breeding never change. Either a breeder is concerned for the well being of the breed or they are not. A good breeder is not going to breed a dog that has faults that are completely against the standard of the breed. That is why good breeders have pet quality pups to sell. A good breeder breeds only those closest to the standard and they sell off those that have faults, hopefully with a spay/neuter contract to prevent those unscrupulous breeders from getting their hands on them.
There are plenty of websites out there made up of people who are offering off color Yorkies and selling them as though they were a rare and expensive type of Yorkie. If that is what you want to support then they are certainly available. |
The best scientific evidence is that unusual colors in Yorkies such as parti-color, chocolate, and golden, were introduced from other breeds of dogs by crossbreeding Yorkies with other breeds that have these colors. The evidence is that the mutations responsible for these colors are very specific and are as unique as human fingerprints. The likelihood of the exact same mutation arising spontaneously in standard Yorkshire Terrier lines is vanishingly small. The AKC will only register standard color and parti-color Yorkshire Terriers, and the decision to allow the registration of parti-color Yorkshire Terriers predates genetic testing. I have no doubt that there are breeders of off-color Yorkies who are good people and who do health testing and do all of the other things that good breeders should do (except for breeding to breed standards). They can be very pretty dogs. I wouldn't call them purebred Yorkshire Terriers, but please go into this fully informed and with all of the information about what you are getting and what you are not getting.