[bjh]

It is not easy to tell on a young puppy how light or dark it will be. You best bet with be to get with a breeder that does not sell their pups to young. If a puppy starts breaking to a light color on their head at a early age, say around 8 to 12 weeks then that is a sign that they may go light. Also, on older pups, say around 12 weeks, if they are showing signs of turning grey on their shoulder hair at the roots or on the belly hair then you know they won't stay black.

Some yorkies do stay black, even into adulthood. Over the years I have had very few yorkies that stayed black. I have one female that stayed black and I have posted a picture of her. She was around a year old when that picture was taken. She ended up with a cottony coat. She is now 8 years old and she is still black. Her head did clear more. When I shave her, her coat is still black. Most of your silky coated yorkies that change from black to steel blue will look a lot lighter when they are cut down.

I don't think their sex really has anything to do with if they go light or stay dark. It is all in their genetics.

You most likely won't see any black yorkies in the show ring because it is considered a fault here in the USA. In Europe some of the dogs do tend to be darker.