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Originally Posted by FlDebra This is why I think as more understand the genetics of canine colors, they will not think that parti-Yorkies are a natural occurance in the breed but a mix of something else in the woodpile.
I doubt the AKC will ever allow them to be shown. There is no way to scientifically prove they are pure Yorkies as long as they carry a piebald gene. Eventually they will hire a genetics expert to document they are not pure Yorkies. |
I contacted Dr. Phillip Sponenberg, DVM, PhD, Professor of Pathology and Genetics, Department of Biomedical Sciences Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine yesterday. Dr. Sponenberg's field of color genetic expertise and study are in the larger breed animals (I have several of his books on equine color genetics) but I thought I'd get his opinion on where the parti gene may have come from in our Yorkies, stating some feel that it came from the Maltese blood. Here's what he said:
"Recessive genes like this could be lurking in many breeds for years, so it does not necessarily have to come from the Maltese." He continues to say, "most white breeds have extensive spotting and then very pale ?tan? areas. So, when they are pups sometimes you can see faint spots that become paler (whiter) at maturity. If this is the case, (with the Maltese) then the pale tan/white pretty much removes much chance for noticing a spotted Maltese. The crossbreds (Maltese x yorkie pups) with the white chest and paw tips are likely heterozygous for spotting genes. Crossing those back to each other would sort it out pretty quickly (producing parti colored dogs).
So his opinion is that some spotted dog (maltese or other) introduced the parti gene but that this gene may have remained hidden (or kept secret) for many years. He also notes that carriers of the spotting gene are the pups with white chests and/or white paw tips. By crossing two solid colored pups together who have the white markings, they will produce full parti colored dogs (if they both carry the gene, approximately 25% of the pups will be full parti).
As "FlDebra" noted: "There is no way to scientifically prove they are pure Yorkies" ... There is no scientific way to prove that any of our yorkies are pure and there are no guarantees that 100 years ago, 50 years ago or 10 years ago, the blood of another breed wasn't introduced intentionally, accidentally or unknowingly into our bloodlines. Until it's required for everyone to DNA their dogs (which will help keep people honest) there is no guarantee that outside blood is not being introduced.
Just because a yorkie looks pure, doesn't mean it is. If a Parti yorkie comes from the same bloodlines as a traditional colored yorkie, why would the Parti dog
not be pure but the traditional one is pure? Same breeding, same bloodlines same genes, only one is traditional colored and one is not.
Food for thought: If you see a line of traditional colored yorkies who seem to produce a lot of white chested pups (25% of the time) be cautious when breeding pups together who were born with these large splashes of white on their chests and/or white paws. They could be carriers of the recessive parti gene and by breeding 2 dogs together who displayed white chests, you might be accidentally surprised one day, when you get your own Parti colored dog. I do know, that this is how several of the parti lines today were uncovered.