Is there such a thing as platinum yorkies?
 

I had two people comment about Uni's coloring during a meetup, saying that she was a "platinum" and that they are really rare, and usually only the breeder can tell which pup will turn. They both said breeders often charge more money for them.

I didn't pay extra for Uni b/c of it, she was very reasonably priced for my area. The breeder said no such thing to me. She was black and tan when she was a baby, normal looking. Now she is tan in the face and lighter tan in the feet, and light silver on her back.

If anyone has any info regarding this, I would like to know. I don't know what to reply to people when they comment on how light she is and that they've never seen one with her coloring before. i don't want to declare she is a "platinum" if there technically is no such thing.

thanks!

i do not know the answer to your question but I am very interested because both of my girls are the same color. My little Piper is a little darker then Tinkerbell in the brown department but both of their backs are a light blueish silver. Tinkerbell is Blonde(really white) on her heard and a light tan on her feet where Piper is Tan on her face and legs.

What were they referring to? There are some disreputable breeders that use that terminology, however, anything classified as rare coloring is an advertising ploy.....$$$$$$$$$$

Your Uni is a bit on the light side, but not unusual......

So I take it then that the two people who told me this were misinformed? I've always heard that classifying anything as "rare" for more money was dishonest/disreputable.

I didn't pay extra for her, in fact she was a little less b/c she was the runt! I just don't know how to respond to people when they comment on her color. I'm getting tired of people asking me if I dye her. :(

They really ask if you dye her?! :rolleyes: People are so weird. I never thought you dyed her. When I think of colouring hair, I think of purple or green or something bright and festive.

I think this websites describes some of the problems involved in getting the perfect yorkie coat.
The progressive graying genes as well as the "dilute" gene would both influence how dark the "blue" of the coat is. Even within standard, there is a wide range of what's considered acceptable. See this page for an example, AKC Yorkies, Yorkshire Terriers, Champion Yorkie males. The first dog, CH Blumoon He's So Hot, "Julio" has a much lighter shade of "blue" than the second dog, CH Blumoon Tuff-E-Nuff ROM "Nuff", however both are in the standard range. There are some dogs that are born black-black with out this blue quality that is often described as a gun medal grey, and there are dogs that are born that are lighter towards the more silver range. Breeders also have the problem of females who have given birth tend to lighten up, and some have brought in the black/black dog to help with this, but from what I'm told it hasn't help because the genes responsible are the blue, and the progressive graying genes as well as the dilute.

To give you an example that might help explain this, you need a blue eye gene from each parent before a human child has blue eyes, the shade of blue is determined, by the dilute gene, the eye could be a dark navy blue or a very light blue depending on the dilute genes that were inherited.

I see nothing wrong with you describing your dog as a platinum yorkie, but I do see a breeder who tries to advertise for this and sell it as something rare or special, as being unethical. Because the yorkie coat is so difficult to achieve, you are going to see much variation even among the breeders who breed to standard, but while their offspring may not all be considered standard, they will still be very beautiful. You can tell Uni has plenty of the blue gene, and probably has a silky coat. The black/black yorkies without any blue tend to have cotton coats.

Whenever someone says something like that to you. Just smile and tell them, yep! she's on the light side, but, not rare, that's why I got her as a pet. Usually with an answer like that, it shows that you know more than they do......What is very rare is a female that holds the dark steel blue coloring, heat cycle, after heat cycle. Most always go light.

Breeding for color is something that plagues the breeder/exhibitor. So, many breeds went into the physical make-up of the yorkie, it is impossible to breed phenotype to phenotype and know what the final result will be. As in repeat breeding the same pair; will never give the same litter as the last...

Thanks for all the info Nancy. The "eye shine" link you gave explained a lot. They described Uni's coat exactly, blue cast, silky and scraggly! I've always hoped it would thicken up, but now I know it's in her genes and I'll just have to accept it. (Funny b/c my own hair is very thin and soft, and I've always wanted it thicker, oh well!)

Wow science is crazy, LOL. That is a good response for people though, i will have to remember that!

:sidesplt::sidesplt::sidesplt: bright and festive!

Hmmm...I wonder if my Phoebe's color (black/gold) & coat type (cottony) is what you are referring to above. (see pic below) She came to me as a rescue/adoption after her 2nd c-section and her Breeder had no use for her any longer.

Then, Abby sounds similar to the coloring that OP is referring to. (see pic below) She is a silvery gray nearly everywhere but, has a apricot (that's the color I call it) head. She also was a rescue/adoption as well but, she came to me after her owner (college student) was disappointed she did not remain a "pocket puppy" size...sheesh!

Phoebe and Abby are both adorable, and yes, Phoebe looks more like a black/black, and have heard that they tend to be more cotton, I don't know if this is true in every case, but if it is, it would mean the silk genes and blue genes are somehow linked. By the way, I'm referring to the saddle color, not the head color, and I think some yorkies have the darker head, but still have the silky coat.

It just kills me when someone wants to rehome a yorkie because they have grown too much, and I believe that they should be banned from owning another dog for at least 10 years! They need time to grow-up!

My goddaughter did that which lived in Fl, she got a dog and was told it wouldn't b more than 2 lbs, the poor thing got up to 6 lbs last time I saw it. And one day I came over and the dog was gone , I said where is the dog , oh we gave it away to a friend and they took it to NY , I said why ? Cause she got too big we never wanted a big dog !!! 6 lbs isn't a big dog !!! I told them do me a favor and don't buy any more dogs.
I told her well thanks God your mom didn't give u away when u were overweight !!!
Bark@ulater!!!!
manina,miley:aimeeyork,max:animal36

DOH! That's a GOOD one!!!

What dog doesn't get over 2 lbs? (fully grown that is)
Our yorkies are 4 lbs and 7.5 lbs (pregnant :) I can't imagine them any smaller ;)

These breeders often lie about the age, and sell a much younger dog, so people will think that they will just double in weight, when they are more likely to triple in weight, and then double. :D

Ooooh, that just made my day...good one!:D

Personally, I think "some" should be blackballed from EVER owning any living creature & possibly children, too!

I have one the same color but was told she is a "Peral", when I looked up on the AKC site, I did not see anything that mentions that color.

When you register a dog with AKC there are only 2 or 3 color boxes that are acceptable. It also says, if the color isn't listed go to such and such section. However, the standard identifies those colors that are correct. However, when you read the standard you must realize that it is what is acceptable in the show ring and what every breeder should strive for.

Beautiful
 

My niyah was this same color i love it

I agree. Our first yorkie was a puppy mill 'look what we found in the corner of the barn' type deal. Poor little guy was so tiny. On the way to get him we named him Scrappy - little did we know he would live up to that name so well!!! He stank so bad and was literally too weak to eat! After nearly dying twice right in his mommy's lap (while she was driving all over Maryland yet) she rushed him to the animal hospital fearing the worst... they found he was severely malnourished and had an intestinal infection.. and they took his lifeless little body and hooked him up to IVs... about 4 hours later our phone rang and we saw it was from them and we were afraid to answer it - when does the hospital call you? - I answered and heard this little yapping going on in the background... the lady says "come get him - he REALLY wants to go home BAD!!" - two overland speed records later and we had our little Scrappy home. We kept on top of him with Calorie Gel and his shots and he became the picture of good health - at a whopping 3 pounds. Now he's almost 3 and is 4 pounds of pure mommy-loving spunky attitude!! We went to a breeder for our female and my lovely lady looked them in the eye and for some reason one reached out to her and we brought her home and named her Mistletoe - another name we found matched perfectly! Now almost 2 years later we just found out she's going to have puppies in about 2 weeks - we weren't planning on breeding them until she was about 2.5 years old but I guess they couldn't wait :)

Anyway, as far as the coloring - Scrappy has gained a lot of "blue" both on his forehead as well as his back. Mistletoe only shows a little but we keep her cut very short due to her cotton ball type hair that mattes so easily... we can't wait to see what the puppies will look like as both Scrappy and Mistletoe are so different in hair types and body styles - Scrappy is so tiny and she's a little hoss (at a whopping 7 pounds compared to him) So much attitude and personality confined in such a little body!! :)

"Sir Scrappy Doo" and "Our Little Lady Mistletoe" are about to have at least 4 puppies according to the x-rays and she's doing great! (follows mommy everywhere making Scrappy SO jealous!) oh the drama!!! LOL

Yes Abby's coloring looks just like Uni's. Apricot is a good name for the head color, forgot about that one.

Sometimes I think people are misinformed, or perhaps just make things up. I mean, where do they come up with this stuff? Andy is primarily silver gray and tan. Recently a man remarked to me, "oh, I see you have one of those genuine silver back Yorkies". I just smiled as I knew anything that came out of my mouth would be wrong. There may be a "silver back Yorkie", but I have not heard of it.

I thought I was the only one that had a yorkie with really light coloring. She's got the pale gold on her head and the light blue silver on her back. This summer she actually turned all gold , but I shaved her again (the last of the summer) and there was the blue silver on her back again.

I love light coloring yorkies. I know it's not the standard, but it's my preference.

We have our little Lolo who we got from a kind YT member who had taken her in to rehome her and she is a beautiful dark gold with very little dark hair. We get asked all the time if we color her as her roots are always darker. And the other day in the store I had a lady say to me "oh I have never seen a red yorkie before":p. I just laughed and said they come in all colors, she is not to standard but we love her as much as if she was.

platimum yorkie
 

yes their are and my daughter has one to prove it, he was this color at birth

A light colored yorkie at birth? The only time I've ever read about was the "blue" yorkie but those are of great concern because they're usually very ill. I would love to see pictures of you're daughter's light colored yorkie.

My Miracle
 

Here is my Miracle.

doesn't look like the pic came through. I will try again