What are Chocolate Yorkies?
 

I was wondering if someone could explain to me how choclate yorkies happen? Are they a fluke color? And what do the adults look like? I see some chocolate baby pix in YT nursery and I was curious.

Teresa

They are a fault according to the YTCA and AKC and are disqualified from being shown.

you could do a search in the search tool there are quite a few Chocolate Yorkie owners here. ANy many informative threads about them.

I think any yorkie is really cute :)

They are light brown Yorkies, with a light pink nose and usually hazel eyes.

I gave one to my mom, 3 years ago..His name was Bacon, some one stole him :mad:

Its a double recessive gene in them, a overload of red gold and is a mutation so people SAY.. But I find them PRETTY..

Some people out there will say they are RARE to get extra money but before I had my dog Pepper fixed every litter she had 1. So how rare is that??? I wouldnt buy from a person who says the dog is rare...

I did try doing a search for both "chocolate" and "chocolate yorkie" in the search field, and found the puppy pix I mentioned as well as tons of off topic stuff... a recipe for hot chocolate, the suggestion that chocolate calms anger, etc. How much searching did you have to go through to find the relative threads?

T

Chocolate Yorkies are a definate fault. The Yorkie is a shaded tan toy terrier with a blue saddle. YTCA and AKC agree that they are a fault, shouldnt be bred and cant be shown. There are many opinions on how this color came to be. Some say its a double recessive that results in this color. Some believe that is due to mixed litters many, many years ago.(way before DNA or AKC inspections) The same goes for the other designer color Yorkies. YTCA is diligent about keeping them out of the show ring. As for cute or pretty? That is an individual preference.

There are a few people that breed then here on YT. They may have more info for you.

I suggest you pm Pat at yorkyshop,com.She is an expert.

Actually, the "Chocolate Yorkie" is an overload of red gold and is a mutation of our breed and should not be bred as it is a complete loss of pigment.

What would you like to know LucyNTuckersMom?
You can look on the first page in the Nursery and see my thread "Chocolates" and see the Puppies from birth to 9 weeks. Many people, Just like yourself are interested in the Chocolate Yorkie as you can see by the number of views.
I am not trying to change the Yorkie universe, just put a bit of variety into the picture.

[QUOTE=YorkyDiva;1536228]What would you like to know LucyNTuckersMom?

I was really just interested in what causes the coloring, if they are an accepted color, or a fault, and how they got started. And do 2 chocolate yorkies always make more chocolate yorkies. And are they yorkie personalities in most other ways? Are they a separate breed? Are there any medical considerations to take into account especially? Are they shown competing with regular Yorkies? If the coloration is considered a flaw, are there special chocolate Yorkie shows?

They seem to have an underground following among Yorkie enthusiasts! (But I can see they might also be a little controversial, lol). I think they are a pretty alternative, but lean a little more toward the traditional colors myself. I would never want the standard colors to go away.

I was also interested in seeing photos of the adults, and your beautiful website shows many of these, thanks for posting the link.

T

They are 100% AKC Yorkshire Terriers, In the case of the pair of adults that I have. Yorkie attitude and all.
The color comes from their genes and in the case of the pair I have when bred together all Puppies are Chocolate Yorkies.

They are NOT a separate breed, they are just a color variety. AKC will register them will full registration as Chocolate/tan or liver/tan. They are
not an acceptable show color and are not shown in AKC shows.
There are no health issues related to the coloring that I am aware of.

What do you mean by "underground following"?

I would never want the Standards to go away either. We have a nice set of standards as far as weight and so on. Maybe the color issue, whether it be Parti, Chocolate or others may be reconsidered, who knows.
Hope I answered a few questions, I am by no means an "expert", just have 1 pair of Chocolates. Pat

Chocolate Yorkies are a fault in the show ring, as are black and gold/black and tan. They are the result of mom and dad both carrying a recessive Chocolate gene. If a dog carries one recessive chocolate gene, it looks like a normal yorkie color, but if it has 2 recessive chocolate genes, the black in his coat and skin are diluted to a brown or liver color.

A carrier will pass the chocolate gene onto 50% of his offspring, so if you have a prolific and popular line that's been breeding, there's a lot of pups who are receiving that recessive gene. Remember, you won't know they are carriers, unless they breed to another carrier and produce a "double diluted" chocolate puppy.

To get an idea of how theses recessive came into the gene pool prior to the Yorkie becoming an official breed, please see the attachment. The illustration was drawn in the 1800's showing terrier type dogs at play and depicts the Skye Terrier. the Scotch Terrier, the English Smooth Terrier, the Crossed Scotch Terrier, the Dandie Dinmont and the Bull Terrier. The Bull terrier and the crossed Scotch terrier are Parti colored. One of the early foundation dogs of our breed "Swift's Old Crab" was a crossed scotch terrier. He showed the correct blue and tan coloring but who knows what recessive genes he harbored (maybe he was a descendant of the parti colored crossed scotch terrier in the drawing?)

Just some things to ponder.

Complete loss of pigment would be albino not chocolate. Chocolate has pigmented skin (brown/liver colored).

It is not a mutation, it's simple genetics caused by a double dose of recessive genes.