Parti Gene
 

I had someone tell me today that their puppies were more desired because they carried the PARTI gene? Can anyone tell me what that is??

Well, that all depends on who you ask I guess.

The YTCA and AKC currently do not allow Parti-colored yorkshire terriers to be shown. AKC will register them, but they are a disqualification if someone tried to show one. Those breeders that follow the YTCA's rules and show/breed standard yorkies would say that any yorkie carrying a parti gene would be very undesirable as most do not want to breed for that color since they can not be shown.

But if you ask someone that purposely breeds for partis, then they would want to buy a yorkie carrying that gene. So to them, those puppies would be more desireable.

The Biewers are a parti-yorkie that orginated in Germany. They have their own clubs and standard and are being shown as their own breed in international shows

But what is a parti gene lol?

That is not true. This is what the Yorkshire Terrier Club has to say about "parti" Yorkies:

Parti-Color Yorkshire Terriers?

Do not be fooled into buying one of these dogs.

Now that Designer Dogs are the rage, the “new” Parti-Color Yorkie is certain to draw attention. While we have had problems in the past with “rare gold” Yorkshire Terriers being advertised, the parti-color is a new one! While some breeds have an occasional mismark and some breeds do have a gene for a white dog, we do not. Had there been a problem with white markings, piebald dogs, or white dogs, it would have been addressed in our Standard. Due to unscrupulous breeders advertising parti-colored Yorkshire Terriers at premium prices, our members voted unanimously at our annual meeting to add a disqualification for these and other off colored dogs.

The Yorkshire Terrier is a tan dog with a blue saddle. The “rare gold” Yorkie is actually a dog that appears as such due to an improper saddle pattern. Show breeders have seen this and commonly call it running gold. When the dog is cut down, you can see that the blue saddle does not come down far enough. The Yorkshire Terrier blue saddle extends lower than some of the other black and tan terriers extending to the elbow and also to the hock on the rear leg. Gold hairs can occur in the blue and black or blue hairs can appear in the gold. These faults are addressed in the Yorkshire Terrier Standard. These dogs have serious faults and they too should not be sold as "rare" but placed in loving homes as they are very incorrect. Yorkies do not have white markings…never have. A small white strip is sometimes seen on the chest of newborns but this always turns to tan within a few weeks. The AKC registration form for Yorkshire Terriers allows for four choices: blue and tan, blue and gold, black and tan, black and gold. There is no provision for markings.

A brief history of the development of the Yorkshire Terrier will show that the dog was developed in the 1800’s. In England, the Waterside Terrier was often crossed with the old English terrier, a silky coated black and tan or blue and tan terrier weighing around five pounds. When crafters from Scotland came into England, they brought several “Scotch“terriers, among them the Paisley and the Clydesdale. The Paisley was a small silky coated dog in various shades of blue. The Clydesdale was a blue and tan dog with the exact color pattern as the Yorkie of today. All of these original breeds were grizzle, tan, blue, blue and tan, or black and tan. No white dog or dogs with white markings were involved in the process of developing the breed. The first Yorkshire Terriers were entered at shows as Broken Haired Scotch and Yorkshire Terriers. In the early days, dog classes were often divided by size, under five pounds and over five pounds; however, there was never a class for colors other than the blue and tan we see today. The color pattern and coat texture has bred true and has been dominate enough that the Silky Terrier evolved by crossing the Yorkshire Terrier and the Australian Terrier with basically the same coat of the of the Yorkie.

http://www.ytca.org/faq.html

The parti-gene is actually a Piebald gene. It produces a tri-colored yorkie...white, black/blue, and gold.

There's a debate on where the gene came from in the breed...no one really has concrete evidence either way. Some feel that it naturally occured in the breed and parti pups were born to purebred yorkshire terriers while other feel another breed must have been used years ago to introduce the parti gene. I'd love to see unbiased research done on it and to know once and for all how it originated.

I can tell you one thing...a lot of bad breeders sell "parti yorkies" that are mixes. I see a lot of Parti yorkies on websites like puppyfind that look nothing like yorkies. There are parti breeders though that know their dogs' pedigrees and the lines they originated from...these dogs are purebred yorkies (unless it is true that another breed was introduced way back in the lines unknowingly).

TY for filling me in. I appreciate it. I was just very curious. I myself would never purchase any puppy from someone who flaunts the fact that his/her pups are not neccesarily of the standard. But that's just my opinion. I just wasn't sure what the heck it was exactly. Thanks so much again!

[quote=Ladymom;1774536]
It's all a matter of opinion. Black and gold adult yorkies are also off colored, yet many breeders (show and hobby) will breed this color to enhance the gold/tan coloring in their Blue and Tan dogs.

Attached is an example of how recessive genes came to be in our yorkies. This is a breed that began by dogs of unknown heritage and dogs with out pedigrees. A Group of Terriers from the 19th century, illustration by DJ Watkins - Pitchford, from the Book of Field Sports printed in 1860. Drawing depicts The Skye Terrier. The Scotch Terrier, The English Smooth Terrier, The Crossed Scotch Terrier, The Dandie Dinmont and The Bull Terrier. As noted in the above article dogs like these were some of the early foundation stock of the Yorkshire Terrier. Please see that 2 of the dogs were parti colored in this drawing.

"Swift's Old Crab" one of the foundation dogs in our breed was a Crossed Scotch Terrier ... he was the correct color (according to the YTCA) but who knows, he may have be the full sibling to the parti colored cross scotch terrier in the picture! ;-) Just because a dog looked blue and tan, doesn't mean that they don't carry recessive genes for other colors too.

Gosh, this sounds a lot like myself when I first set my dreams of breeding Yorkies into motion. I even had a desire to one day show. However, I was willing to set those aside because I fell so in love with the parti color. You will find passion on each side of the table....I love all Yorkies, I just happen to sit on the wild n crazy parti girl side of the table. :p

Tammy

Many novice breeders have the misconception that the white spot on the chest of a Yorkie puppy means it has the parti gene. The white spot on the chest is common but should not be larger than 1 inch across or it would be considered a disqualification.

my Smokey is half standard and half biewer....his dad (full biewer)'s blood line is traced all the way back to the first biewers....and their parents were indeed standard yorkies......i even was able to find grand--------parents all the way back to 1947....it was so cool.....so his daddy is as pure as it gets....he is steel blue bodied with biewer colorings on his face, legs and tail....they say they are picked over a standard most times.....they can not be showed though....but they make beautiful coats....very thick and soft....we love it......:animal36 :animal-pa
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www.dogster.com/683315

proud member of the Spoiled Rotten Club:) :yorkietal

Tammy,
You are so right. I too first fell in love with the "traditional" blue and gold yorkie. Heck...what's not too love about this beautiful breed?
But the moment I saw that yorkie face with the painted colors...I too was hooked.

So..I too am a wild & crazy child, as there will always be a "Parti" at my house. :D

Oh please don't missunderstand and me and think of me as rude. I only meant that I don't purchase from people who throw how rare their pups are in my face and raise the dollar signs if it's something that is a fault. Sorry for the missunderstanding. I hope I didn't come off with that sounding snotty. :D

I didn't think that you sounded "snotty" at all...I didn't take your words this way. I understand what you are saying. Ok, at the risk of being jumped on....LOL! I do consider the parti color 'rare'. :eek: Did I really just write that?! :p However, that's a debate that I don't want to venture into this morning.

Tammy

"Rare" as I always understood the definition is something that does not happen very often or something that is not of frequent existance. So yes, the parti gene is "rare." You are right.

However, dogs being mass produced and marketed as "rare" for high $$$$ amounts is WRONG! Those are the types of people you need to steer clear of and why the off color dogs carry such a negative connotation.

Tammy i think your doggies are beautiful, i love your avatar, i aww... every time i see it...

i think my next pup will be a Biewer... but that won't be for a long time :p