Question about colors..
 

Okay..when we got Bentely he was very dark...then he started to turn a little gray under his coat ..then the gray kept growing out... Well i got his hair cut on sunday and now he is like almost completely gray with a few black spots starting to come in.. and his feet are face are brown..I was just wondering if this is normal. I've never seen a dog change colors so much as Bentley!!!

I couldn't help because I'm actually having the same thing happen with Coco. Except only the top of Coco's head is turning white/grey. Everywhere else she has the same coloring but the top of her head has a lot of white and grey. Is this bad?

My baby Piper is 5 months old today and he's changing colors too, on his head and face. This is normal as you can see from others pics on here of when their babies were little compared to what they look like now when they're older. I like to think of them as little mood rings...you never know what color they'll be next ;)

haha that's the truth!! i always wonder what color he will start to turn next week... i heard they have puppy coats and adult coats?? i thought maybe that's why he is changing colors...Maybe he is getting his adult coat?? not sure tho.

they can change colors up to three yaers............. tobyis a dark grey right now, every time i cut him down he gets lighter :D

All of those changes are normal for Yorkies. Many people think the white "roots" are desirable! :)

i'll have to take some pics later to show you guys

Both of my dogs have turned the light gray also and they are only 6 and 7 months old.

There is a book and the only one out there that I know of that covers all these
changes. It has a whole chapter on "breaking patterns". I'm sure you can get
it on Amazon.com. The Complete Yorkshire terrier by Joan B. Gordon and Janet
E. Bennett
It's much too involved to go into on this site. One thing I know is the ears are the
last to clear so if you have a pup at a young age with a nice quality gold already on the ears, you have a good chance of that head clearing completely to a nice rich gold
but there are other thing to it also. I highly recommend this book.

okay...here are some pics ..1st one is him as a puppy and i just took the last 2! look at the difference!

Here is Esme and her color change! She is only 9 months and she looks completely different from when she was a puppy. I am starting to see some white mixed with the black on her back now too! You just never know what you're going to get with yorkies!

Bruce's head has completely changes color, it was dark when he was littler now it is pure gold. His body looks like it is in the process of seriously changing from black to silver/blue as well, all the roots are very light...I cannot wait to see how he turns out!

Wow! That is a big change...:) I have noticed that the top of Muffin's head is turning white too. She is about 14 weeks now so it will be interesting to see what colors show up next. Also, the hair on her ears are lined all around with a gold color too.

Wow he has really gotten light huh. well he is handsome regardless. are you guys still thinking about studding him when he gets older?

I'm looking at the pictures and I think YorkyRose or Sylvan could tell you better but
the body is supposed to be silver blue which by the way is very hard to come by
and to me it looks like that is exactly what it is going to be. I've got the book out and
it says here : A puppy of around four months, that has changed the color on its head
from black to gray to a very pale sooty color, will as an adult enrich all the tan areas to a clear golden tan. The blue will follow the correct manner of transition from black to blue starting to do so around six months. The coat texture will be the correct
silky type. " It looks like your pup has a silk coat. Do you know anything about
it's pedigree?? You want a silk coat so in a new pup you don't look for a thick
coat because most are cottony you look for the ones that are alittle more on the
thin side. As they get older a silk coat is cool to the touch. Also here it says "A
puppy reaching adulthood that has intermingled sooty or black hairs at the sides of its head running up into the top-knot, with a sooty area between the eyes and whose ears are a sooty tan, will have a gray body coat by around three years. The gray
will be lacking a blue hue. The tan will always have some intermingled sooty hairs especially at sides of the head, ear fringes and between the eyes. The coat in
texture is cottony." There are pages and pages here that are so interesting but
I have to call it a night. I would send one of the people I mentioned a personal
post and see what they can tell you. Hope this helps.

Changing colors for a Yorkie is perfectly normal .

It looks like her head is clearing nicely. As far as the white coming into the coat
at 9 mos, I'm not sure but I will look some more in this book tomorrow for anything
that might help. Is the body black other than belly, bib, legs?? Anyway the
previous pup that had pictures and your pup are both darling and there will be alot
of surprises. Oh and another surprise when you breed a female Roberta told me
that, that can change the pigment of the coat...............so there we go again.

Joan,
Thanks so much for this info, very interesting. I knew yorkies change colors but I like the explantion you got from the book. :)

I see what you mean, it's right up in the top-knot. A silk coat in a yorkie is a
recessive gene and that is so hard to breed to the standard and of course people
want it, it's beautiful and it's so so much easier to take care of. I love the picture
of the two of them and I'm sure the lighter of the two has a silk coat ( you can
almost see it reflect the light in the photo) How old is that yorkie?? Alot have
had the perfect color and coat and it starts changing as they get older. It is still
very very nice.

Maxwell was dark balck when I got him at almost 16 months old now there is hardly any black on him his gray is wonderful. I've had people ask when they see a picture if he is a blue gray that is the way he looks in a photo. His face stayed a blond almost a strawberry red/blond.

Crystalsmom
Are you referring to the silver looking yorkie in the pic that has 2 yorkies side by side........if so that is Skittles. And I have always thought her coat to be cotton like, or least it use to mat easily. Nowadays it doesnt seem to, but then again I had shaved her belly so she doesnt have as much hair. I want the next yorkie to be more of what the standard is suppose to be, I like the yorkies I see with that different color streak thru the center of their topknot! Oh and Skittles is 2yr old (june 15)

DaniBelle

YT has me out of bed
 

I was reading in bed from Joan Gordan book and I want to let you know
it's the BACK of the ear that is the last to clear and as a pup if it should be
gold it excites many.

Also it says that if a puppy of about four weeks of age shows gold hairs on the top of its head when the black hairs are parted, will as an adult have a clear golden tan. If the coat texture is silky, the blue will have no
intermingled colors.

Also as I said: A puppy whose coat appears sparse or thin will, as an adult, have a thick, long coat of the correct fine silky, glossy texture. This coat's growth is like a human's hair, in that it is born with very little but by adulthood has an abundance of hair, the quantity having doubled and redoubled all during pupyhood. Both colors will be totally clear. Lots
of breeders will say oh my pups have beautiful thick coats ( many are
not aware themselves) and Joan Gordon can give you some really good
advise. If you have seen Wildweir way back in your pedigrees, thats her.

Also there is another thread up with good advise and they have the
name of a site that has some info from Joan Gordon's book also.
Also Skittles Mom I was really surprised that skittles coat is not silk. Pictures
sometimes can be deceiving- in the picture, it just shines like a silk coat. Also I didn't mention that people will say
some lines are different but this general info holds pretty true. I bet you
could get this book at your library and if they don't have it ask if they
could get it , they are usually good about that.

Wow--he has beautiful coloring... :)

There will be lots of changes to come.

He is 6 months. Thanks crystalsmom! i'm gonna have to buy that book!! seems like it's something i should have!!

I couldn't see anything that directly mentioned a 9 mo. old but since lighter hairs are
showing up, it will lighten the black. Go to the other thread ,they bumped there's up,
and maybe you can look at the pictures at different stages of these color changes
and see something that will help you. Joan Gordon's book is THEE best.

It just amazes me to see how they change colors. All the yorkie furbabies are beautiful. Thanks for the head up on the book, I am going to look for it tomorrow. My three have different coast. Maddie is a silk for sure, Rudy will be two in Nov, and his hair is still changing, but I think he has a cotton coat, and Polly is only 5 months, but I think she is going to have a silk coat.

Kelz, my Coty did exactly what your baby is doing now and he is gorgeous, but some people didn't think that it was the same dog! :)