I tend to believe whatever AKC or the Yorkshire Terrier Club of America says is standard is standard. Don't they have a "requirement" for what breeds are supposed to look like? With all the "designer" dogs there could be up to a million or so different breeds if people were left to distinguish they're own desires. I've attached a picture of her and you can see the black starting to come in just behind her neck. I've never bred her because of this reason.

Here's a funny story, I go to college and there is a bulletin board where everyone posts things for sale and what not. Someone posted a Chorkie for sale, I wrote back and asked what a Chorkie was. Someone told me it is a cross between a Chihuahua and a Yorkie. I posted back "In my day they called those mutts" LOL needless to say no one said anything else. LMBO

I have a 6 year old female Yorkie that was born black and tan but when she got to be about a year old her black back started to turn the same color as her head. Only now has she started to get a little darker. A very smart lady that I got my boy from said she was called a "running gold" which is not standard at all. But I love her just the same now so it doesn't matter if she was green. :) I saw her mama and daddy and they were black and tan but the black wasn't very pronounced. But like I said she started off black.

Wow, that is a GORGEOUS parti. Is Chaos from the CA lines?

It's interesting how there are so many traditional-colored Yorkies out there who don't meet AKC Yorkie conformational standards, yet no one bothers to say anything rude about them! We like to pick on the minorities, don't we?

BYB comes to mind. Is that rude enough for you? Responsible breeding is talked about here ALL the time.

Ahhhhhhhh.. he is adorable!

It all comes down to how you define "responsible breeding." The biggest key to a responsible breeder is that he/she loves his/her dogs and breeds for health. Everyone's idea of what looks good differs. Whether you like it or not, there are many people whose idea of what looks good differs from AKC standards. For example, you and I might think erect ears look the best, but not everyone thinks like you or I do, like it or not. The looks that people breed for are secondary to a breeder's love for their dogs (which shows through the health and temperament of their lines).

We cannot define a responsible breeder by ONE type of look, simply because everyone's opinion of what looks good in a Yorkie differs. The only universal characteristic of a "responsible breeder," a trait that can actually be applied to all responsible breeders, is a love for their dogs that shows through the health of their lines and the loving homes they find.

I really have a problem...
 

This site states that these colors are defects. And that pups born out of two registered yorkshire terriers is anything but a yorkie. These pups are simply an anomoly of color. Just like when two humans have dark hair on both sides of the family for three, four, maybe even five generations and suddenly they have a blonde haired baby!! Sometimes things can kick back later on.

I'll tell you one thing...
 

There are other colors that are pure bred yorkies. However, there is no reason these dogs should be marketed as "rare" or "exotic." If you do not desire them as part of a breeding program then they should be neutered. Does that make them any less a yorkie NO! If anything I find it fascinating. Color genetics and recessive/dominanace is amazing.

The site discusses genetics and I thought it might be of interest to those who would like to understand more about the genetics. Blue born are not just an anomaly, and have serious problems. As far as humans having a blond baby after 5 generations, if you understood genetics, you would know that this isn't "kicking" in but the blonde gene was a recessive trait, and you need two recessive genes for a recessive trait to exhibit itself. Breed clubs always believe in breeding to standard, but some breeders are puppy salesman, and want to create a marketing niche, so they use the terms rare and unique, it's only rare because it's not standard, and it would be very easy to produce these dogs, if one wanted to.

The off colors are rare because they are rare, by definition of the term. However, I wouldn't trust an off color breeder very much if they used those sly, not to mention cliche, marketing tactics of actually advertising them as rare. It would be a red flag for me.

On a good note, there are many off colored breeders out there who don't advertise their dogs as rare or unique, who really love their dogs, have very healthy lines, and breed for what they honestly think looks the best.

From what I heard, blue borns do have a high risk of having health issues. I haven't heard the same about the partis, golds and chocolates, though.

I really think they are all just beautiful and I would like to hear more about the health issues from those owning a Parti,Gold or white...I cant speak because I dont own one. But as far as Genetics My Great Grandmother was an ALBINO and she was not a defective human..But if people are breeding KNOWING there are health problems then thats another story.

The off colors are rare because they are rare, by definition of the term. However, I wouldn't trust an off color breeder very much if they used those sly, not to mention cliche, marketing tactics of actually advertising them as rare. It would be a red flag for me.

On a good note, there are many off colored breeders out there who don't advertise their dogs as rare or unique, who really love their dogs, have very healthy lines, and breed for what they honestly think looks the best.

From what I heard, blue borns do run high risks of having health issues, but I haven't heard the same for goldens, partis, or chocolates.

Blue borns run a high risk of having health issues, from what I hear. I heard it's quite the opposite for golden's, parti's, and chocolate's. I haven't met a chocolate but all the parti's and golden's I know are very healthy and have no health problems whatsoever.

Scientists are still studying breeding for the recessive gene in lots of different species, and we know that there are problems associated with it, exactly what are all the problems, and how big are the risks no one knows for sure. There is not specific study in Yorkies because the mother club the, YTCA believes that others studies are more important to fund, ones that actually affect all yorkies, including standard yorkies. Breeders who breed for the recessive trait may not wish to make any illnesses known, if it affects their bottom line.