Is silver an acceptable color???
 

My dog is beginning to show a lot of silver.

And - I see a lot of Yorkies with a great deal of silver throughout their body.

However - from what I have read --this does not meet the Yorkie standard.

Some of these silver Yorkies are beautiful - but are they wonderful, lovely, little pets that should not be bred?

Thanks - Carol Jean

Isn't your yorkie still quite young? Usually the silver will give way to the dark steel gray which you will eventually see at the root line.

My personal opion is they shouldnt be. Standard colors from what i can find are blue/gold, blue/tan , black /gold black/tan. and the blue is not bluish silver it is a dark blue like if you put a black watch band up beside the coat the coat will look blue. cobalt blue color.

This should make things clear:

Colors
Puppies are born black and tan and are normally darker in body color, showing an intermingling of black hair in the tan until they are matured. Color of hair on body and richness of tan on head and legs are of prime importance in adult dogs, to which the following color requirements apply:

Blue: Is a dark steel-blue, not a silver-blue and not mingled with fawn, bronzy or black hairs.

Tan: All tan hair is darker at the roots than in the middle, shading to still lighter tan at the tips. There should be no sooty or black hair intermingled with any of the tan.

Color on Body
The blue extends over the body from back of neck to root of tail. Hair on tail is a darker blue, especially at end of tail.

Headfall
A rich golden tan, deeper in color at sides of head, at ear roots and on the muzzle, with ears a deep rich tan. Tan color should not extend down on back of neck.

Chest and Legs
A bright, rich tan, not extending above the elbow on the forelegs nor above the stifle on the hind legs.

http://www.akc.org/breeds/yorkshire_terrier/index.cfm

tytytytyty Yorkieusa, So many people from In.and Ky. are telling that the silverblue is the blue color. i get so sick of hearing that.

Shame, Shame- go back and look at some of the great yorkies that are in the background of our breed. You will find that there are a lot who would have the "silver as some of you are calling it" . The debate in yorkies has always beed the hue.

Some will call a steel blue "black" Some will call a steel blue" a white color"
There will always be a debate. Many of you will be suprised at the dogs in your background that have a lighter blue. As Gordon Bennet state in their book" defining color is based on the eyes of the beholder" Very true words.
We used to say gun barrel blue- still left it up to us to make the determination.

Those that have - Northshire, Choby- Lordean in your backgrounds have a lighter blue some Wildweir was lighter. Mayfair, Gaitmoor, Chelsea Nimar, and Judabobs are some of the old that were darker.

I challenge all of you to do your research and learn what is behind your dogs background. You will be suprised at what you find.

Hi Wnalegria,
how are you feeling these days? Hope you have been feeling better. I would like to take your challange but where do i start. You have spoken with me before im sure you remeber. I would like to research my dogs just to learn more but where do you even start. I do have their pedigrees. do we start there? My female is in between that silver and dark steal blue. shes not totally silver but shes not that dark steal blue. My male is or looks black I would say his color is way closer to the standard.Any way i really want to take on this challange.Ive had trouble finding anything out about my pups besides what their pedigree said. :)

Well I will help you to get started- Can you email me your pedigree on you boy or girl. With that we can open a new thread and show what we are learning and finding. This way we won't take this thread over and be rude.

How does this sound? Sounds like a fun project. This will also help others who want to do this by giving them ideas on where to find information. And if you have these dogs in your babies background will help give you some of the history.


Kathy

Kathy you are very helpful.
And yes, it is hard to find pictures of dogs back in a pedigree if they do not come from a well know kennel/breeder (and this can be hard at times because breeders can change their type of yorkies during time (if they are not satisfied with the look they are getting - I have heard of them getting rid of what they have and starting over. You still have the same kennel name but the type of yorkie has changed.) or they do not have their championship.

SweetyBlue site is a great place to look first and then you can do a search just on the Internet for the dog. If you have only Example: "My Angel II" for the dogs name - you'll never find anything. This is one reason why some people cannot find out anything about their dogs background.

Yes, I have always heard and used the inside of a gun barrel blue - not silver and not black. Yes, you do have lighter and darker colors and some are champions - championships are not just based on color but bone structure and more.

There are also harmones involved here too. Have you ever noticed how a female will get lighter or even a streak of silver band down her side after having a litter? Each time she has a litter - she is a bit lighter.
Also a male can get lighter as he ages. My Bubba use to be a beautiful dark blue and now looks silver (unless I give him a puppy cut then you is darker - since the root hairs are darker), but he is 11 years old now. And a trauma can even lighten their coats. I have not seen this often, but have heard of it happening.
T.

You said a mouthful.

The dogs will become lighter with age. Cut them down and they are dark again. They will get that wonderful dark racing stripe along the spine with age and breeding. They can get the gold dust or glitter with age. So many different things with this wonderful breed.

In many a breeding program you will find a combination of the lighter blue and the darker blue. Breed them too light and you have a problem breed them to dark and you have a problem. Knowing the correct combination for your program is the key. That is where it is helpful to find out as much as you can about the old bones in the dogs background. The coat should have a shimmer, luster to it that catches the eye and light. If you don't have that shimmer like silk or satin more then likey you have a dog that does not have correct coat. Remeber a yorkie can be a old as two to three before they have gone through this butterfly metamorphis. I was always told back when I started in the 70's that color and texture go hand in hand.

How true Kathy.
I have noticed that the ones that change older are your darker ones. We always check their shoulder undercoat by the forearms to see if they were breaking then correctly - at 4-6 months of age.
My hubby says its like a really good drink - mixing one smitchen too far in either directions and it is not as good. I guess that is why really good bar tenders get paid well. LOL And you can say that too for really good cooks - chefs. LOL :D
T.

Several of my friends have silver Yorkies .

Look in the ymany yorkie books, Yes in the statements made it does say not Silver blue, but Steel blue, Then look at the pictures many of these champions dogs are indeed silver in color!! Go figure!!

I agree with you .

This sounds very interesting, I can't wait until you guys start a new thread! :p