Breaking "Sootie"???
 

What in Yorkie coat terms is, "sootie"? I'm researching again, novice that I am, and I'm confused about this description of "sootie". Without going into great detail, I read an article in the Yorkie Club Magazine in which a noted breeder of Multi-National Champions stated they prefer puppies that break "sootie".


If anyone has a photo(s) of their Yorkie breaking color showing "sootie", would you please share it?

Thanks!

Kathy, Eva, Bella & Doc

Hi, here's an old thread from Yorkietalk that has a link to a photo of a Yorkie with sooty hair in its topknot. From what I understand, "sooty" means that black hairs are mixed in with the lighter colored hairs.

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/yor...or-faults.html

Here's another link to a photo of a dog with sooty hair on the head (black hairs mixed in with the tan). From what I can tell from the literature, this is considered a "fault" according to breed standards, but they often grow out of it. There's also a Coat Color thread on Yorkietalk I'll link to below, too.

JaLa Yorkshire Terriers - JoJo

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/gen...rt-thread.html

Thanks for the info! Great photos, beautiful Yorkies, but I'm not sure that's what I'm looking for. This is one of the references to "sooty" that I read in an article in Yorkie Club Magazine;

“My ideal color on a puppy is one who is starting to break in color, but is still very dark. The head will be sooty, with the tan showing on the head and legs. The adult may still have some thumbprints at 2-3 years of age. The ideal adult color is a steel blue, the color of the inside of a gun barrel. I do believe, however,that varying shades of blue may still be correct as long as the color pattern is correct.”

It refers to a puppy that is starting to break in color ... and the head will be sooty. That's what I need to see a photo of ... a sooty head in a puppy. :smile:

This is the link, very interesting reading;

http://www.yorkyclub.com/arti09aprCopia.html

I actually never knew that had a name.

Hi, from everything I've read, "sooty" means that black hairs are mixed in with lighter hairs. Since the standard head is supposed to be tan in the adult, I assume that sooty means that some dark blue or black hairs are mixed in with the tan, give a "sooty" appearance. I'll post a photo of my Bella below. She is only 17 weeks old, still a puppy, and has what I would consider sooty hair on her head (mixed dark hairs in with the tan on the top). Can someone with more experience chime in and let me know if this is an example of a sooty-headed puppy?

EvaNoel, I just found another thread on Yorkietalk discussing sooty color:

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/gen...lp-please.html

One of the posters describes sooty as being a mixture of black and tan. My Bella doesn't qualify, because she's more of a silver and tan, but I looked at your album photos of Isabella Bleu, and maybe the hair on her head is sooty. They say that the final adult color may not be completely in until 2 years of age, but if I had to describe Isabella Bleu as she looks now as a puppy, I'd call her head color sooty. According to the article you quoted, that's a good thing, right?

Wow. I learn things everyday on this site :)

Maybe some showers will help here. Is it just black mixed in the tan on the head that is "sooty" or is it gray, too?

Mandie still has a gray streak up the middle of her forehead and on her ears.

According to the author of the article, breaking sootie is desirable. I read also that the end result was comparable to 24K Gold, as opposed to 8K Gold. I'm guessing that's a reference to a light gold or a deeper gold?

I need to update my photos, but Bella does have black tips on her hair. She has always had a blue hue to her face so I don't know if that would be sootie or not. I will take a new photo tomorrow and post it. Maybe someone can tell us if that's sootie. ;)

Great! Looking forward to the new photo of your Bella (Isabella Bleu)!

I really don't know. The more I read, the more questions I have. I thought Eva was sootie at one time. The top of her head started growing out a white color and then it went to gray and black, it was striped black and gray. Then it turned platinum, and now it's a solid gold color. But she didn't break sootie, she broke a white color so I don't think that counts.

I'm going to take a photo of little Doc's head tomorrow and post it, he has just started breaking color, but it's totally different than the girls, maybe his is sooty. ;)

I never knew that had a name :) Based on that description, I think my Couver had sootie hair when he was a pup?

Michelle, Couver's coloring as a pup looks exactly like Mandie. How old was he when his head finally turned solid tan/gold?

From the pictures, it looks like he was about 1 1/2 before he lost his 'stripes'.

In this pic, at 1.5... He has his tan coloring, but he has continued to lighten up even more since then. I swear, at 4.5 years old that he is still changing... It's crazy!

Since reading about the color breaking around the Yorkie eyes, that it "tells the tell" as to the color the head will become, I have been fixated on the eyes in all these photos. Looking at Couver's puppy photo it does look like the gold right around his eye is the color his head eventually turned, but it's hard to tell in this photo?

AND I also read that Yorkies continue to lighten with age, some more than others.

Well, we will have to see what Mandie looks like in a few months. I've always accused her of being slow on the color changing. It might take her until 2. ha! :)

Here's my little "Doc", who will not be still for nothing to take a photo! He's 21 weeks old now and has just started breaking color. It looks like a mingle of black, a blue-ish gray?, with his copper colored stripes hanging off to the side.

Does this look sooty? :confused:


Attachment 387177

I'm no expert, but I would classify Doc's coloring as sooty.

One more photo of little Doc. I gave him a treat so he would be still and stop trying to dance with the camera! :D

You can see the color change on his head in this photo;

Attachment 387178

So maybe "sooty" is literally the color of soot, as in burned ashes? Now, I've read so much I've forgotten, why was this "desirable"?

Doc has a silky coat. His coat doesn't tangle, *happy dance* other than an occasional little twist up around his feet, and then combs right out. Could that have anything to do with it?

I can just imagine everyone that has already gone through this is probably getting a good laugh out of this thread! :D

The following is taken from this site: Yankee Yorkies - Color of your Yorkie?


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.

A puppy whose tan has been cleared of all the intermingled black or sooty hairs by four month age, and whose texture is fine and silky, will as an adult have correct colors. The tan of this puppy will probably enrich to a darker shade as an adult.

A puppy approaching adulthood with a thick heavy coat that has pale cream colored legs, sooty head colors, with intermingled black hairs in tan at sides of head, on the ear and ear fringes, may as an adult diminish some of these black and sooty hairs. Its desired blue area may eventually achieve a transition from black to grey but it will never have a clear golden tan, or a dark steel-blue. The coat texture is either a wooly or cottony.

A puppy approaching adulthood that has a black stripe in the center of its head, intermingled into the whiskers, sides of head and up into the top-knot, with ears that are move visibly black than rich dark golden tan, will as an adult have a tan that is never totally cleared. As the years pass some of the black and sooty hairs will diminish, but a check of the pigment under these intermingled areas will show that it is a dark gray which will never lighten. The black on this dog will show a few hairs that will some hears hence go from black to gray, especially at the lower hips and lower shoulders, when the hair is parted down through the upper layers. The coat texture will be woolly or cottony.

A puppy approaching adulthood that has intermingled sooty or black hairs art the sides of its head running up into the top-knot, with a sooty area between the eyes, and who 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 head, ear fringes and between the eyes. There may be some black or sooty hair on top of the muzzle but not in the foreface furnishings. The coat texture is cottony.

A puppy of three to four months that has a very pale gold tan and whose black has gone to light silver-blue, will as an adult be a light silver-blue. A check of this puppy's pigment will show that it is incorrect, as it will be light-gray flesh color. The texture will be silky.

A puppy that shows coarse white hairs intermingled in the blue will usually shed most of these as it approaches adulthood.

A puppy approaching adulthood, (or over a year) that has an inch wide stripe from the hair root out, then blue, with the tip and last inch or two still showing its transition from black to blue, will with age lose the blackish tips on the end as they are worn off or cut off as the coat achieves floor length. The dark stripe will remain although it may be lessen in width. It shows that the pigmentation of the hair is extremely dense at its beginning and does not diminish until it reaches this point. The tan will be clear, and the coat texture silky.

A puppy that at some stage in its puppy hood shows a brownish cast to its blue or black body coat is passing through a stage in which there is a hormone imbalance. This condition will normally right itself, as it is purely a growth stage.

Here is closeup of ZoE's head as a puppy. Her head hair was black, but her tan was just starting to show through.

"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."

Thank you so much, Nancy. I did read that, but then got off on the subject of what exactly does "sooty" look like and then why is it desirable. So this explains the "why" it's desirable. The coat texture will be correct and the coat color will be the Yorkshire Terrier standard, Steel Blue & Gold.

My Doc fits this description. I'll document his progress, and post photos so we can all see how this plays out. Very Interesting. :thumbup:

You're welcome :)

She was around 4-5 months.