What is the difference????
 

Ok, my sister ran across two Yorkie's. She was told that one was Yorkie and the other was a Silky. What is the difference? She called me and was telling me about it and asked if I knew of these. I just told her I would ask the smart people on YT :) There was also a $1000.00 price difference in them.
It just made us both curious.

A Yorkshire Terrier and a Silky Terrier are two seperate breeds of dogs, although they look very similar.

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

Silkys are larger than yorkies, have larger ears, and a longer muzzle. A lot of yorkies look like silkys though because of pet-quality breeding. Also, there has been interbreeding of yorkies and silkys because a lot of people don't know the difference.

Besides them being two different breeds here are the breed specs..from the Dogs In Canada website:

Silky Terrier:

Origin: Primarily a blend of the Australian and Yorkshire Terriers, the Silky was developed in Australia in the early 1900s. Differing opinions led to two separate standards being drawn up Ð one in Sydney and the other in Victoria. In the first instance, the breed was known as the Sydney Silky Terrier and in the latter it was called the Victorian Silky. In 1959, the Australian National Kennel Council adopted a single standard and renamed the breed as the Australian Silky Terrier. The breedÕs sole purpose has been to serve as an attractive and delightful household pet.
Temperament: Quick, friendly, inquisitive and responsive, the Silky retains the keenly alert air of the terrier. His joy of life makes him an ideal companion for any size accommodation.
Activity Level: Neither as active as a terrier nor needing as much care as the more diminutive Toy breeds, the Silky is a happy medium. His exercise needs are easily met.
Height/Weight: The Silky measure from 9-10 in (23-25 cm) at the shoulder and weighs from 8-10 lb (3.5-4.5 kg).
Coat: It is the lustrous coat that gives the breed its name. Fine in texture, the flat-lying coat is glossy and silky. The body coat ranges from 5-6 in (13-15 cm) in length and the Silky wears a rather profuse topknot on the top of the head.
Colour: The Silky is blue in colour with tan markings.
Grooming: Daily brushing of the fine coat is highly recommended.

Yorkshire Terrier:

Origin: A far cry from the diminutive glamorous breed of today, early Yorkshire Terriers were developed in the north of England in the mid-19th century for the job of dispatching rats in the coal pits and cotton mills. They were also featured combatants in rat-killing contests. But in those days, the breed was roughly twice the size of todayÕs Yorkies. ItÕs believed the Dandie Dinmont, Black and Tan and Skye Terriers were interbred to produce the original Yorkie. Then a cross to a Maltese reduced the breed in size. About that time, it began to be regarded as a Toy breed rather than a terrier; in 1886 it was given the breed name of Yorkshire Terrier. Breeding the attractive little Yorkies became a cottage industry in Yorkshire when the breed caught the fancy of wealthy ladies. The Yorkie has gone on to become one of the most popular Toy breeds.
Temperament: Even though the Yorkshire Terrier is often a very pampered pet, it is still loaded with spirit and displays its terrier heritage. It does make an alert watchdog.
Activity Level: Playful, bouncy and inquisitive, the Yorkie is an active dog that really doesnÕt know or care how small he might be. Its exercise needs are minimal, making it a good choice for stay-at-homes or couch potatoes. This is not a breed for small children.
Height/Weight: The dainty dogs should not exceed 7 lb (3 kg) in weight.
Coat: The long body coat is glossy, fine, silky and straight. Hair on the muzzle is very long.
Colour: The coat is steel-blue in colour, with tan head and legs. Pups are born almost black but their coats clear to blue by a year of age.
Grooming: Daily brushing is essential.

Hope this helps :)

This stuff is confusing. She was trying to tell me that Winstin looks like a Silky. I hope she was kidding. I would love him anyway but seriously, my heart is on the Yorkie's. Although the vet did tell me he was a Yorkie. What am I to think?

Yes besides being 2 totally different breeds they do look similar in coat colors but here are a few pics of the difference

1-3 a sily
#4 yorkie

Thanks you guys. I really appreciate all the info. She just thought Winstins Hair color so far (at three months) and his size and how long his muzzle is were saying he is not Yorkie. I think he is Yorkie. His head on top is looking really silver, and it seems to be spreading down. The thing is some of it is black on the end. I know they change color but is that how they do?

Yup! They break the the silver first and then it should break tan

Also does anyone have pics of what the puppies look like? This really has my curiosity going. I looked at the site MyFairLacy posted but did not see pup pics. Maybe I missed them

So that head hair changes again?

Yes it does. here are a few pics of silky puppies i will admit they do look like yorkies. I was in a petstore and they had a silky pup for sale and i really could not tell the differance in the young puppy from a yorkie.

Also..yorkies are 7lbs or less and Silky's are 8-10lbs..thats breed standard of course and not all yorkies are under 7lbs and Im sure not all Silky's are 8-10 pounds...so Im not really that helpful after all...but breed standard wise Silky's are bigger..

Dawn

Thank You!! I really do not think they look like Winstin at all. But, they are cute. She was in a pet store in Columbus. They did tell her they really were Yorkies. They probably were but the one was probably not a Silky Terrier at all. I cannot believe the difference in price. 1500.00 for one and 2500.00 for the other. Glad she just stopped for fun. She actually has a Jack Russell pup and thats enough for now.

Thats the other thing that made her think about my boy. The vet told me he could hit 10 pounds. But he will be four months October 10 and as of Friday is only at 3.8

It's really hard to tell some yorkies from silkys sometimes. There are a lot of bigger yorkies, and a lot of yorkies have longer muzzles and bigger ears. Yorkies also have round eyes while silkys have more almond-shaped eyes.