~ Colors Explained ~

Here's an explanation of each of the colors we breed, with several examples.

A carrier means a dog has inherited a recessive gene and doesn't display that color, but can produce that color when bred to another dog (depending on the mate's genes). You can visit this website Dog Coat Colour Genetics for more information about Dog Color Genetics. I've posted very short incomplete descriptions with examples below.

Traditional - Black & Tan (at/at)

I always refer to traditional as black and tan. Even though it's all the at/at gene the AKC lists 4 color options when registering your yorkie: Black & Tan, Black & Gold, Blue & Gold, Blue & Tan. Currently these are the only colors allowed to be shown. As you can see from the pictures sometimes black markings grow out to be a much lighter silver color (I believe from the greying gene). You'll also notice that the tan points seen on young puppies' faces usually grow out to be solid gold/tan. The two pictures on the far left are the same dog (Phoenix).

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Parti (SS)

Parti refers to white markings. It can occur on any color, but I've only pictured traditionals with parti markings here. Some traditionals that only carry the parti gene will have large amounts of white. It's not uncommon for a parti carrier to have white toes, chest n belly, and sometimes a stripe across the back of the neck . The amount of white on a parti can vary from very little to mostly all white (breeders call this extreme white). I strive to produce partis with symmetrical masking.

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Chocolate (bb)

A dog with two copies of the chocolate gene will turn from traditional or golden to a beautiful brown color. They will still genetically be traditional or golden, the chocolate gene only alters their pigment. The chocolate gene turns the nose brown and sometimes lightens the eye color. Their shades range, and it's not uncommon for their coats to lighten as they mature. Please note these are all traditionals (at/at) with the chocolate gene. Golden chocolates look slightly different. I don't have pictures of many, but two puppies are posted at the bottom of the page.

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Chocolate Parti - (bb plus SS)

I often hear chocolate parti referred to as one thing, but they are two different locus. When bred a chocolate parti will always pass one copy of each gene to their offspring, making each puppy automatically a carrier of both genes. This also means that both parents must either be or carry chocolate and parti to produce a chocolate parti. This makes them harder to produce, rarer, and typically more expensive than traditionals, chocolates, or partis.

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Blonde - (ee)

Blonde, although recessive, is essentially dominate over almost all other locii. A blonde can be genetically traditional, golden, brindle but will be all blonde. This makes it impossible to know from looking at a blonde whether it carries other colors. The only way to know what genes it will pass down to its offspring is through DNA color testing, or knowledge of their parents. Blondes can also be parti and chocolate (none are pictured here, I have posted examples at the bottom on the page)

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Golden - Sable (ay/ay)

Golden, more commonly called sable can produce a range of colors from light fawn to dark red. They sometimes look chocolate or almost black at birth, and can lighten to appear nearly ee blonde! It's a dominate gene, so only one parent needs to be golden to produce golden puppies. Offspring of a golden parent WILL NOT automatically be a carrier of the gene (unless a parent carries 2 copies of the gene)! This is a common misconception because parti, chocolate, and blonde are all recessive and if one parent is the above mentioned all their puppies will carry at least one copy of the gene, making them a carrier. A golden will be golden colored even if they carry only one copy of the gene. There are some exceptions to this such as if the dog is blonde or Kb black.

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Trindle - Brindle (Kbr) plus (at/at)

A traditional with brindle tan points. Brindle markings will only show up on tan/sable. So these yorkies may look traditional but a close examination will show their tan points to have brindle markings. If they were golden instead of black and tan you'd be able to see the black brindle striping over their entire bodies.

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Merle - (Mm)

Merle is a dominant gene that creates mottled patches of color. Merle can affect all coat colors. (Only traditionals pictured here) . Golden (Ay) dogs can also be affected by merle, but the patches are much harder to see. If the dog is ee Blonde merle will not be visible at all. Traditional merles are often referred to as "blue merles" I don't like this term since blue is most commonly use to describe dogs with dilution (dd), so I don't personally use it.

Merle can also change eye color and the coloring of the nose and paw pads. The merle gene modifies the dark pigment in the eyes, occasionally changing dark eyes to blue, or only part of the eye blue. Color on paw pads and the nose may also have pink patches.

When two merles are bred together there's a high chance of the puppies having health issues. Double merles (MM - a common term used for dogs that have two copies of the merle gene) often have severe vision or hearing deficiencies. Therefore I don't and won't ever keep any merle males in our home to avoid any chance of producing a double merle puppy.