The classic look of a Yorkshire Terrier has always been the black (blue) and tan appearance. However, there’s a newer type of Yorkie that has a slightly different look.
What is a Parti Yorkie? A Parti Yorkie is usually any Yorkshire terrier with white color combined with black (blue) and tan although uncommonly the black is replaced with chocolate or gold. This is the same dog, just a slightly different look.
What Are The Different Color Variations?
There are also other different color combinations that can occur in Parti Yorkies such as Chocolate Parti or Golden Parti Yorkies for example. In this sense Chocolate Parti Yorkie will be colored in chocolate, tan and white.
Also, there are more colors appearing for Yorkshire terriers. There is for example White and Black Yorkie that does not have any tan color.
How Did The Parti Color Come About In Yorkies?
There are genes that determine the coat color of the dogs. These genes are responsible for producing different forms of melanin pigments like eumelanin which determine the dark (black color) and phaeomelanin that determine the brown color.
Also, there are other genes that modify these pigments and actually, they can dilute the eumelanin to varying degrees, and that’s how we can have liver brown, tan, silver, and other coat colors. In traditional Yorkshire terrier, the gene that leads to the Parti coloring of the coat stays recessive.
In order to have a Parti color puppy in the litter, both of the parents must carry this recessive gene. That’s the only way that Parti Yorkie could be born.
How Does A Yorkie Breeder Produce The Parti Colors?
Even if the Yorkies did not look like Parti Yorkies, they could have harbored this gene into their DNA. So when you get this recessive Parti gene now, no one could tell if the dog’s great grandmother or great grandfather was or not parti-colored.
Can traditional Yorkies have parti-color offspring? The answer is Yes. Parti colored puppies can appear even if the parents are standard color Yorkshire terriers.
How?
There are some Yorkies with traditional coloring which are carriers of the Parti Yorkie gene. This gene is recessive which means that it doesn’t express and stays hidden. These dogs that are carriers of the Parti gene can’t be recognized because they do not have “off standard” or white coloring.
It is important to understand that should only one of the parents possess the Parti gene, then the litter will not have any parti-colored puppies.
In order to get an offspring that contains a Parti Yorkie puppies, you need to breed two dogs carrying the Parti gene.
When you get two such dogs, 25% of the offspring will have traditional Yorkie colors, 50% of the offspring will also have traditional colors, but the puppies will carry this parti gene (that will stay recessive), and only 25% of the offspring will be Parti colored Yorkie puppies.
But should there be only one parent with the Parti gene, then it might pass that gene to part of their offspring but these puppies will only be carriers and won’t possess the marks of a Parti Yorkies.
Are Parti Yorkies Purebred?
This is very common and at the same time a very controversial question.
In general, yes! They are purebred. If we take what we already said above, that Parti Yorkie puppies are born when both of the parents carry the recessive Parti gene, so yes they are purebred Yorkies.
But please note that not every “Yorkie” that is advertised on the internet as Parti Yorkie is purebred. Unfortunately, the high demand for Parti Yorkies leads to the emergence of untrustworthy breeders, who cross breed Yorkies with other breeds (Maltese most often), only to produce puppies that also have white color so they can advertise and sell them as Parti Yorkies.
So if you are looking to bring home a Parti colored puppy, do your research and choose the breeder carefully!
Why Is This A Controversial Topic?
There are so many debates about Parti Yorkies and the issue if they are even true Yorkshire Terriers. There are many breeders who refuse to admit that there is even a white gene existing in the Yorkies.
They usually say that this is nothing else but ‘behind the kennel bred’ mutt, and they claim that there is no breeder who has been showing and breeding Yorkies for more than thirty years that has ever produced a Parti Yorkie. But what is right and what is wrong is almost impossible to say without documents that prove it.
If we talk about the Yorkie history, when the breed was developed it is more likely that something could have happened then because records and selected breeding were not kept so close and for sure there were a few “occasional” pregnancies in their canines.
It is also known from history that originally the breed was with broken hair and short, coarser coats. That is why, in order to enhance the length and the texture of the dog’s coat, the Maltese was bred to the Yorkie Terrier. From what was documented back then, we also know that the foundation of the breed was with dogs with unknown heritage and cross-bred dogs.
Where Did Parti Yorkies First Become To Be Known?
The two most famous lines for these dogs are Nikko’s line and the California line. Of course that these are not the only ones but Nikko’s line is the one that is the most recognized, the one that is talked about, the most well known for producing Parti colored Yorkies in the USA.
The line started in the 1980s when a show breeder refused to destroy the tri-colored puppies, but instead, he sold them even though they were not registered. Nikko’s Kennels started in 1969 and then years after that, 17 Yorkshire Terriers of that line have won titles.
Some of the most famous dogs of that line are CH. Nikko’s Rolls Royce Corniche and Ashley Mickey Spillane (was the first Parti). So after Ashley, which is after 1984, where the gene actually appeared to show, all litters had been quietly sold, and people were asked not to tell where they had got the puppies.
How Did The AKC Finally Accept The Parti Yorkie As A Real Variant?
For years breeders had apparently been hiding the “different” Yorkies. Most of these puppies would be killed or secretly given away to an owner which won’t tell where they got the dog for this type of Yorkies was regarded as a “low-quality” one.
Among the few people who refused to put their white Yorkies down was Mrs. Gloria Lipman who is from Nikko’s Kennels. She not only refused to execute them but also found them loving homes where they would be taken well care of.
Once the lady Ms. Bogren saw a beautiful white Yorkie. She thought it was charming and followed the owner for a whole 5 miles in order to find where he bought the dog from. She found out that Mrs. Lipman’s kennel was where the dog came from and met with Mrs. Lipman in order to negotiate buying a couple of these white Yorkies.
Mrs. Gloria Lipman told the potential buyer that the big problem is that you cannot register the white Yorkies with their true coloring with the AKC. But she found a way to register her Parti Yorkie – Nikko’s Mickey Spillane – she registered it as blue and gold. Then there was no particular color code in the AKC for these new Yorkies.
But Ms. Bogren definitely wouldn’t want to register her puppies as blue and gold. She decided to do something and change this. There were really long negotiations but in the end Ms. Bogren agreed that she would buy every Parti Yorkie puppy form Mrs. Lipman if the latter asks for DNA testing to be performed on the parents of the white dogs.
Mrs. Lipman finally agreed to ask the AKC for the DNA tests. This procedure was very long and Mrs. Lipman had to pay quite a high price. The AKC closed Mrs. Lipman’s kennel for a year and a half during the testing and the breeder couldn’t run her business. During this time, forty-two litters – both the males and the females of them – were tested by the AKC.
But the AKC wanted more information – they weren’t satisfied only with these from Mrs. Limpan’s dogs and they got in contact with other reputable breeders in the country and abroad in order to gain more information about tri-colored Yorkies. Every one of the breeders confessed that they had had white Yorkies in their litters.
AKC Approval?
The AKC, after extensive interviews with Yorkie breeders, studying the Yorkie lines, and collecting and analyzing many DNA tests, finally recognized the Parti-variation with the color code of 014 in 2000.
Parti Yorkshire terriers are now recognized and can be AKC registered but only if both Yorkie parents are also registered. Parti Yorkies are still not allowed to be shown in a conformation show. They can participate in agility competitions, however.
Since 2000, Parti Yorkies have become more popular and have even developed a copycat.
Why Do Biewer Terriers Look Like Parti Yorkies?
When you see a Parti Yorkie and a Biewer Terrier you might think that they are the same breed. And technically you won’t be far from the truth! However, the Biewer Terrier is a separate breed.
But how and why?
The Biewer terrier originated from Germany in 1984. During this year a German Couple (Gertrud and Werner Biewer) who were passionate Yorkie lovers bred two Yorkshire terriers with black, white and tan coloring (technically these are Parti Yorkies).
Because the Parti gene is recessive, it is really hard to constantly reproduce Yorkies with this coloration. However, Mr. and Mrs. Biewer took the challenge and they did exactly this. It took them a lot of time and patience until they did it and begin to constantly reproduce tri-colored Yorkies.
After that AKC accepted these dogs as a distinct breed called Biewer Terrier (also known as German Yorkies or German Terriers). There are two officially accepted coloring for the Biewer terrier – Black, White and Tan and also Blue, White and Tan. There is no specific pattern set for expressing these colors so the patterns may vary.
Tail docking is illegal in Europe and that is why Biewer terriers maintain full-length tails.
Are Parti Yorkies Healthy?
Like any dog breed Yorkshire terriers are prone to certain health issues and Parti Yorkies may suffer from these same problems like any other Yorkie. As a dog owner, it is very important to be aware of the most common health problems for the breed.
The association of the white coloration doesn’t make them more prone to any health issues unlike some other breeds.
How Much Do Parti Yorkies Cost?
As they are becoming more and more popular nowadays the demand is higher and that’s why Parti Yorkies are relatively more expensive than regular Yorkie puppies. Of course, the price varies a lot because there are lots of other factors that determine the price.
However, in looking at a handful of sites of Yorkie breeders that offer Parti varieties, the average cost for a Parti Yorkie is $4,000 – $5,000. The prices are high because these puppies are still quite uncommon and are in high demand.
We suggest that you only purchase a Parti Yorkie after thorough research of the breeders. The breeders must provide the AKC registration of the litter’s parents and the documents of the DNA tests. All of these drive the price higher but the health of the puppy is the most important thing and it pays off later both financially and more important – emotionally.
In Conclusion
In conclusion, we can say that Parti Yorkies are indeed purebred Yorkshire Terriers and differ from the “standard” only by their coloring – a factor which is determined by the recessive genes.
