The Parti Yorkie History from the

The beautiful Parti Yorkshire Terrier is quite a remarkable sight to behold and making a huge impact in the USA.

The Parti is a colored version of the standard Yorkshire Terrier.

Mystery seems to surround this little terrier of a different color. Some claim the dogs are not purebred. Those who breed the colored terriers will disagree and want the public to know they are purebred and were produced from two standard Yorkshire Terriers.

The Yorkshire Terrier is a man-made breed. The original breeders of the Yorkshires were weavers, miners and factory workers, who were illiterate. No records were kept to truly verify which breeds were bred in to the dogs.  The Paisley, Clydesdale and Dandy Dinmont are among the dogs that are thought to make up the Yorkshire Terrier. Some think the Maltese was added later on for the long silky hair.
History suggest that crosses of other terriers were bred into these dogs by the original breeders, prior to the start of the dog show era when breeders started selectively breeding to produce the blue and gold color we see today.

Many books have been written noting references to these White Yorkshire Terriers since the 1800s.  Earnest Hemingway even wrote about his grandfathers white Yorkshire ,Tassel.
When the show era started, people began selectively breeding to produce the blue and gold colors we see today and the white terriers, when born were considered inferior and were either put down or discreetly given away. This practice has been followed through the years and even today some show breeders still use the cruel culling process to destroy the parti-colored pups when born. Breeders did not want it known that a highly prized show dog had sired offspring that produced a color fault.
The problem was that many of the normal looking Terriers harbored the hidden genes and were considered carriers. Those carriers went on to produce other carriers with the same hidden genes.
Genes can lay dormant for many years and only be expressed when bred to another dog with the same hidden genes, when this happens the results can produce various coloring in Yorkshire Terriers.

In the 1980s one show breeder(Nikkos Kennels) refused to destroy the tri-colored pups when born but instead sold them out the backdoor unregistered.

 Nikko's Kennels  was started in 1969 in Long Island and by 1979 had won titles with 17 Yorkshire Terriers.

Crownridge  and Summit had obtained Parti colored puppies from Nikkos kennels and wanted them AKC registered with their true parti-colors . So in 1999 they convinced Nikkos Kennel to  go to AKC and get them registered as  as yorkshire terriers parti color.

In a letter I received from Joan Gordon she talks about her tri-colored pup born at Wildweir Kennels.

    Joan Gordon Letter

In 1976 Joan Gordon and Janet Bennett published a book,

The Complete Yorkshire Terrier.  In her Book she states;

"It is not unusual to find small white marks on one or more toes or a fine white line in the lower fore jaw. These will not be visible as an adult. A large amount of white marks on the chest, paws, jaws, or skull, places a yorkie into a tri-color classification and it is very wise to guard against this possibility. Yorkshire terrier puppies can be born of colors that automatically deprive them of the necessary qualities to become the proper colors of the breed. They can be born all black: all tan: tan with black points; tri-color: black, white, and tan; all blue; bluish grey with tan points; and so remain or change to another shade of their newly born colors. These mismarked Yorkie puppies are not the result of the mis-alliances or throwbacks but are rather the net product of incorrectly inherited genes which have failed to activate the pigment glandular system to providing what they require to be in accord with the yorkshire terrier standard. Puppies incorrectly colored or marked should not be sold as rare, they should not be registered as Yorkshire terriers, but should simply be found a loving home If one cannot bring oneself to having them put down."

In an 1895 book entitled The Dog by Stonehenge, he states about the Broken Haired Terriers "Sometimes the Broken Haired dog is  White",  more or less marked with blue or some other color, but the less  the better.

In 1904, Mrs Leslie Williams published the book, ( A Manual of Toy Dog How to Breed, Rear and Feed Them).

In the book she writes “ A Yorkie must have the nourishment of meat. Withal, it is a merry little soul and if its coat can be to some extent sacrificed, a good companion, fond of outdoor life, very barky and lively and tolerably affectionate: but a really lovely show yorkie is not a being for everyday. The breed does not suffer much from “distemper” and strange to say in spite of generations of coddling and fussing, and breeding for smallness and coat is a decidedly healthy one. The white Yorkshires a new variety some folk have tried to push is, I think in no way especially desirable---The Maltese can do all that is necessary in that line: while the attempt to make “silver” Yorkshires popular, too, simply means that the bad colored dogs without any tan (paleness of tan is the stumbling-block in many Yorkshire’s career) are classed by themselves and offered prizes.”

According to the above statements published in books  and the DNA results from AKC  the  Parti color has  shown to be  in the natural makeup of the Yorkshire Terrier.  ( For More reading on the history, visit our library of old books)

 

To understand how they became AKC registered, we went to the two of the ladies involved at the beginning.  Mrs Gloria Lipman of Nikko’s Kennels and Mrs Loryn Bogren.of Crownridge.

These parti-color pups for years were born more often than was known to the general public.

Since they were not considered standard most were killed when born, others were quietly handed out the back door with the understanding of not saying where the dog was acquired.

Mrs. Bogren happened to see one of these back door tri color beauties and was intrigued by them.

So much so, that she followed the person who owned this puppy for 5 miles to get the name of the breeder. After learning the parti puppy came from Nikko’s Kennel she met with Mrs Lipman with the interest to obtain some of these dogs.

And so it started with  Nikko’s Mickey Spillane, a parti colored male. He was registered as a blue and gold.

Mrs. Lipman stated that the dogs could be only be registered as blue and gold as AKC did not have a color code classification for the Parti-Yorkie

Mrs. Bogren  however was adamant about wanting the dog registered as the Parti- coloring they were and told Mrs Lipman that she would buy every colored pup produced if she would agree to allow DNA to be done on the dogs who produced the unique coloring.

This turned out to be a very lengthy and costly process to Mrs. Lipman,(Nikko's Kennels) as AKC shut down her kennel in 1999 for 18 months to conduct DNA studies of 42 litters sires and dams. She was not allowed to breed or sell  or conduct any business during this time.

3 of the dogs tested were owned by Mrs Bogren(Crownridge)  and 1 owned by Mrs Gesmundo(Summit Yorkies)

During this study AKC also spoke to several other breeders about off colored pups born in other bloodlines.

Many highly respected breeders admitted they occasionally had these off colored pups born.

It was stated that one reputable show breeder was experiencing more occurrences of tri colored pups being born then those at Nikko kennels.

After researching and tracing many lines, It should also be noted that not only Nikko lines but other well know lines in the USA and abroad produced Parti colors.

In June of 2000.  The DNA studies of Nikko’s Kennel was completed to the satisfaction of AKC

AKC deciding that after a study of the Yorkshire History and the DNA of the dogs involved in the study they were satisfied that the color can be produced in otherwise normal litters of Yorkshire Terriers.

(AKC letter)

The dogs were allowed to be registered as Parti-color with a color code 014.

There are several lines of Parti colored Yorkies but Nikkos Line has been the most talked about and prominent because She was the one who had all the testing done.

A misconception is the YTCA states the dogs are not standard, which leads people to believe cannot be AKC registered. The AKC is a dog registry and does not deny registration on color alone.
Parti Yorkshire Terriers can be AKC registered as long as both parents are also AKC registered.
The YTCA is a club who governs the show standard for the Yorkshire Terriers to compete against in AKC dog shows. In Oct of 2007, YTCA elected to add a disqualification to the Yorkshire standard stating that Any dog of color or combination of colors other then blue and tan or any white markings other than a small white spot on the fore chest that does not exceed 1 inch at its longest dimension.
The Parti Yorkshire Terrier can compete in AKC agility but are disqualified from showing in AKC sanctioned dog shows due to the white coloring.

Reputable Parti breeders are coming together to preserve and protect the Parti Yorkshire Terrier .
These reputable breeders are determined to take this Parti Colored Yorkshire Terrier to the forefront,
where he can shine and take his rightful place beside his standard counterpart and one day be able to be shown in AKC sanctioned dog shows.  No matter what, the Parti Yorkshire Terrier is here to stay.

Hypoglycemia     My Adult Breeding Sire and Dames