Parti Article
There is much debate as to whether a Parti Yorkie is even a true Yorkshire terrier. I can’t prove that
the Parti line was not a result of breeding a Yorkie to another breed of dog, that is the responsibility of
AKC. What I can show is that there is a probably of this color occurring in the Yorkshire Terrier.

                                                     How the breed was formed
                                                Sue James, sue@b-jam.demon.co.uk

Today's Yorkshire Terrier is very different from the early Yorkshire Terriers of the North of England.
There are varying accounts of the origins of this breed and its development. I have tried to give the most
accurate, and most widely agreed upon history of the Yorkshire Terrier assembled from books and
publications written be reliable and experienced fanciers of the breed in the UK.

Before 1750, most British people worked in agriculture. The onset of the Industrial Revolution brought
great changes to family life. In Yorkshire, small communities grew up around coal mines, textile mills
and factories. People were drawn to these areas to seek work from as far away as Scotland. They
brought with them a breed known as the Clydesdale Terrier, or Paisley Terrier. These were primarily
working dogs, much larger than today's Yorkies, and were used for catching rats and other small
mammals.

These terriers were inevitably crossed with other types of terrier, probably the English Black and Tan
Toy Terrier, and the Skye Terrier; it is also thought that at some stage the Maltese Terrier was crossed
with these breeds to help produce long coats. As the outline of the Maltese resembles that of many of
today's Yorkies, this is very likely. Unfortunately, no records in the form of Pedigrees exist to confirm
these crosses (possibly because of the poor level of literacy in these times), but a great deal is known
about the type of people who bred them, and there can be no doubt that early breeders had a very clear
idea of the type of dogs they were attempting to produce. We can see in today's Yorkies how strongly the
terrier temperament has been retained.

                            Here is an excerpt from Yorkshire Terrier Club of America
                                                           Joan Gordon

The facts concerning the origins of the Yorkshire Terrier are usually presented
in modern books as being unknown.  

According to many present-day writers Yorkshires were the result of a number of breeds being bred
together to produce the desired points.  How anyone could believe, or even imagine, these early fanciers
would have bred from a Dandie Dinmont, a breed with an uneven top line; a Maltese, a totally white
breed lacking any blue or tan markings or from a smooth coated Manchester Terrier (originally a
smooth coated Old English Terrier) is not being realistic.  The name Manchester was not even given to
this breed until a later day.  We can only guess this latter breed was named because one of
Huddersfield Ben's ancestors was a dog named Albert from Manchester.  

One of the troubles in getting the Yorkies origins correct is that each of the three breeds necessary to
arrive at the final breed of Yorkshire Terrier are now extinct.  

What is consistent in both of these articles is that no one can state with absolute proof the origin of the
Yorkshire Terrier. Now what is interesting is that in one article they felt that the Maltese Terrier was
breed into the line to help produce long coats. The other author said it was unrealistic to have breed a
Maltese Terrier into the line because that breed is totally white breed lacking any blue or tan. Now if we
look at the terriers that are believed to be the origin of the Yorkshire Terrier and the Yorkshire Terrier
as we know today it becomes apparent that there had to be something in the lines to produce the long
silky coats we see today and the fact that the Maltese terrier is white doesn’t hold any water. Because of
the fact that the genes that control coat texture and control color are separate genes any experienced
breeder could have used a Maltese Terrier to improve the coat quality and not change the color of the
coat. By doing this would have produced Yorkies that carried the recessive genes for the white color
seen in the Parti Yorkies.

This is just one possibility of how the genes responsible for the white color in Yorkies, was introduced in
the 1800s.
Precious Little Paws
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