How to Evaluate a Yorkie for Breeding

Standard Yorkies have blue-black fur and a confident manner

Yorkshire terriers are sweet, spunky little dogs who are equally popular as house pets and as breeding champions. Many of them live happy, simple lives with their "people" and neither party feels the least interest in the inside of a show ring. If you are going to buy a Yorkie based on his breeding and how close he comes to meeting the Yorkie standard, you should buy on the advice of a qualified third party. You can do some preliminary looking on your own if you wish, but be careful not to fall in love with a dog that may not meet your needs.

Things You'll Need

• Good light
• Room for the dog to walk

Instructions

1. 

   Examine the head. A Yorkie's head should be relatively small and flat on top. The ears should be pointy, stand up, and not be too far apart. The dog's eyes should not be too prominant or too large and they should be dark in appearance.

2. 

   Evaluate the color of the fur. Yorkie coats are long and luxurious. They are predominantly black in many cases, though puppies' fur may appear more mixed. The black color should actually be a blue-black rather than a sooty black, and the hair should not be wavy. Dogs with tan fur should have a darker brown around the roots of the hair than at the ends.

3. Check proportions. The dog's front and back legs should be even, and the back itself is short but fairly level. Her shoulders and rump should be in alignment.

4. Consider the dog's demeanor. One of the things that show yorkies are evaluated on is their confident manner and air of self importance. While a puppy may be shy or cringing, a good show dog will reveal some of this attitude all of the time.

5. Check your Yorkie's feet. The feet should have the dew claws removed. They should be round and all toenails should be black.

6. Rate the tail. A show Yorkie's tail will be docked at a medium length. The dog should carry his tail slighly higher than the level of the back.