- Dark steel blue (not silver blue), extending from occiput to root of tail, never mingled with fawn, bronze or dark hairs.
- Hair on chest rich, bright tan.
- All tan hair darker at the roots than in middle, shading to still lighter at tips
Small toy terrier with long, silky steel blue and golden tan coat and confident, spirited personality. Despite their tiny size, these feisty dogs possess the bold terrier temperament in a compact package.
Developed during the Industrial Revolution in Yorkshire and Lancashire by Scottish weavers and mill workers. Bred to catch rats in textile mills and mines, combining various terrier breeds including the now-extinct Paisley and Clydesdale Terriers.
“Alert, intelligent toy terrier. Spirited with even disposition”
Quoted from FCI standard n°86. It describes the breed the registry recognises, not any individual animal.
Breed reference from The Dog API.
Drawn from sources, not opinion: FCI breed standard; Donner et al. 2023, PLOS Genetics (Table S3, Yorkshire Terrier row). An empty column means we hold nothing for that side, not that there is nothing to say.
The Yorkshire Terrier standard is published by the FCI (Fédération Cynologique Internationale), the international federation of pedigree-dog clubs, and it is what show judges apply. This section sums up what it says about coat and colour and size. It does not assess any one animal: use it to know what to ask the breeder.
On body moderately long, perfectly straight (not wavy), glossy
fine silky texture, not woolly, must never impede movement.
Fall on head long, rich golden tan, deeper in colour at sides of head, about ear roots and on muzzle where it should be very long.
Tan on head not to extend on to neck, nor must any sooty or dark hair intermingle with any of tan
Shortened from FCI standard n°86 — each label is the standard’s own wording with the verdict lifted into the tag beside it. Read the full clause at source.
The colours and patterns the standard admits, and what it prefers, discourages or disqualifies in each. An accepted colour says nothing about health.
Weight (kg)
Size categories by adult weight, from Montoya et al. 2023.
An adult's measurements, per the standard. It does not say how big this puppy will be. Quotations from the FCI are in English, as the standard publishes them; the headings are ours.
Breed-level information from The Dog API. It describes the Yorkshire Terrier in general; any individual animal can differ.
Known hereditary risks for the Yorkshire Terrier breed, and the specific documentation to request from any breeder before paying a deposit. A responsible breeder will have these readily available; deflection is a red flag.
5 conditions documentedThis is breed-level literature, not veterinary advice about an individual animal — your vet knows the animal.
Health checklist (PDF)Found in more than about one in twenty of the breed's dogs screened, or described as common in the sources.
The chromosome-12 FGF4 insertion makes the spinal discs degenerate early, which raises the risk of a disc rupture that can cause pain or paralysis, and one copy is enough to raise it. It is common in this breed — in a screen of 8,324 Yorkshire Terriers roughly one in eight carried it and about one in 240 carried two copies — although at one US veterinary teaching hospital Yorkshires made up a smaller share of disc-disease cases than of all the dogs seen.
What to ask for
A CDDY/IVDD-risk DNA test on both parents
An inherited degeneration of the retina that starts as night blindness in adulthood and slowly progresses to blindness; there is no treatment. It is recessive. It is common in this breed — in a screen of 8,343 Yorkshire Terriers roughly one in eight carried it and about one in 220 carried two copies, and among 317 Yorkshires tested at another laboratory about one in six carried it.
What to ask for
DNA test for prcd-PRA on both parents
The chromosome-12 FGF4 insertion makes the spinal discs degenerate early, which raises the risk of a disc rupture that can cause pain or paralysis, and one copy is enough to raise it. It is common in this breed — in a screen of 8,324 Yorkshire Terriers roughly one in eight carried it and about one in 240 carried two copies — although at one US veterinary teaching hospital Yorkshires made up a smaller share of disc-disease cases than of all the dogs seen.
What to ask for
A CDDY/IVDD-risk DNA test on both parents
An inherited degeneration of the retina that starts as night blindness in adulthood and slowly progresses to blindness; there is no treatment. It is recessive. It is common in this breed — in a screen of 8,343 Yorkshire Terriers roughly one in eight carried it and about one in 220 carried two copies, and among 317 Yorkshires tested at another laboratory about one in six carried it.
What to ask for
DNA test for prcd-PRA on both parents
Documented in this breed, but no source says how many of its dogs carry or have them. That is a gap in the evidence, not a sign they are rare.
An inherited metabolic disease in which L-2-hydroxyglutaric acid builds up in the brain. It has been described in three young Yorkshire Terriers in two reports, all with two copies of the same L2HGDH variant, which is predicted to leave the gene not working: two female puppies in Europe had seizures and unsteadiness, and an eight-month-old in the US had episodes of hyperactivity and aggression that became less frequent on a special diet and seizure medication. It is recessive. The Yorkshire variant is different from the Staffordshire Bull Terrier's, so a test for that one does not detect it. No screen of the breed for it has been published, so how common it is is unknown.
What to ask for
L-2-hydroxyglutaric aciduria (L2HGDH, Yorkshire Terrier type) DNA test result, on both parents
An inherited metabolic disease in which L-2-hydroxyglutaric acid builds up in the brain. It has been described in three young Yorkshire Terriers in two reports, all with two copies of the same L2HGDH variant, which is predicted to leave the gene not working: two female puppies in Europe had seizures and unsteadiness, and an eight-month-old in the US had episodes of hyperactivity and aggression that became less frequent on a special diet and seizure medication. It is recessive. The Yorkshire variant is different from the Staffordshire Bull Terrier's, so a test for that one does not detect it. No screen of the breed for it has been published, so how common it is is unknown.
What to ask for
L-2-hydroxyglutaric aciduria (L2HGDH, Yorkshire Terrier type) DNA test result, on both parents
Described in this breed, but found in few or no dogs in recent screening, or only ever in one dog or one family. They are here so a test result makes sense if a breeder mentions one.
A fatal inherited brain disease of young Yorkshire Terriers, resembling Leigh syndrome in children: affected dogs develop an abnormal gait, loss of sight that starts in the brain, or seizures, and the brain shows patches of dead tissue deep inside it. It is recessive — all ten affected Yorkshires studied had two copies of a variant in SLC19A3, a gene for a thiamine (vitamin B1) transporter in the brain. It looks very rare — none of 162 healthy control Yorkshires in that study carried it.
What to ask for
Leigh-like subacute necrotising encephalopathy (SLC19A3, Yorkshire Terrier type) DNA test result, on both parents
A weakness in the fibres that hold the lens of the eye in place, so the lens dislocates, usually in adulthood; it is an emergency, and untreated it can cause glaucoma and blindness. It is recessive. The ADAMTS17 variant was found in two copies in a Yorkshire Terrier with lens luxation, but it is very rare in the breed — roughly one in 140 of 8,367 Yorkshires in a recent screen carried it.
What to ask for
Primary lens luxation (ADAMTS17) DNA test result, on both parents
A fatal inherited brain disease of young Yorkshire Terriers, resembling Leigh syndrome in children: affected dogs develop an abnormal gait, loss of sight that starts in the brain, or seizures, and the brain shows patches of dead tissue deep inside it. It is recessive — all ten affected Yorkshires studied had two copies of a variant in SLC19A3, a gene for a thiamine (vitamin B1) transporter in the brain. It looks very rare — none of 162 healthy control Yorkshires in that study carried it.
What to ask for
Leigh-like subacute necrotising encephalopathy (SLC19A3, Yorkshire Terrier type) DNA test result, on both parents
Median survival 13,3 years
95% confidence interval 13,3–13,4 years, from 9509 recorded deaths among 14.493 dogs
Mortality hazard 0.79 (0.77, 0.8) relative to crossbred dogs, whose median is 12,0 years.
Measured in the United Kingdom from 584.734 dogs. Median survival is not a prediction for an individual dog.
McMillan, K.M., Bielby, J., Williams, C.L., Upjohn, M.M., Casey, R.A. & Christley, R.M. (2024) Longevity of companion dog breeds: those at risk from early death. Scientific Reports 14, 531.
A weakness in the fibres that hold the lens of the eye in place, so the lens dislocates, usually in adulthood; it is an emergency, and untreated it can cause glaucoma and blindness. It is recessive. The ADAMTS17 variant was found in two copies in a Yorkshire Terrier with lens luxation, but it is very rare in the breed — roughly one in 140 of 8,367 Yorkshires in a recent screen carried it.
What to ask for
Primary lens luxation (ADAMTS17) DNA test result, on both parents