I would like to start by saying that I have always been attracted to the rare and unusual.  It came as no surprise to me that I would fall in love with the chocolate Yorkie.  I bought my first chocolate Yorkie in 2006.  I had seen only pictures of them before then.  I went to see a  litter of Yorkie pups that were locally advertised and when the breeder brought out the litter, there were two chocolate pups and two black and gold ones.  I could not believe how beautiful the coloring on the chocolate pups was and just knew that I had to have one.  I had read quite a bit on the internet about chocolate Yorkies, some of which caused me concerned, but I remembered that you can't believe everything that you read on the internet.  When I took my little Cayenne to my vet, I did ask him his opinion on this color being associated with health problems.  He had no knowledge of any health related issues with this color.  I also questioned two additional vets in my area and they also knew of no issues with this color.  I further read more on the genetics of this color and learned that it is simply the doubling of the recessive red gene that Yorkies carry.  This same color is found in other dog breeds such as the Lab, Daschund, and the Doberman, just to name a few.    I contacted the AKC and to see how to register this little cutie because this color was not a choice on the puppy registration.  I was told that my little Cayenne could in fact be registered with the proper color.  I did have to send in 3 pictures of her ( front and both sides) so that she could be assigned the correct color.  She was registered as  Liver and Tan.  I have followed this direction with my additional chocolate Yorkies and they have all been assigned the correct color.  This color at present is not considered a breed standard color with the AKC and would be considered a fault in the show ring, but this is only a concern if you plan to show.   We are hoping that this will soon change and this wonderful color will be competing in the show ring.  The lack of knowledge that the AKC would register this color Yorkie may have caused many of these beautiful Yorkies to go unregistered or be registered using an incorrect color.  Now breeders of this beautiful color are correctly registering them and we can now see the color in their pedigrees.  Keep in mind that the AKC standards do change and the chocolate Yorkie could be accepted as a breed standard color at a future date.  For now, I will enjoy my beautiful chocolate family companions.  I think that the chocolate Yorkie is a beautiful color and is truly rare by definition and even more rare to find AKC registered.   If you, like me, are attracted to the rare and unusual, I would suggest you educate yourself about this color Yorkie and make your own decision.  I pride myself in providing healthy, happy family companions and I am happy to offer chocolate Yorkie Pups.