Grooming
Grooming Your Yorkie
Yorkies are very gorgeous little dogs, known for their long flowing silky coats. To keep a Yorkie in full coat is not as difficult and time consuming as is said providing you have purchased a Yorkie with the correct silk coat. The choice whether to shave your Yorkie down to a puppy cut, or to let their hair grow is up to you. Below are some grooming tips to help with the maintenance of a silky coated Yorkie
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Bath Preparation
You should bath your Yorkies at least once a week. Prior to bathing, all tangles should be removed, as they are more difficult to do so after the bath which seems to set them in. Tangles should first be sprayed with a good detangler of your choice, there are many different brands on the market. Then pull the tangle apart with your fingers, trying to free has many hairs as possible from the tangle itself. Then brush the remainder of the tangle out with a boar hair and nylon hair brush. Go over the remainder of the entire dog gently brushing all hair with the boar hair and nylon hair brush. This should then be followed by brushing out your Yorkies coat one more time, now with a pin brush. You want a solid metal pin brush not one with plastic tips on the end of the pins. (Please see pictures of examples of brush's to the left). I use Mason Pearson brush's on our Yorkies. As you brush through your Yorkies coat, be sure to be gentle and talk to your Yorkie trying to make it a pleasant experience for your them, as you want your Yorkie not to dread grooming day. Be extremely gentle when brushing around your Yorkies face. If there is any discharge around the eyes, first moisten (which will loosen it from the hair) and wipe softly with a wet washcloth, then you can use a fine tooth comb similar to a flea comb to remove any bits that still remain.. -
Bathing Your Yorkie
Have your towel, shampoo, conditioner and anything else you will need already at the sink ready to bath your Yorkie. Never leave your Yorkie unattended in the sink even for a second. Put a nonskid mat in the bottom of your sink so that your Yorkie will feel more secure by not slipping and sliding. Having better footing will lessen the chance for injury. You can buy an inexpensive rubber bath mat at your local store and just cut it down to size to fit your sink. Also be sure there is a filter/strainer across the water drain so that your Yorkies paws can't slip into the drain, scaring or even hurting them. Be sure not to collect the water in the bottom of the sink, you want it to run off the dog and right down the drain. Use your sinks sprayer, if you don't have one, you can buy one that attaches directly to your sinks facet.Next be sure that the water is tested for temperature. Use the bottom of your wrist, just as you would for for testing a baby bottle prior to feeding a baby. It should be lukewarm. Remember that your Yorkies skin is more sensitive. Use a good quality dog shampoo and conditioner for your Yorkie. Gently massage the shampoo into the coat. Don't rub or scrub, or else you will have tangles to deal with afterwards. Be especially careful when you are washing your little ones head and face. Many Yorkie owners use a no tears shampoo so that they don not have to worry about getting soap in their eyes. When you have your Yorkie entirely lathered, its time to rinse. Rinse the shampoo out, until the water running down the drain is clear with no suds, once you think you have it all out, rinse the entire dog again. Rinsing thoroughly is very important. Repeat with conditioner and it is time to dry.
More.... Grooming!
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Drying The Yorkie Coat
Blot your Yorkies coat with the towel to soak up the excess water. Blotting insures you are not tangling up the coat. Prior to drying, spray on a leave in conditioner or coat oil, and brush throughout the coat, combing out any tangles along the way. You can find many different brands on the market. This will help greatly in preventing tangling. You can buy a spray bottle and dilute a leave in conditioner with water, or use a olive oil sprayer to spray on a coat oil for dogs. You can find an olive oil sprayer at your nearest bed and bath store. Use it very sparingly a little goes a long way, you don't want to leave your Yorkie looking too greasy. The amount used with depend on the Yorkies coat texture, less for silk, more for other types. That is why the olive oil sprayer is works good, as it only mists the coat with oil. You will find that this really helps in maintaining a tangle free coat, which cuts down greatly on brushing and detangling for the next bath time. Once your Yorkie is brushed, it is time to dry. Use a dog dryer if possible as they have a lower heat setting than human dryers. If not, be very careful to use the lowest possible setting for temperature, and maintain a greater distance away from your Yorkie, as their skin is very sensitive, and a hot dryer setting will hurt them. Check to see how hot the air flow is on the bottom of your wrist to gage the correct distance to keep from your dogs skin. Gently brush the hair the way you want the coat to lay as you dry. Try to reassure your Yorkie during this process so that your little one isn't so scared. -
Trimming Toe Nails
I like to trim nails right after the bath, just before drying, as it seems to be easier to cut them when the hair is still wet and you can see the nail better without the hair obstructing your view. There are many styles of nail trimmers. If you have trouble finding the quick, they make a nail trimmer that has a built in sensor to guide where to cut, thus avoiding the quick. See picture. "Quick Finder Nail Trimmer" -
Yorkie Ear Trim
The top third of the Yorkies ears are generally trimmed. It is shaved on the inside and outside of the ear one third of the way down. This is done just for appearance. It is also done as puppies to aid in the ears in standing upright. -
Topknot
To keep the hair out of your Yorkies eyes, gather the hair on the top of the head and put a small rubber band in it. These can be purchased Online at dog show supplies sites. Start to gather the hair at the middle of the outside corner of the eyes and make a line to the middle of the head, in-between the ears, forming a V. Be sure not to pull the hair too tight, though, or it will be uncomfortable for your dog and will cause your Yorkie to possibly dig at the top knot. You can then also add a bow for looks, if you would like. More can be found on our full website which is a PC version, on how to do a Yorkie Topknot, on our grooming page.
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