Yorkshire Terrier’s are a single coated breed, meaning they only have a single coat of hair. This is in comparison to other breeds that have an undercoat, where under the top coat is an additional layer of hair, a shorter coat of hair that is more dense. The Yorkies hair is therefore similar to human hair. Despite what many say, you can therefore use a good quality human hair shampoo and conditioner. The key is to just be sure all the hair product is thoroughly rinsed out.

Yorkies should be bathed every 10 days to 2 weeks. Have all the things you need prior to starting your puppies bath. Do not leave your dog unattended in the sink, not even for a second. Puppies will try to leap out without any warning at all. Always keep a hand on your puppy. We advise using a bathing tether. They can easily attach to your sink with suction cups during bath time to assist keeping your dog safe. This also gives you the ability to use both hands to bath your puppy.

Brush your Yorkies coat with a Mason Pearson brush or something similar. Always use a detangler or a similar product to insure that the coat is dampened before brushing. Brushing a dry coat can damage it. You can use a soft, small slicker brush for tangles that are difficult to otherwise remove. Be sure the brush is a “soft” slicker. This means the slicker bristles will give easily when combing through the hair. Use the slicker brush softly and with care.

1. Gently brush your puppy and remove any bad tangles. Removing tangles when noticed is the easiest and they become worse with time.
2. Attach bathing tethers to your sink or tube and gather supplies needed to bathe, including a towel. Gently bath your puppy with luke warm water. Use a sink sprayer or sprayer attachment to wet and rinse your puppy with. These sprayers can be found at your local pet store.
3. Be sure to completely rinse your puppies coat after both shampoo and conditioner. Allow a minute or two for the conditioner to stay on your puppies coat. This insures it has time to work prior to rinsing.
4. Depending on the coat, you may want to blow dry after your puppies bath. Be sure to hang on to the puppy to keep them safe when using a dryer, as they will try and get away from you and will most likely be scared. A stand dryer for dogs is useful or a grooming table where you puppy can be again tethered for safely while drying.
5. Brush through the coat once dry. Be sure the coat is tangle free. You can also spray on a leave on conditioner. Use a light leave on conditioner mix with water in a spray bottle. Spraying this on will help eliminate future tangles, and make grooming much easier for the next time.
6. Hair trimming is done at this last stage

The hair on the top of the ears. 1/3 of the top of the ear should be trimmed. Use a small battery operated trimmer for this. Keeping the hair off of the tip is necessary as it will pull the puppies ears down if not kept off. Trim 1/3 of the way down both the front and back of ear. This will keep the ears of your Yorkie standing erect. Hair from around the anus should be trimmed off. This keeps the puppy clean when pooping. If the hair is not trimmed it can cause a puppy to become impacted which is very dangerous. Always keep anus free from long hair. Hair on the bottom of the feet should be trimmed with scissors. The hair around the pads of the feet, so that the pads can be seen.

Yorkie Puppy Hints

Always be sure to make your puppies bathing experience as positive as possible. This will insure that bath time in the future will be less stressful on not only on your Yorkie puppy but for yourself as well.