Grooming issues

[FlDebra]

Originally Posted by KazzyK810

I have never heard of this before, but my 14 week old puppy's hair has started to look...spikey...and she's shedding a little. I looked closely at a section of her hair & it's thicker at the base than at the tips..giving it the spikey look...looking closer still, there is new hair growth all over her body! It is only about 1/4" long right now. I never knew they grew an adult coat. My first yorkie was a total fluff ball & I never noticed it happen. My new pup has finer, silkier hair and it is noticeable.

When the hair changes texture (from that ultra-fine puppy hair to more mature silk), it makes a weak point in the hair shaft and it will often break off there. That is why you often see this "thicker at the skin level" situation in addition to the new growth itself. You see this if dogs (or people) have been sick too. During the sickly stage, the hair shaft is not as strong, so after they are well, they often start noticing hair loss. It is just breaking at the point where the weaker hair shaft meets with the stronger.

[lil louis]

Originally Posted by 816Tuesday

There is an ongoing debate about weather Yorkies shed or just change color. Educated Vets, who I have worked for, say ALL dogs shed. Then you have people who try to sell pets as non-shedding, non-allergenic, and claim they don't shed. Every time I groom a yorkie, there is hair in the brush, so I tend to believe that all dogs shed, some more than others. And yes, Yorkies do change color slowly as well, it usually takes about 3 years until they reach their full potential.

Yes, yorkies hair are like humans hair. When you brush their hair you will see some in the brush just like when people brush their hair. I would say that yorkies definitely don't shed. I have had other dogs that weren't yorkies and when you pet them or brush them you get handfuls of hair. You also get their hair on your clothes and furniture. I have never see any of Louis' hair on my clothing or furniture. When he was a puppy his hair changed from black to silver to tan on his head, and you could hold the piece of hair up and see all three colors on one strand of hair. That is how I know he never "blew" his puppy coat. It just grew longer. I think them being non-shedding is just another plus to having a yorkie!