First time Yorkie owner with a few questions
 

I am not only new to this forum but a new owner of a 14 week old boy yorkie. We have had him since he was 6 weeks and boy has he changed already. I get the feeling that most who use this are quite experienced with these babies and was wondering if anyone has a clue as to how his coat will end up. Also wondering if it should be so long already! He is sooo fluffy and recently he has been losing matts of fur in spite of being brushed regularly. Is it normal for this cottony puppy fur to fall out and be replaced with silky fur or am I doing something wrong? I'm actually quite hoping he stays fluffy cause I think its precious so I won't be dissapointed if he does not end up with a correct silky coat.
Also (you can't see in the photo) but he is starting to look like he is bald on top his head. about half the length of his fur is grey. Once again I'm just wondering if that is normal.
Thanks in advance for any imput

Congrats on your baby boy. I am not too exp in cottony coats, my boy has a silky coat. He is silver and tan, well they say tan but he is more like blonde. I do remember his head looking bald like you have said. When the silver comes in it tends to look like that. However Peanut’s grey turned to blonde LOL So it is so hard to tell what color they will be.

Do you know what color’s/ coats his parents were?

I saw his parents but can't officially say what colors they were... They were cute though.
I really dont mind eitehr way we love him no matter

It is always fun watching them turn different colors and wondering what they will be as an adult. I didn't see Peanut’s parents so his color change was all new to me.
Here is a picture of Peanuts color/ growth process.

First time Yorkie owner
 

:pI am also a first time owner in California (picked up my baby boy yesterday). He is registered as being "Blue and Gold", born 21-31-2012. He's handling the separation really well, already attentive and playful. I'm sure this is going to be a learning process for both of us. Glad I found this site, I'm sure it'll be very helpful to both of us.

Wow... After seeing this photo I know I'd better give up guessing! lol... I guess he could turn white if he wants too... I wouldn't have thought those were even the same dog... :o)

LOL! Yes it is true that is the same little boy! Peanut is my first dog, first Yorkie- so watching him change was an experience for me. Just when I thought he was done, he would get lighter! I didn't really know what color he would turn out to be since I had no clue about Yorkies, I didn't even really think they “changed” colors. It was fun watching him. Sometimes people oooh and ahh about his colors, and I will tell them “ Some people pay good money to be that blonde”!

Do you have any pictures of your baby? I went to look at your profile and couldn't see any.

Welcome neighbor!!

Oh thank you. Nice to know some is close by. BTW, I will post some pictures just as soon as I can reduce the size

It's a bit of a guessing game for pet owners. Unless you know how to read pedigrees and know your pup's complete history, there really is no telling. Like mine still isn't done changing and he's 4 years old. He still has black ears and what I like to call sideburns. :) he use to be a lot darker. Guess he decided to do this very slowly. :p

Oh gosh, isn't that the truth.

One of the dogs at my meet up was almost all black. And now he's all silver with no tan. His brother is all gold. Both are adorable! :)

Hi!!! And welcome to YT :) My baby Dexter has that "cotton coat" that you're referring to in your post :) He was SUCH a fluffy baby it was insane, and as an adult he has remained just as absolutely fluffy :D

About mats of his hair falling out, I've noticed that Dexter's hair does that too if not regularly brushed. Unfortunately, "Cotton Coats" are known for their hair matting easily... and If I don't keep up with Dexter's grooming at least every two days and brush out his hair of all tangles and matts than matts of hair will come out when I brush him. I'm not sure if that is exactly what you're experiencing, but that is what it sounds like.

Also, about the hair on top of his head ... I've noticed a lot of cotton coats head turn a similar, darker, color, than than their "silkier coated" friends. It does kind of look like they're going bald at first, but trust me, they aren't!

Here are some pictures of Dexter as a baby, and as an adult... so you can get an idea of how some cotton coats turn out in look. Hope my post helped a little bit :p

Every dog is different :) It is really difficult to tell what the color of your dog is going to be until the transition actually happens, but I've noticed a couple cotton coats mature to have the darker color still.

Sorry he isn't very well groomed in one of the adult pictures :eek: The last picture is the most recent!

Sounds adorable!!! It's like yorkie Rainbow!!

He's so stinking adorable!!!!! I just want to kiss his chocolate chip nose!

I feel you one the grooming. Kaji's soft coated too. He never let's me brush his legs, so were doing short hair. It works better for him. Have you noticed hoe much easier it is to manage the hair on their head and how much thicker their body hair is? At least Kaji's is. His head hair tends to lay flatter, but is still fluffy. His tail is all curls unless I sit there and brush it out with the dryer after a bath. Then it's a Pom Pom!! So cute. :)

I am having trouble posting photos. All mine seem to be too large. I did manage to get one up somewhere I think. Lol
I'll try again

More puppy cuteness!!! What a little doll! Let me guess. It's hard to do anything cause you just want to sit there and watch them eat, sleep, and play!

how old is dexter? I know its the "wrong" coat but I do hope he stays fluffy. He is precious.

Aside from a few different body characteristics (your pups ears stand up :))
Your puppies coat looks a lot how my Dexter's looked around that age.

YOUR PUPPY IS SO CUTE!!!

Dexter is seven months old.. or maybe 8 :eek:.... I've gotta go check the calendar :D And it may not be a "show ring" coat, but he is like an adorable little Teddy Bear (and I don't show) so I don't mind at all!! And if your pup really is a soft/cotton coated Yorkshire terrier, than he should stay that fluffy his whole life.

As much as I'd love to be able to do that... I have two small children also so not getting things done is not an option. Max is very content to stay in his kennel for long enough that I can complete a task. I dare not let him roam... he is BAD! Almost like he looks for trouble. And he knows when he's done somthing wrong... ie Eating my shoes... he runs away with it and tries to hide! Then he does it again anyway!... lol

A true soft coat does. They're like living breathing teddy bears. I don't mind having the wrong coat one bit.
Very true. Kaji is 4 years old, will be 5 this August. He's still as fluffy today as he was 3 years ago.

Dexter's head hair used to be really easy to manage on his head, but recently I have been struggling with an issue, that I was actually going to post a new thread about in the grooming section. I let someone new give him a hair cut ... and his hair is growing back sticking straight up on his head!! I don't know how to fix it.

It took days and days and days of practice to let Dexter allow me to brush out his leg hair. So his legs are mega fluffy. Sometimes I think I should just trim them up short, though ... because they're ridiculously hard to keep looking nice.
On top of that leaves and twigs are always getting caught in his hair.

Congrats to the new puppy owners! P-Nut has the cotton coat, he can look like a fuzz ball if I don't brush him 1-2x per day. He's now 17 months and his coat is still the exact same black and tan as it was when he was a pup. I don't have the problem of clumps /mats coming out. The IV San Bernard PEK conditioner suggested by a member here has helped his coat immensely.

Ok ow what you mean. Can't turn your backs on these little naughty ninjas for long. Now that Kaji's older, and we've been consistent with the rules, it's so easy. He knows he needs permission to be in the kitchen, he knocks doors when he needs in (like bathroom where his piddle pad is) and little things he does that make things easier on both of us. But... I can't leave the apt without gating off the kitchen. My little dumpster diver looks for any opportunity to get in there without being watched!

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/gen...e-terrier.html

Here is a thread that I started when I first joined. A bunch of people with soft/cotton coated Yorkshire terrier's posted pictures of their dogs here. You might find it interesting to go and look at some of the pictures!

Their coats are dirt magnets! I swear they're better than those swiffer duster things I keep seeing on TV. I already struggle with teeth brushing, I decided to just let him have peace in the other grooming departments. I also think getting him at an older age has a bit to do with it. I didn't have a chance to work on him getting use to brushing early on. He tolerates it as well as he ever will at this point.

Glad to have come across this thread. My little Oakley is a little bald looking on his head too....here's a recent pic (taken yesterday) although you can't see it too well. As you can see, he's white underneath. Mom is silverish in color and dad is black/gold.

You all are giving me puppy envy. I need a second little one running around my apt!

He is super cute! I am no expert I feel like Georgie has been every shade of grey, black and tan.

Oh yeah. I got my Yorkshire terrier Clyde at an older age, too. He doesn't have a cotton/soft coat, but I didn't get to start working with him on grooming until he was much older and it is impossible to touch his legs with a brush (he bout has a panic attack every time). So I just trim Clyde's leg hair short, too.

They most definitely are like little swiffers!!! Dexter's hair picks up everything and anything. There is no telling what you might find tangled up in his hair.

If I don't brush Dexter's hair at least every two days, though ... he starts looking like a homeless dog. I'm not kidding either... this picture is the end of the third day without brushing and it looks like he hasn't been brushed out in a week or more