The Barbie Effect: Visions of the Perfect Yorkie
 

We have a 2.5 yr old little girl. She's the envy of all when we are out and about. Yet still I find myself expecting her to look like the pictures of show pups all groomed perfectly and posing for the picture ALL the time. It's like the Barbie effect or whatever male stereotype one might hold as the image of perfection. I have to contain my desire to primp this poor pup into oblivion. Anyone else like me??

No, I do not feel that way. We must remember that dogs are living beings and not a "Barbie doll". I'm sorry but the way you refer to your Yorkie comes off pretty superficial... Don't get me wrong I bathe, brush, and groom my dog regularly, but that's to make sure he is clean and to maintain his hair. Expecting your dog to always be posing for pictures kind of irks me. She's not a stuffed animal.

Oh, my!
 

Glad my prompt for a thread has stimulated at least one person to think about what we should and shouldn't expect from our pets. But, please, don't be irked! This was a conversation starter.

Nope not me. And I do have a show Yorkle retired now. I have never primped him into oblivion. Yes there is lots of grooming for a show dog - but there is a life as well. While my Yorkie was actually showing he did obedience, dock jumping swimming. hiking et al. Groomed perfect is for the show. Not for everyday life

As another member said healthy grooming is just that for their health. Nails sanitary cuts, keeping the coat tangle free and especially mat free. Bathing regularly all sustains the health of your companion

I groomed my Yorkies myself after a couple of incidents at groomers. I watched one of my babies fall off the grooming table once. Thankfully she wasn't hurt. They never looked perfectly groomed but at least I didn't have to worry about them getting hurt anymore.

I loved buying cute little dresses for my pups but I didn't really put them on much in public. My husband was too embarrassed. So I bought them cute sweaters and coats and harnesses to wear out. I tried to give my pups a great life and let them be the awesome pups that they were. I don't really believe in going to the extreme with the frills. My kids were rough and tumble dogs at times and enjoyed being dogs and getting dirty and smelly. Lol Pictures, you say? I must have thousands!

I can see how primping up the tiny Yorkies is fun and they get a lot of attention though. My girl weighed 17 pounds but she did like to dress up and look cute. I could tell. Have fun with your little fur ball. I want to see pictures!

We have our Bella groomed to a short puppy cut, and everyone in the neighborhood stills adores her. No need for us to go with fancy (and harder to maintain) longer hair styles. People love Bella for who she is.

Same with my pups. They got more attention when they were au naturel. Lol

LMBO looks just like my 3 gals did lol, too precious. Thanks for the chuckle lol

My boy sports a puppy cut 365. I love to mush him up and not fear matting like my girls did. When we go out he wears his bandana, a scrunchie in his top knot and his dreamy eyes look and the ladies melt lol, the men lol, forget it they are worse then the women lol. Then he comes home and rolls in the moss lol.

Nope I keep them in a short coat and prefer the misfit yorkies. Callie is 18 pounds with floppy ears. Joey is 10 pounds with huge standing up ears and a full tail. Penny is 11 pounds with floppy ears. They are perfect to me but maybe not people who expect a "perfect" yorkie. I let mine roll around in grass and get muddy of course I might roll my eyes and say seriously when I have to clean them up but I know they are happy. None of mine have the personality to have a full coat.

I'm not gonna lie, when we brought Reeses home we were kinda expecting him to grow up to have the mop-haired show dog look. Its now that I realized it takes constant grooming and a lot of patience to achieve that. Not to mention, his ears aren't docked so he looks like Dumbo the elephant! We love his giant, fuzzy ears! I was never really consistent with baths or brushing, but I am a little more now. He does have long hair, but I don't think I could ever let it reach floor length without him bringing Mother Nature herself inside with him! I trim the hair around his private parts, belly, bangs, and feet for sanitary reasons and to make nail clipping easier. I also cut his hair short in the summer so that he doesn't trap too much heat, but it grows back quickly, at least it helps him get used to the heat. We were wired to believe the yorkie stereotypes at first because of the movies, cartoons, ect. but we realized they're still dogs and they don't care about their appearance or how many shows they win as long as they have us! We only dress the dog up for holiday pictures, when its cold, or raining. I find that with such long hair, it tangles up quicker with the cute, little shirts that prevent his hair from flowing free. We like him walking around with his shiny, long coat better, and he prefers to not wear anything, so unless its cold or raining, we rarely dress him up. He likes it that way too!

Oh, and Reeses is nine pounds, but he's still a skinny boy! How does he do it? He spends nearly all day sleeping!! My boy takes pictures all the time, if I see him do something cute, I'll pull out my phone and take the pic, so there is no need for him to pose. When I do take a formal picture of him, he sits still and looks right at the camera, I didn't train him, he just does it! I only taught him to look at me when I tell him to so I can brush and clean his mustache and beard!

You're not biased at all! Piper is a definite cutie patootie!!

I feel the need to join your boat of how I like others to see Casie, and then what she usually looks like when we go on our walks (because for some reason, she needs to mess up her hair right before we head out)! :D

Fun
 

Thanks for all your fun real-life-with-yorkies tales! If this upload works, here's our little girl on an average (well, above average) day taming the bear rug.