What is wrong with my yorkies hair??
 

Hi,

I have a 6 month old yorkie who I got from a breeder. And her hair is way different from the hair of a yorkie I used to have. My last yorkies hair was VERY soft and silky. My current yorkie's hair is more like fluffy (?) and it gets matted very very easily. Its still kind of wavy. I have to brush it all the time. And the hair on her face... I don't even know how to explain how bad it is. The hair on top of her head is ALWAYS sticking straight up or falling in front of her face, but mostly sticking straight up into the sky. And her face hair always makes her look like a crazy stray rat dog. If her hair was more silky then it DEF wouldn't be sticking straight up into the sky but idk why its just all over the place.

I asked her breeder and she said that yorkies have an "ugly coat" for the first 3-4 months and then at 5-6 months their sily coat comes in.

My dog is supposed to be AKC registered so idk, why is her hair like this??

I've attached a picture of her here to show you what im talking about... and trust me, she is not normally THAT ugly if i can keep her hair put together but this is what I'm working with.

Any advice greatly appreciated!!

Hi there,

Welcome to YorkieTalk.

Your little six-month old looks like a sweetie.

When my late senior, Katy, arrived as a 12 week old pup, her hair totally exasperated me. I had been caring for someone else's senior whose hair strands were thicker. Katy's hair strands were thinner and seemed to matt up in a split second. Grooming Katy became easier with time--but I always preferred the hair on her brow and head be long enough to wear in a top knot. (Whenever a groomer clipped her brow area, it took forever to grow out and was meanwhile an uber mess.)

My girl Dutch is just a tad bit younger than your girl. She had her ear, nails and sanitary area groomed quite a few times, but has had only two full grooms. The first full groom was done by my long standing mobile groomer who, despite my instructions, clipped her brow and eye area. His clipping means its going to take quite some time for Dutch's hair to grow into a top knot. In the mean time, the brow hair (front of her head) falls toward her eyes, while the back side falls in the opposite direction. Despite that her brow was clipped over a month ago, it needs to grow more than another inch before I can pull it into a top knot.

There are some products that can help with frustrating hair. Consider applying a good puppy conditioner after her bath. There is also a product called "Cowboy Magic" that can be used after or between baths.

You have such a cutie! --KatysMom

She may be a cottony coated yorkie. I have previously had silky coated yorkies, and it was a shock when our current little one, Gus, turned out to have a cotton coat. As a baby his coat was amazingly thick and fluffy...but as his adult coat came in he developed mats no matter how many times we brushed him. He mats down to the skin level at the drop of a hat, and out solution is to keep him in a puppy coat year round. He is the king of mischief, and romps around like a maniac on a regular basis. Having him in a short cut keeps the maintenance down to a minimum, and he is much more comfortable. He looks just like a pup with his short, curly hair, and he feels so soft. Despite conditioners and high end shampoos, his hair does not "shine" though.

Our three year old parti, Tyrone, has only had eyes, feet and sanitary areas cut, and his coat is silken and to the floor. It shines like crazy, and almost never tangles.

At first I was frustrated to death by my first cotton coat, but now have come to love the fact that Gus' puppy cut matches his personality! He will forever by my little scamp!

Puppies have puppy coats that tangle easily. I normally shave mine down as soon as they have all their vaccines. Adults can also end up with a cotton coat rather then silky coat.

Ditto to loves to dream.