First grooming trip questions
 

First I have to say I'm completely addicted to this site!!!:D

Duke is going to his first professional grooming appointment this Saturday. (which is stressing me after reading some of the stories here) He's almost 8 months. Until now I have been bathing him at least every 2 weeks, and fighting with him for brushing..lol

He's getting a few matts mainly due to his sweater I think. I want to take care of them before he gets to bad.

The groomer asked me how I wanted him cut and she mentioned the puppy cut. I have never had a Yorkie or any other small dog that required haircuts before. I assume the puppy cut is the shorter cut. I would like to leave him with the longer Yorkie hair, but right now he looks like a rag-a-muffin :p

He has very fluffy hair especially on his head. I try to pull up a small top knot, but that hairs seems to get almost matted under the band due to it being so thin.

I'm wondering what pointers you guys can give me for getting him trimmed up? If I clip him shorter will that help his adult hair come in quicker/thicker?

On that note, how long does it take for the adult hair to come in, and should I expect color changes. I have read that this could take 2 years and he might change colors a couple times before that.

Sorry to be so long winded. Thanks for any advice in advance.

Gina & Duke:animal36

Hi Gina,
You didn't post any pictures. Are his ears up? If so I would ask to be sure
to take the hair off the ears so they will continue to stand. If you want
your Yorkie to have a long coat be sure to tell the groomer to trim only
you want it to grow in. Also is you want a top knot make sure she dosen't
cut that part of the hair short. A puppy cut is adorable but the look of a longer
coat is gone. It takes, all puppy's are different and depending on how short
about 6mos-9mos or longer to come in full length again. Of course this also depends on the size of your Yorkie and his height. It takes longer to grow on a taller pup than a shorter one. Yorkies change many times, at least some
do before their actual adult color stays. Some stay black, some silver some
black with gold running threw (Bud is like this). They are always a surprise
package. Good luck with your new puppy. Maybe someone else can give
you better insight but this info is from my own experience with my Bud.
You either like or not like the longer coat. Take it from there. Also if you
have the time to groom the longer coat and can keep it clean than stay
with it for awhile and see if you like it, if not the puppy cut may be the
way to go.
Good luck and be sure to be explicit with the groomer, they have a tendency
to do what they want.

I will try to get some more picture here before the appointment. Right now his ears are down. They used to be up, but they flopped. I need to get them tipped, but I fear it's too late for them to come back up.

I love the longer look, and I'm planning to tell her just a "trim". I just didn't know if cutting it back would make his hair thicker. Right now it's very cold here and the poor thing gets cold with a sweater on, so I wouldn't want him short anyway.

When Sophie went for her first haircut she got the puppy cut. She has floppy ears so I didn't have them shave them, it looks a bit odd. She was mostly black with a little brown on her face and feet. Now Sophie it lighter. Also Sophie never gets the hair around her eyes cut. If they cut them then thats what you have to keep doing or else they will just stick out. If you opt to not have them cut the hair arond the eyes like Sophie, just comb his hair out of the way and as it grows it should start growing in the direction that you make it go. Just make sure you like and feel comfortable with the groomer. Gook luck, hope this helps a little.

What kind of coat does your puppy have? If it's silky cutting it short
won't make it thicker over time. A silky coat is fine and hangs
straight. If it's cottony, which is thicker from the silky coated yorkie
I still don't think it will thicken iteither. Trimming the ends will keep it healthy
looking and get rid of split ends.

I guess you would call it almost both. I'm not very good at this...lol He tends to be very fluffy almost fly away sometimes. I know that the hair on top of his head tends to stick together if have a band in it. If the band comes out the hair will stand up there all by itself for a few minutes, and its kind of matted together.

I guess I'm going to see what the groomer has to say, and go from there. I think it will be a trial basis until I figure out what I like on him. The one good thing is that it's hair and it will grow back.;)

When Gracie got her first trim and (every trim since) we do just that-trim. We are letting her coat grow out so basically they do very little. Bath her, trim the hair on her bottom and around her little feet, pull the hair in her ears, "tip" her ears, and trim her nails.

This is what I'm planning. I'm hoping by tipping his ears they will stand up again. Otherwise he will be forever my little floppy. :p