How to bathe a yorkie? Five Easy Steps!
Bathing your Yorkie is an important part of its grooming because you need to feel comfortable with it, so you have to know and understand the unique bathing and grooming needs that your Yorkie has.
Bathing Supplies
When preparing yourself and your dog for bathing, you will need several things to prepare in advance. You should put these items on a safe and handy place before you start with the bathing. So here are the things that you need – a brush, a comb, nail clippers, non-toxic shampoo and a conditioner, cotton balls and swabs. It is also much easier for you and more pleasant for your dog when you have a shower sprayer attached to your shower nozzle.
Pre Bathing Instructions
It is recommended to brush your Yorkie`s hair on regular basis between the times for bathing and for sure you need to do that before starting the bath. This is done in order to remove unwanted knots or matted areas to be formed on the dog`s hair. Outside, but close to your bathtub you need to have a towel or a mat, where you can place your dog to avoid slipping or falling. The level of the water in your bathtub should be about halfway up to the legs of your Yorkie and the water should be warm. You should also put cotton swabs into your Yorkie`s ears so that you can keep them dry during the bathing.
Bathing Time
Step number one
As mentioned above, the first thing that you need to do is combing the hair for brushing out any mats or knots from the dog`s hair. And before you begin with this task, you can spray its coat with a little amount of leave-in conditioner, so that you could protect the delicate strands of the hair from braking. If you do not do these two things for removing unwanted mats and knots, it will be much harder to do it later, because they get even more tangled during bathing. Dead strands can remain into your dog`s hair, which cause tangles that can be removed with regular brushing of the hair.
Step number two
To keep the water away from your dog`s ears and they are left safe and dry, you should place cotton swabs inside them. When your dog gets water into its ears, it enhances the chance of developing ear infection. The risk of such infection is bigger when your Yorkie already has moisture-tapping hair which is inside its outer ear.
Step number three
Now you should wet your Yorkie with tepid water and apply some dog shampoo. You need to distribute it by moving your fingers from the back, down to its feet, with firm strokes. You should not wash up and down, only in this one direction. Most of the breeds benefit from massaging the shampoo with circular motions, but this technique will cause tangles on your Yorkie`s hair.
Step number four
Thoroughly rinse the shampoo out of your Yorkie`s hair by combing it with your fingers from the back to the legs. You should rinse all the shampoo, because even a small amount left will cause irritation and itching to your Yorkie. The area around the eyes and the face is best if wiped out with the help of small, damp sponge.
Step number five
The excessive moisture that is left on your dog`s hair should be squeezed with your hands and then you should apply and spread oil-based cream conditioner over the dog`s entire body.
Grooming
When you are done with bathing and drying your dog`s coat, then it should be combed and brushed again. For avoiding any tangling of the hair, you should do this slowly and gently. If you already have the necessary experience, you can trim the dog`s hair. If not, then a groomer should do the job. Clip its nails but be careful that they are not clipped too short for causing damage to the nail area. This could be also done by the groomer if you do not feel comfortable with the task. In the end you should clean the Yorkie`s ears with cotton balls or swabs. When you are done with all the tasks, you should inspect your dog’s body to see if there are any problems with the skin that you might have missed. You can also check out our article about grooming HERE
Considerations
When you have allergies you should make sure that you have the time to bathe your dog often enough. You should advice for this with your veterinarian.
