How to give your Yorkie a Haircut at Home

First thing is first: Make sure you give your Yorkie a nice wash.

Watch this video about How to bathe a Yorkie if you are unsure.

After giving your adorable Yorkie a good scrubbing, next you will need to ensure they are properly dried.

You can use a blowdryer – but make sure the strength setting is set to low. You do not want to burn or hurt your Yorkie!

You can test it out on your hand to make sure it is not too harsh – I recommend this. And do it every time because electrical surges and battery malfunctions do exist.

Once their hair is dry, brush it well so it is nice and flowing.

You should be able to tell if you did a good job – the hair will flow nicely and they won’t be scratching or itching.

If they are scratching or itching it may mean you have not properly washed out the shampoo. In this case give them another rinse and make sure you really get the shampoo out of their coat!

After you are confident they are washed thoroughly, the shampoo is out of their coat and their hair is dry. I would suggest giving them a little break or a treat so they aren’t wound up or confused and most importantly so that they do not associate being cleaned with any negative emotions.

So now that your Yorkie is calm and clean and silky smooth, you can begin the process of actually cutting their gorgeous hair!

Begin by taking a light brush and stroking it through their hair slowly and evenly.

Next you want to start trimming the area under their face – BE CAREFUL: the last thing any of us wants is those sharp scissors to cause any injury to your Yorkie or yourself!

Remember that slow and steady wins the race – this is not a job you want to rush at all.

Take your two fingers as a choke point for the hair and flow the hair in between your fingers – gently trim the excess hair protruding through your fingers.

Just a reminder: Make sure your Yorkie is calm and happy during this situation.
If they are showing signs of agitation – take a break or give them a treat or better yet give them cuddles and kisses! This always works with my Yorkies so I have to recommend it.

You want to angle the scissors away from them because in any event of them jumping out or becoming agitated – they won’t make contact with the blades.

You obviously don’t want to angle the scissors too far away so that it becomes hard to accomplish the objective of giving them a cute trim so be smart!

Next you will go from the under side of their face / chin to the sides of their face – towards their ear.

This is a delicate area so if you weren’t concerned about being careful before, you ABSOLUTELY should be careful here – the ear is difficult because it is hard to tell where the hair begins and the skin ends.

After you are happy with the under side of the face, the sides and ear areas – you can begin the top of their head.

It would be better to brush their hair before doing the cutting because you can have a neat canvas to work with, so to speak.

While doing the top of their head you can put extra attention to the area above their eyes. After all you wan them to be able to see clearly.

If you want, you can take a pair of clippers and go very lightly over their ear areas once more – it all depends on the way you want them to look.

So at this point their head should pretty much be completed.

Next you can move on to their paws – take clippers and be gentle.

Once you are happy – and they are happy (it is easy to tell if they are uncomfortable with the job you’ve done) you can move on to their body.

This part of the process will take the most amount of time so if you want to ensure the job is done well you can once again take breaks – it will reinvigorate yourself and your Yorkie.

I would suggest doing their back first and then the sides of their body – keep the brush handy as it will be useful to get a measure of the actual length of their beautiful hair.

Next you will want to do their hind quarters. If you weren’t delicate before, now is the time to be delicate.

Go slow and begin with the tail. Hold it up with your hand and gently trim away at excess hair.

Lastly you may want to take a coat shiner oil and give your Yorkie one more brush to get a final take on the job you’ve done.

Good Job! Now you have just given your Yorkie a beautiful trim from the comfort of your own home.