Your Yorkshire will be a lot more pleasant to hold and pet if he’s clean and fresh-smelling, and that means he needs regular baths, just as you do. For some reason, the myth got started years ago that bathing a Yorkshire (in general all dogs) too often is bad for their coats. Perhaps that’s true if you use harsh shampoos, but keep in mind that show dogs are often bathed several times a week, and have gorgeous coats.

In general, expect to wash your Yorkshire every one to four weeks, depending on coat length and lifestyle. Although Yorkie hair feels much like human hair, Yorkie skin has a different pH (7.0 to 7.5) than human skin (5.5). Human shampoo will do an adequate job on most Yorkshires, but if you really want to grow a long coat, or if your dog has any sort of skin problem, buy a high-quality dog shampoo.

The best place to wash your Yorkshire is in a large sink with a hand sprayer. If you don’t have a hand sprayer, use a cup to apply water rather than trying to hold your dog under the tap. Place a screen over the drain to catch any hair, and a non-slip mat or a towel at the bottom of the sink. Gather your supplies (shampoo, conditioner, sponge, towel) and adjust the water so it’s lukewarm. Cold water doesn’t allow the cuticle of the hair to open sufficiently for easy cleaning, and hot water can open it too much. More important, water that’s too hot or cold is uncomfortable.

How To Wash A Yorkshire

1. Remove all tangles and mats. Wet hair expands, which means any matted hair expands and gets matted even worse. And when it dries, it tends to shrink down into a more solid mat. Never bathe mats.
2. Check the ears and clean them if needed. Ear cleaner and debris tends to stick to the hair, so you’ll want to wash it out.
3. Place your dog in the sink and wet him down, starting at his neck and working down and back. Lift the hair so it gets wet all the way to the skin. Wet his head last, using a sponge. Avoid getting water into his ears.
4. Put some shampoo in your palm and rub your hands together, then rub your hands all over the dog, repeating the process as needed when you need more shampoo. Use a tear-free shampoo around the face.
5. Gently massage to the skin, taking care not to twist, rub, or tangle the hair. You need not do any vigorous scrubbing or lathering, but you will get better results if you keep adding more water throughout the process. Thorough cleansing requires soap and water molecules to bind with one another, which can’t happen if you don’t have enough water in the mix.
6. Rinse the shampoo out entirely, starting at the head working down and back. You can rinse the face with a sponge, which your Yorkshire will prefer to being sprayed in the face.
7. Repeat the process using a coat conditioner instead of shampoo. Again, rinse thoroughly.
8. Gently squeeze the water from the coat, then cover your dog with a towel and place him somewhere to shake off what he can. Make sure he’s in a place he can’t slip down or run off, because dogs love to run amuck right after a bath. Then wrap him with an absorbent towel so it sucks up as much water as possible. You can also pat him dry, but don’t rub, which will just tangle the hair.
9. Ideally, you should use a blow-dryer to finish drying him. It will give the hair a sleeker, flatter finish and will keep a wet dog from shivering on your furniture. You can use a human blow-dryer, but use one with the lowest heat setting possible. Get your Yorkie used to it gradually, first by blowing it near him, then so it just blows on him from a distance, and finally blowing parts of his coat dry a bit at a time. Most Yorkshires grow to enjoy the process, although they may be skittish around the head. Never keep the air aimed at the same place long enough that it could burn the skin. Instead, work around the dog, saving the delicate areas, such as the face, ears, and under the tail, for last. You can use your fingers at first to separate the hair so it dries faster, and also monitor how hot the air is on his skin. When the hair changes from wet to damp, use a wide-tooth comb or a pin brush to gently brush the hair as you dry it.
10. Take a picture!