Brushes for Yorkshire Terriers

A Yorkshire Terrier grows hair rather than fur, fine and silky and closer to human hair than to a typical dog coat. It does not shed much, which sounds like less work and is not. It tangles, and because each strand is fine, it breaks easily if you brush it badly.

Breakage is the risk, not shedding

Dragging a brush through a dry tangle snaps the hair, and on a Yorkie that shows: the coat thins, stops growing evenly and never quite recovers its length. Work in small sections, hold the hair above the tangle so the pull is taken by your hand rather than the roots, and work from the ends inward.

Where it tangles

Behind the ears, under the collar, in the armpits and along the topline where a harness sits. On a long-coated Yorkie the hair around the feet and the belly picks up debris and knots quietly.

Short coats still need brushing

Plenty of Yorkies are kept in a puppy cut, and owners often assume that ends the brushing. It does not. A short coat still tangles behind the ears and under a harness, it just gives you a smaller area to keep on top of.

Small heads, light hands

A small or medium head gives the control this coat needs, and fine soft pins pass through silky hair without catching. Never brush a completely dry tangled coat. Our 4-in-1 shampoo detangles as it cleans, and brushing a Yorkie through as the coat dries is far kinder than tackling it dry.