Bread & Butter Grooming:
Fast & Easy Pet Trims for the Salon

Short and Sassy Yorkie Trim

By Kathy Rose

A correct Yorkshire Terrier coat is silky in texture and has only one layer without undercoat. The Yorkies you see trotting the show ring possess this shiny, metallic, blue body coat accented with a deep tan color on the head, chest, and legs. These flashy, floor-length coats need little styling other than keeping them clean, brushed, and tidied up. But alas, many of the Yorkies that grace our grooming salons do not sport this flowing single coat. Many have wooly double coats that mat easily and look way too "poofy" when left to grow long. Lucky for us, they look adorable wearing a short sassy trim and provide a mainstay of our income: yet another bread and butter client.

As with every groom, carefully evaluate the pet's conformation as well as the type of coat and the condition. Our goal is to fashion a short, smooth body, leaving the legs a bit longer to provide balance. As with many of the Yorkies that we see, this little girl, although quite small, is chubby. Leaving a skirt will detract from her girlish figure. The dense coat will stand off from the legs, creating small posts. The wooly coat on her head is perfect for styling a round, modified Westie headpiece with her nicely perked ears.

After a thorough bath and conditioning, fluff dry the coat. For a short, smooth look on the body, dry the coat in the direction that it grows; for a longer, fluffier look, direct the airflow against the growth of coat. The legs should be dried upward, against the growth pattern; the same goes for the head. A small amount of body-building spray or mousse applied before drying will help lift the coat and facilitate styling later on.

Prep the dog by clipping the underwear (genitals and rectum) with a #10 blade, and then switch to a #30 for the pads. For the remainder of the clipper work, I used a #5F on the body and a #1 snap-on comb over a #30 with a clipper vacuum system on the legs. For a longer, fluffier trim, try using snap-on combs for the body and the legs, using a slightly longer attachment on the legs. Try an "O" comb on the body and an "A" on the legs. This combination should provide you with a fluffier version of the pictured trim.

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

Fig. 4

Fig. 5

The Body and Legs

Starting just behind the occipital bone on the head, trim in the direction the coat grows, from the neck to the croup. Continue down the flank, making sure to use your hand to protect the soft flap of skin where the rear leg meets the body. Next, run the clipper down the back of the rear leg, falling off just above the hock (Fig. 1). Starting at the throat and following the coat growth pattern, remove the coat from the neck, throat, and fore chest, falling off at the shoulder. Use caution on the fore chest, as cowlicks in this area may cause bald spots.

For the legs and undercarriage, change to a snap-on comb. In this case, I used a #1 attachment placed over a #30 blade. Take the blade in reverse (from rear to front) on the undercarriage and then with the growth (from top to bottom) on the legs (Fig. 2).

Using straight shears, tidy up the stray hair on the legs. When viewed from the front or from the rear, the legs should appear parallel. Use curved shears to create small, round feet, but avoid exposing the nails.

The Head

The round head is styled after a modified Westie head.

Begin by clipping the top 1/4 to 1/3 of the ear with a #30 or #40 blade. Next, using a small scissor, trim the edges, extending the triangular shape of the ear to the outer portion of the cheek. Trim the topknot by placing the coat between your fingers and trimming the ends (Fig. 3).

Blend the loose topknot coat into the ear with thinning scissors, then clean the eye corners with thinning scissors (Fig. 4). Try not to clip down the nose.

TIP:

If you have a particularly wiggly puppy, place the thinning scissors firmly on the bridge of the nose, close to the eye corner, while holding the beard and remove the hair without lifting the scissor from the nose bridge.

To shape the round head, comb the topknot fringe loosely over the eyes and place your scissor on a 45-degree angle, facing outward to form an arch. Trim the bangs to the corner of the eye in a semi-circle. While grasping the nose with your thumb on the front of the lips, scissor another semi-circle from the tip of the muzzle to the cheek below the ear. To finish, soften the cheeks with thinning scissors, blending the bangs, cheeks, topknot, and muzzle (Fig. 5).

Finish up with little bows just in front of each ear, or kick it up a notch with ear BLING!

As each pet we groom is unique, subtle alterations in the style may be necessary to enhance a particular pet's attributes as well as camouflage faults. Your ability to adapt and improvise will keep your styles fresh and your "bread and butter" clients returning time and time again!

Kathy has multiple BIS and Best All Around Groomer awards, including four gold medals at Intergroom. She has been a medalist with GroomTeam USA on four teams and has won the Cardinal award for Outstanding Service to the Pet Industry. A well respected judge and lecturer, Kathy is certified with IJA, United Show Managers Alliance, and EGA. Kathy's salon, Pets of Perfection, was featured on the cover of Groomer to Groomer Buyer's Guide and serves as an externship site for the Nash Academy. Kathy also did several episodes on Animal Planet's "Petsburg USA" and was the emcee of TLC's Extreme Poodles.