Styles for Cutting a Yorkie's Coat

According to the American Kennel Club, the small "toy" dogs known as Yorkshire Terriers got their name from an area of England where the working classes originally bred them to catch rats in textile mills. A Yorkshire Terrier has a long, silky coat, which can either be its crowning glory or a tangled mess, depending on its haircut and the amount of time an owner is willing to devote to brushing it.

  1. Breed Standard Cut

    • Some owners of Yorkshire Terriers may want to show the dog in a competition. The American Kennel Club has rules for hair cuts. The Yorkie's hair may hang down to the ground. For a neat appearance, the owner can trim it so it hangs evenly just at floor length. The hair on the end of the ears should be trimmed short; and if the dog has excess hair on its feet, this hair can also be trimmed. All other hair should be left untrimmed.

    Short Cuts

    • Since the dog has such long hair which is prone to tangles, an owner may prefer to cut the hair short. One such style is the "puppy cut" where the dog's hair is trimmed short all over the body and legs, including the head. This style makes the adult dog look more as it did as a puppy. A variation on the puppy cut is the "Westie cut" where the body and legs are shaved or trimmed and the head hair is left long.

    Half Body Styles

    • Instead of shaving or trimming all of the body hair short, an owner can opt for a cut that takes the hair off the back but leaves the leg and chest hair long. One such style is the "Schnauzer cut" where the groomer trims short the darker hair on the back and legs and then tidies up the tan hair around the face and legs if desired. The "modified Schnauzer cut" is similar except that the back is shaved to form a strip along the spine to the tail. With this cut the groomer can opt to leave the dark hair on the tail long. Another half-body style is the "Chinese Crested style" where the hair on the back and underneath of the dog is short but the tail, legs and head still have very long and fluffy tan hair.

    Customized Styles

    • Instead of a particular style, an owner can opt to give her dog a customized style that suits the dog's lifestyle. For example, she can trim all the hair short all over the body and also trim the face so that the dog has no feathery hair anywhere on its body. She could shave the body hair short, leaving boot-like long hairs from the knee downward on the legs and a full tail. To emphasize the ears, she could trim the head hair, leaving the ear hair intact, or even trim just the facial hair so that the Yorkie's beard frames the face.