Do Yorkies Shed?
This is a question that has been asked a lot and there are different opinions about it. In this post, I will discuss more about Yorkshire Terrier’s hair structure and answer the question do Yorkies actually shed? First of all, Yorkies have a feature that makes them different from other dog breeds. They have a coat that is not fur but it consists of hair. It grows all year long and is both silky and longer than the fur of other dog breeds. Some people compare it with human hair and yes it’s very similar. Moreover, Yorkshire Terriers does not have the same shedding cycles as other dog breeds.
The answer to the question do Yorkies shed is yes, they do shed. However, they have less shedding hair and they shed way less than any other dog breed. Most of the time you won’t even notice it. For this reason, some people state that Yorkies do not shed at all.
There are no doubts that Yorkie’s hair requires more special attention than other dog breeds. Constant brushing, grooming, and proper nutrition is a must to keep your dogs’ hair healthy and silky. If you don’t take proper care of your dog’s hair it might be the cause of increased shedding. Let me show you how much do Yorkies shed and you can make your own conclusion whether it’s a lot or not. 👇
How much do Yorkies shed?
I could not find a better way to illustrate how much do Yorkies shed as to brush my Yorkie and show you what’s left after that. Please take into consideration that I didn’t brush my dog for a while. Not because I’m lazy, but because I wanted to show you the real example. 🙂 If you brush your dog regularly, the amount of hair left in the brush would be way less than it is in my example. Below you can see the amount of hair left after I thoroughly brushed my Yorkie:
And here is an example of how my Yorkie looked like after I brushed him:
So this example proves, that Yorkies does not shed a lot. The amount of hair left in the brush is minimal, comparing to other dog breeds. Moreover, if you brush your dog regularly, the amount of hair in the brush would be way less than it is in my example.
7 Tips to avoid hair loss in Yorkies
If you are wondering how you can prevent hair loss in Yorkshire Terriers, here are 7 practical tips:
- Skincare is essential. You can stop hair loss for Yorkies ensuring that their skin is both clean and moisturized. To prevent undesirable infections and irritations special skincare is required and you should be somehow worried when you notice a Yorkie scratching frequently as this may indicate some parasites are existent, which can have a negative effect on the growth of new hair, and damage the existing one.
- Some special medical conditions could be responsible for hair loss. You can get informed about these by visiting a veterinarian. Hypothyroidism is a common problem with its effects being the silky hair to thin out and eventually fall. More serious problems related to basic organs such as liver and kidneys and even cancer are all causes for shedding hair.
- A proper nutrition acts against hair loss. In general, Yorkies are very energetic and like exercise, but this means they need several vitamins and a proper diet and nutrition. You must pay attention to the food to have plenty of minerals and fatty acids as well. Omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acid foods are important for a healthy skin. Choose food that has plenty of vitamins B5, E, B3, and A.
- Grooming is also a must. A common mistake to make is to use a shampoo used by humans to bathe a dog. Here is my blog post about what is the best shampoo for yorkies? This is wrong and a shampoo special for dogs is required. We mentioned before that a moisturized skin is good for Yorkies, so it is suggested to avoid brushing the hair being dry. Buy a brush that has good quality and special conditioners after bathing.
- Make often checks for allergies and even parasites. Yorkies have silky and bright hair, but this has a cost. They are vulnerable to get infected by parasites. Even fleas can cause dermatitis. Have the habit to check every time you return form a walk with a Yorkie its skin to detect potential skin problems. If you observe the dog scratch or bite its coat do not neglect to perform a thorough skin check. It may take a few minutes abut its positive effects on the dog’s skin will be to have both a clean and healthy coat, with no signs of parasites.
- Exercise is good for people and Yorkies too. A healthy lifestyle for Yorkies means daily exercise in order to achieve proper blood circulation. We mentioned the importance of nutrition above. Low blood pressure and anemia are two basic reasons that can cause hair loss in Yorkies. With daily exercises, such as a small walk, growth of new hair will naturally the falling hair, and this is due to exercise. There are no specific rules about the duration of exercise, it all depends on your daily routine, but implementing daily exercise for Yorkies can help them retain their shiny hair with no serious problems.
- Pet behavior should not be ignored also. Yorkies are a dog breed that can also have emotional disorders like humans. The most common ones are boredom, stress, and anxiety. Licking or biting their skin is no good for Yorkies and the solutions are rather simple and effective. Yorkies need to have attention, so devote time to play with them, provide a relaxed home atmosphere and have several toys for Yorkies to play with.
Why do Yorkies shed?
Some interesting facts about Yorkies and their hair are that even hormones related to pregnancy can lead to more shedding. Even excessive heat and illnesses, such as Cushing’s disease can have a negative effect on losing hair. What is considered normal Yorkie shedding is to find hairs on the brush. This is totally ok. Yorkies are not hypoallergic dogs. The main difference for Yorkies is that they do not change their coat during some seasons, mainly spring and autumn as most of the other dog breeds do. There are three types of coat for dogs, undercoat, main coat, and tactile hair.
Yorkshire terries do not have an undercoat, and this makes their coat resemble human hair, meaning it will not shed excessively compared to other dogs that have an undercoat. This helps to lose dead hairs from their body in a gradual and smooth way during the whole year. Having a Yorkie could mean that you will not easily notice hairs on the bed, clothes and floor. If you think why the answer is simple. All the dead hairs, when replaced by nee ones will tend to stay on the dog’s back. This however means that some extra daily time is needed unfortunately to remove the dead hairs brushing the dog so as not to have neither tangled nor matted hairs.
Even 10 minutes per day or perhaps less than that are enough to brush and comb the Yorkie and have healthy skin. And if you have a busy lifestyle a practical tip is to choose a rather moderate short hairstyle for this specific dog breed. Having a short hairstyle will reduce the need and time of daily brushing.
All the above tips and ideas are helpful to keep a Yorkie from excessive shedding. With some clippers and groomers, you can trim its hair short. Another effective way to prevent hair loss. We mentioned bathing the dog with high-quality products, but frequent bathing with low-quality cosmetics is not a good idea to prevent hair loss. Living in areas with intense climate changes such as lots of heat of harsh winters can be problematic too for the wonderful Yorkie’s coat. In any case, visiting a veterinarian is a piece of good advice to avoid future health problems related to the Yorkie’s falling hair. Instead applying the mentioned tips will ensure you will have little worries about health issues for this wonderful dog breed.