Yorkie Hair Top Knots
Yorkies are beautiful dogs with wonderful, flowing hair. Many owners love to show off the beauty of their Yorkie’s hair, all culminating with the style of the hair on the head. There are many ways to fix your Yorkie’s hair, so let’s talk about some of them.
Before we get in to your options, here are some DOs and DON’Ts
DO make sure that your Yorkie can see, no matter what the hair style is.
DO make sure that the hair style is comfortable.
DO spend time maintaining your Yorkie’s hair, ensuring that it is clean and free of tangles and mats.
DON’T ignore the hair around your Yorkie’s eyes! Make sure any “gunk” is removed and the hair wiped clean.
DON’T force your Yorkie into a styling session. Make the hair maintenance process fun and rewarding for both you and your Yorkie.
Now, on to the fun part.
The most common way that Yorkie owners do their Yorkie’s hair is in a top knot. The top knot is that cute-as-a-button ponytail at the top of the head. The top knot is the way that a Yorkshire terrier’s hair is done for competition in confirmation events – acceptable styles are in a single or double top not, with the hair left out the end of the topknot for puppies and tucked into a loop for adults. While the top knot is the most common way Yorkie owners fix their Yorkie’s head hair, there are differences between the “show” version and the “at home” version of the top knot.
The “show” version of the topknot is extremely beautiful, but not meant to leave in the hair. Creating a correct top knot will be left to another post, suffice it to say that it takes a lot of teasing (and hair products) to create the beautiful “puff” above the Yorkie’s eyes. Commonly, a rat-tail comb is used to create a line, beginning at the outer corners of the eyes and extending to the center of the head. The hair is teased and smoothed and a bubble created with a latex band and then it is all topped off with a beautiful show-quality bow. Overwhelmingly, handlers use red as the preferred color of the standard “show bow.” Again, these top knots are meant for show only and are not meant to be left in the hair for extended periods of time. Leaving the show-style top knot in the hair can lead to damage to the hair, tangles that won’t come out, bald spots, and etc.
If you want to leave a top knot in your Yorkie’s hair, go with the standard “home” top knot. The typical Yorkie owner puts their Yorkie’s hair on top of the head using a much more simplistic method – gathering the hair at the top of the head and holding it together with a plastic band and topped off with a bow. This is done the same way as the show top knot, only without all the teasing and hair products. The top knot shouldn’t be too tight (it can cause damage and hair loss if it is), and it should be removed occasionally to be brushed and replaced (every 1 – 3 days). If you aren’t a fan of using bands, there are also hair clips available for your Yorkie, in all styles and sizes. While most Yorkie owners absolutely love buying all sorts of bows and coordinating bows and outfits and etc, not everyone relishes the idea of the makeover session with their Yorkie, and not every Yorkie likes keeping a bow on top their head. If you don’t want to worry about top knots and keeping up with the style of the head hair of your Yorkie every day, there are other options. You can always keep the hair around and above the eyes clipped. There are many techniques that look really cute and are very easy to maintain.