“YOU HAVE SPENT A LOT OF TIME GROWING COAT, always protect it!”
will pick things up at the “after the show” point of maintenance. After showing, brush the coat out thoroughly to remove any dirt or de- bris that it may have picked up from the floor. Wrap your dog as soon as possible. I’ve seen many a facial fur- nishing chewed off by placing a dog in a crate without first wrapping them. If you need to leave your dog for any reason prior to wrapping, at least band the moustache back. You have spent a lot of time growing coat, al- ways protect it! I find that some Yorkies can go with an “every other day” bathing during a show circuit, while others require bathing every night due to an oilier coat. Dowhatmakes your Yorkie look its best. Remember, a shiny clean coat is surely going to attract the eye of a judge! Use your best judgement. As you can see, there are no tricks or expensive supplements that en- able you to grow coat on your Yorkie. Growing a coat just takes dedication, quality food, and quality products! Remember, a dog in gorgeous con- dition is very impressive. A happy, well-loved dog will always show bet- ter! Praise your Yorkie when com- ing out of the ring, win or lose. Make showing fun for them; it will pay off, I promise! Good luck to all of you and if you see me ringside and need help or have a question, don’t hesitate to ask! I would like to thank Patrizia Casadei, Pigot Yorkshire Terriers, for allowing me to use her beautifully illustrated drawings of wrapping a coat. Such a wonderful talented artist! And Loreta Serifini for her photo of a perfectly trimmed foot. Also to Dawn Kelly and Loreta Serafini for allowing me to use photos of their gorgeous boys in excellent coat condition.
on a bitch puppy. This will help them get used to the wraps and keep urine from damaging the coat. I will also only band the topknot and the facial furnishings. Again, if your Yorkie is doing more damage to the coat with the wraps and bands in, leave them out! At this time, you can choose to use a wrapping jacket if you would like. (Never put a jacket on an unwrapped dog, and never leave a jacket on a dry—un-oiled—coat longer than 24 hours! You do not want to end up with a matted Yorkie!) If your dog is prone to rubbing, jackets can help protect the coat. This completes your maintenance bath. When bathing for a show, I go through the same inspection of ears, toe nail trims, and bathing process; however, instead of a heavy mois- turizing shampoo/conditioner, I use a high quality light moisturizing shampoo/conditioner. I donot condi- tion the topknot, only the sides of the head and the moustache. This will make it easier to get your topknots up! Remember, a squeaky clean coat will have a beautiful shine! I trim the ears, and blow dry the same way. I then iron the coat to help it lay down smoothly. I wrap the coat dry (with- out oil). I then trimthe feet. I trimthe hair on the bottom of the feet flush to the pads and then I trim the outside of the foot round and flush to the table. (See example above of a per- fectly trimmed foot.) On a side note, some dogs’ coats look better by bath- ing the day before a show; others look better bathing the day of the show. Youwill have to see whichway is best for your Yorkie. I will not go into ring preparation, as this is an article in itself; however, I
Example of Trimmed Foot (Courtesy of Loreta Serafini, Oz Yorkshire Terriers)
Dogs That Have Been Maintained in Wonderful Show Condition:
BISS GCHEdgewood’s Action Jackson. Owned by Jamie Bennett & Cynthia Hill. Handled by Jamie Bennett. Pictured at two years of age.
BISS Can GCh/Am Ch. Oz’s Thunder and Rain. Owned and bred by Loreta Serafini. Pictured at three years of age.
Multiple BISS AMGCH/CANCHNicNak’s Aftershock. Owned by Dawn Kelly, bred by Laurie Hunter. Pictured at three years of age.
T op N otch T oys , J uly 2021 • 51
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