As my Yorkie is getting older, I am noticing that his hair is hardly growing and the old hair keeps falling. It worries me to notice my Yorkie’s hair getting thin and it makes me wonder: Why Is My Yorkies Hair Not Growing?
My curious nature led me to my neighbor who helped me understand why my Yorkies hair is not growing as it should and she gave me some significant answers.
Check out the reasons that my neighbor gave for Why Is My Yorkies Hair Not Growing, and various tips to avoid hair loss in my Yorkie.
Why Is My Yorkies Hair Not Growing? Top 10 Reasons
1. Stress
When your Yorkie is suffering from stress or has separation anxiety issues, it starts to lick or chew itself. The hair on their skin becomes loose and forms matts that interfere with the growth of your Yorkie’s hair.
2. Aging
Yorkies can grow floor-length hair up to the age of 24 months. After that, the hair growth slows down. As your Yorkie grows older, its hair will not only grow slowly but will also experience hair fall.
3. Parasites
Certain parasites like Mange cause a skin condition wherein your Yorkie starts to lose hair in the neck, legs, and eye area. It will cause your Yorkie’s skin to form red rashes and a bald spot in these areas.
The bald spots on your Yorkie don’t grow hair sometimes or the hair growth in these spots becomes slow.
4. Allergies
Allergies of any kind affect your Yorkie’s skin and hair. The allergens cause itching on your pet’s skin and to retaliate, your dog will scratch its skin to the point that it will start to lose its hair. This hinders the growth of your Yorkie’s hair.
5. Unhealthy Food
The food that you give your dog has a huge impact on growing healthy hair. Junk food or unhealthy food can not only be dangerous to your Yorkie’s health but can also interfere with the growth of its hair.
The high salt contents of junk food or store-bought food can cause hair loss in Yorkies and lead to the slow growth of new hair.
Take a look at our best food picks for your Yorkie here.
6. Frequent Bathing
Bathing your small dog frequently can increase hair loss, especially if your Yorkie has sensitive skin. Bathing your Yorkie more often will strip off the natural oils from its skin and the skin will become dry.
Dry skin causes itching as well as irregular hair loss which is not good for maintaining healthy dog hair.
Make sure you use a mild shampoo, suitable for your Yorkie’s hair while bathing him. Take a look at the best shampoos available for your four-legged friend here.
7. Improper Grooming
Yorkie grooming needs to be perfect or else it turns out to be very painful for your pet. If you brush your Yorkie’s hair harshly, then its hair will become loose and result in hair fall.
Regular grooming ensures a healthy coat in Yorkies without matts and any parasites to hang on to the long hair.
8. Underlying Diseases
There are some diseases like hypothyroidism or Cushing’s disease that can affect your Yorkie’s hair growth. You need to check any changes in your Yorkie’s eating habits, behavior, or sleep patterns to look for signs of discomfort.
Regular visits to the vet can help you keep an update on your Yorkie’s health and take immediate actions if needed.
9. Lack Of Exercise
Lack of exercise builds pent-up energy in Yorkies. When the built-up energy does not have a way to release, it may lead to stress in your dog, especially the high-energy Yorkies.
Stress ultimately leads to hair fall and weak hair growth in Yorkies.
10. Fungal and Bacterial Infections
The fungal and bacterial infections cause patches of inflamed and itchy skin on Yorkies which leads them to scratch their skin constantly. The scratching and licking cause hair fall in your Yorkie which might not grow back anytime soon.
7 Tips to Avoid Hair Loss in Yorkies
1. Skin Care
Healthy skin is important for proper hair growth of Yorkies and prevents hair loss. If the skin of your Yorkshire Terrier gets dry, its hair follicles become fragile, making the hair weak, and weak hair equals hair loss.
You need to make sure that your Yorkie’s skin remains clean, hydrated, and moisturized so that it does not become vulnerable to any skin diseases.
Clean your Yorkie when it comes home from outside. Check for any lesions and treat them immediately if you see any.
2. Healthy Balanced Diet
Yorkie hair also requires nutrients to remain healthy and nourished. A balanced diet with all the nutrients in the right amount keeps your Yorkie’s coat thick and healthy and prevents loss of hair.
Make sure that you include all these nutrients in your Yorkshire Terrier’s diet so that you can prevent hair loss as well as baldness in your dog.
- Vitamin B3: Helps Yorkies grow healthy hair
- Omega 6 fatty acids: Helps in Yorkie’s hair growth
- Vitamin B5: Increases growth of hair in Yorkies
- Omega 3 fatty acids: Prevents thinning of dog hair
- Vitamin A: Helps repair skin cells of Yorkies
- Vitamin E: Helps maintain the healthy coat in Yorkies
3. Treating Underlying Health Conditions
If your Yorkie has too much hair loss without any visible skin disease, then you should get your pet checked for any underlying health conditions by your veterinarian.
The most common health condition is hyperthyroidism that imbibes all the nutrition from your dog’s hair follicles, resulting in thin hair in your Yorkie. Some intestinal problems also cause hair loss in many Yorkies.
If you treat these underlying health problems at an early stage, then your Yorkie can get back its thick hair coat with silky hair
4. Regular Grooming
You should do regular grooming on your Yorkie to get a silky coat of healthy dog hair. It is advised that you go to a professional groomer once in a while for proper grooming.
Here are some tips for grooming your Yorkie:
- Get a dog shampoo because the shampoo you use for yourself can be harsh for your Yorkie’s skin
- Use a slicker brush to comb your Yorkie’s hair before its bath
- Moisturize your Yorkie’s hair before brushing it
- If your Yorkie has matted hair, then use a conditioner to soften the hair
- Be gentle with the hair strokes while ensuring that you don’t break the fine hair
- Use a flea comb to remove any fleas or flea eggs from your Yorkshire Terrier’s hair
5. Exercise
Daily exercise promotes proper circulation of blood in Yorkies. Proper blood flow is required for the nourishment of your Yorkie’s hair follicles. An inadequate amount of blood flow makes the dog’s coat thin and delays the growth of new hair.
The blood flow of your Yorkie needs to be at an optimum level for its hair to receive nutrition from the blood. This helps the hair growth cycle to go on on time with new healthy hair to replace the old ones.
6. Check For Parasites
A Yorkie’s skin is an easy home to parasites because of their short height and long hair. These parasites cause skin irritation, making your Yorkie scratch, lick, and bite their skin which causes inflammation on your dog’s skin.
This will make your Yorkie’s hair thin and form bald patches on its skin.
The old hair can’t be replaced by the new hair growth which might make the blot spots permanent. Therefore, check your Yorkie for parasites whenever it comes home from outside.
7. Training To Stop From Licking Themselves
It is a no-brainer that most problems arise from your Yorkie licking and biting its skin. This can be avoided by training them to stop licking themselves. You just need to give them mental and emotional support when they try to lick their itchy skin.
You can use some commands to stop your Yorkie from licking itself and treat it for obeying you.
Check out these treats that your dog will love to eat after it portrays good behavior here.
Does Matting Cause Hair Fall in Yorkies?
Matted hair does not directly cause hair fall in Yorkies unless you brush its hair roughly. Matted hair causes a great deal of pain in Yorkies as the hair pulls at its skin. You need to ascertain your Yorkie’s tolerance level before you groom its hair.
But it can be treated easily using a slicker brush, dog shampoo, and dog clippers.
You can check out this amazing slicker brush that will get the matted hair right out here.
The problem here is again the licking. Wet hair makes the hair loose and that may result in hair loss while brushing.
You can take a look at our extensive guide about matted hair in dogs here.
If you are confused about how to brush matted hair, then have a look at this video.
Does Shaving Promote Yorkies Hair Growth?
Shaving hair at a young age can promote a thick, silky, and long coat in your Yorkie in the future. But after your Yorkie pup grows older, shaving won’t help much. However, regular grooming and trimming the Yorkie’s coat will help regrowth of healthy and thick hair.
A double-coated dog takes a bit more time to regrow the shaved hair than a single-coated dog.
It is also hard for Yorkies with some skin disease to develop a new Yorkie coat of silky, long hair as good as before. You can take give your Yorkie some medication after consulting with your vet if the situation does not get better.
Will Cutting Yorkies Hair Short Help in Hair Growth?
Regular trims will keep the parasites and matted hair away because of the short hair. Just like human hair, Yorkie hair also remains healthy after regularly cutting it short.
Regular trimming and grooming will also include washing your dog’s fur that will help maintain hygiene which is important for the healthy hair of your Yorkie. It will also help keep the Yorkie shedding to a minimum.
FAQs on Why Is My Yorkies Hair Not Growing?
1. What Are the Different Hair Types in Yorkies?
Yorkies have three different types of coats:
- Puppy Coat: The puppy coat is soft and thick which helps keep your Yorkie pup warm in cold weather locations. It is dark in color with tan highlights.
- Silky Coat: The silky coat has long, silky hair that is straight and glossy. Yorkies with silky coats are considered to be very beautiful and they are often seen participating in dog shows.
- Cotton Coat: The cotton coat is also known as a wire/wavy coat because it is wavy and woolly. This coat is dense but unlike the silky coat, it remains short.
2. How Long Does It Take For Yorkie Hair To Grow?
Every dog takes its own time to grow new hair. Normally, a healthy, thick, new Yorkie coat grows ½ inch every month. If you want your adult Yorkie to grow a floor-length coat then you will have to wait 8 to 12 months for it to grow.
3. Do Yorkies Lose Their Puppy Hair?
Yorkies have hair instead of fur, which is why you won’t notice any hair loss in Yorkie puppies apart from when you groom them. It takes six months for them to get their adult coat without shedding the puppy coat.
Most Yorkies’ coat color changes when they get their adult coat.
Conclusion
We hope that we provided you with enough information on Why Is My Yorkies Hair Not Growing. Several factors result in slowing down the growth of your Yorkie’s hair like unhealthy diet, allergies, parasites, aging, stress, etc.
The only tip that will keep your Yorkie’s hair healthy is if you keep your dog’s skin healthy by bathing it and grooming it regularly.
Keep an eye out for your dog and see if it is in any sort of discomfort.
