Why pay a groomer? Grooming a Yorkshire Terrier at home is cheaper, and it’s easy enough anyone can learn to do it.

Here are a few tips to help you get started grooming Yorkshire Terriers.

1. If you’ve never groomed a dog before, get a good book or video to teach you the basics.

2. Be sure to purchase the supplies you need before your first grooming session. You’ll need a dog shampoo and conditioner, dog clippers, a pin brush, a fine-tooth flea comb, dog nail trimmers, and a metal comb with long teeth. If you want to brush your dog’s teeth and clean his ears, you’ll also need supplies to do this, or you can opt to take your dog to the groomer for an occasional session to perform these tasks.

3. Start early to get your dog used to grooming. Yorkshire terriers need to be groomed often, so as soon as your new puppy is used to his surroundings, start getting him used to standing on a table while you brush his coat, lift his paws, and massage his ears. This is also a good time to introduce him to the sound of the clippers and a hair dryer.

4. On bath day, check the coat for mats and snarls, and pull these apart with your fingers and a pin brush.

5. Use warm water and be sure to get your dog’s coat entirely wet before applying shampoo. You’ll want to use a good quality dog shampoo (not people shampoo) for grooming your Yorkshire terrier. Make sure to rinse the coat thoroughly.

6. You can use a dog dryer or a human hair dryer after the bath to dry your dog’s hair. Use a low or medium setting and leave the hair just slightly damp so you don’t dry out your dog’s skin.

7. Trim the hair under the pads of the feet and the top third of the ears.

8. Finish grooming the Yorkshire terrier by using a metal comb with long teeth and a pin brush to comb the coat.