Yorkshire Terrier Ears

The ears of most Yorkshire Terrier puppies will stand up by the age of 6 to 8 weeks.  Although this is the average age, some Yorkie ears may take longer to stand up, especially if they are rather large.

If the ears of your Yorkshire Terrier are not standing up on their own by the age of 6 months you may have to help them stand up or you could just not worry about it if you like floppy ears like I do!

If you would like the ears of your Yorkie to stand up, which is the breed standard, it is best to keep the hair of the ears trimmed.  This is especially important when they are puppies because the weight of their hair can prevent their ears from standing on their own.  The trick to trimming their ears is to use clippers and trim the front and back of their ears from the tip to half way down the ear, and always trim in the direction of hair growth.  Make sure that your Yorkshire Terrier is secure and comfortable before you do this.  A trick that I learned with my dog is to let her smell and listen to the tool that I am using before I touch her with it.  This helps to increase the comfort level of your dog.

Make sure that you are very careful when trimming your Yorkies ears.  Ears do bleed a lot and if there is bleeding you can apply styptic powder to help with the bleeding.  If you are not comfortable with this process be sure to take your dog to a professional groomer. 

You also want to make sure that you keep your Yorkies ears clean.  The supplies that you need to clean their ears are an ear cleaning solution, which you can purchase at the pet store, and cotton balls or q-tips.  You do not need to reach deeply into your dogs ears; just keep clean the areas that are easily accessible and you will decrease the risk of injuring their internal ear when cleaning.

Yorkshire Terriers, like all dogs, are able to show lots of expression through their ears and it is important to keep them clean and healthy!