An apparatus and method is presented for controlling initial load and unload wear on a slider by using a trailing edge extender. A slider for supporting a transducer proximate to a recording medium is disclosed. The slider includes a trailing edge extender positioned on a trailing edge to allow additional controlled wear to occur before a substrate of the slider contacts the recording medium. The trailing edge extender can be positioned at an outer corner on the trailing edge of the slider and at a transducer pad on the trailing edge of the slider. The trailing edge extender can include a depth of the step depth, cavity depth, or air bearing surface level depth. The method includes fabricating a trailing edge extender positioned on a trailing edge to allow additional controlled wear to occur before a substrate of the slider contacts the recording medium.