Yorkshire Terrier puppies are great companions that come in small packages. They share a very strong bond with their human family. They are outbound, jolly, gregarious and possess a sense of belonging.
Their bark is astonishingly loud for such a small package. But this makes them an excellent watchdog. Moreover, they are always alert and would start barking even at the slightest hint of danger.
This is why it is important to initialize the socializing training in Yorkshire Terriers at the early stage of their life. With proper training, they have the potential to becoming an indispensable member of the household.
The two most important aspect of training a Yorkie is to train it to control excessive barking and toilet training.
Because of their cuteness and intelligence, they are favorite among humans. The Yorkshire Terrier can be trained along the lines of the following steps.
Be the authoritative figure
During training your Yorkie, it is important that you be the authoritative figure. It has to know and understand that you are the owner and boss of the dog. You have to show the dog clearly what mischief it is not allowed to do.
Very long attention span
Yorkshire terriers do not have very long attention span. So train your dog with only one command for one training session. Make sure that the other family members use the same command on the dog. It is better you keep the training sessions short.
Make your dog feel wanted and loved
It is important to make your dog feel wanted and loved. So, when it does a task correctly, do not forget to treat it with a verbal praise and a food treat.
It takes time
It takes time for a Yorkie to get accustomed to a collar. So while choosing a collar, choose a light one and let it get used to the collar for a few days. The collar should not be too loose or tight. You should be able to insert one finger between the dog´s neck and the collar.
Use leash
After the Yorkie is accustomed to the collar, you can put it on a leash. Let the leash be long so that your dog can play around and enjoy. You can also teach it to obey your command “Come” by giving it´s leash a sharp tug. After the dog has learnt to obey this, you can slowly discard the leash. Then it would come back to you just with a verbal command. You can help your dog practice this for a long time so that it is obedient.
Teach to stay
You can also also teach your Yorkshire Terrier to “Stay”. You can position it in a sitting posture in a room and order it to stay with a verbal command. Then you can walk away from it. If it follows you, then it has not yet learnt. But if it stays in the sitting position, you can treat him with verbal praise and snacks.
Teach to leave any object
Moreover, it is also important to teach your Yorkie to leave any object. This would train it not to pick up food offered by strangers, foreign objects like shoes, etc. You can teach it to obey the verbal command “Leave it”.
I highly recommend this dog training system to all Yorkshire terrier owners who want to learn how to train their dogs:
Doggy Dans Online Dog Trainer.
23 Comments
Thanks for the information on training. I must say, training has not been going all that great for me and my yorkie. 🙁
The same here, mine will be 3 months next week and he simply won’t listen!
I noticed he is more obedient with me, but with my wife and kids, he acts as if he is the boss…
Another issue I have is that he won’t use his wee wee pad to go party. He does it on it, only when he feels like it.
I was advised not to take him outside until he is 4 months and has all his shots, so I really want him to meanwhile he uses his pads so I won’t have to clean up after him all day.
you guys have to realize you have a demon breed. yorkies are stubborn and possessed by the devil. i have had yorkies for over 30 years i learned to laugh at thier badness because it will never stop.. never….get use to it, they are train able, they are very smart, but they do what ever they want lol. mine eventually learned to pee outside, but when company comes over they decide to pee in thier spots. and if you dare bring them to someones house, they might mark, esp male yorkies, cause.. they are bloody bad..understand this…my yorkie chased horses down the street..that is the breed you have, if you want an easier dog, get a shih tzu, if you want a fun life, keep your yorkie..:)
Hi my name is Kayla I have a Yorkie that is about 3 years old.he likes to pee everywhere in the house!! When we have company over he barks and barks !!!
I really could use tips from everyone.
Kayla, I own 9 months Yorkie and he got house broken in first 2 weeks when I brought him home. Its easy when you will get the dog to the small area when he gets home like a 2x2m pen gate or something similar with a lino floor. get his bed in there water and few toys. When you can keep an eye on the dog then when he is gettig ready to pee grab him and take the dog outside. when you can’t be with the dog or you do not have the time to monitor what he does put the dog to the pen this way even when he pee’s its in one area. now for step 2 when the dog knows he can pee in his area use dog “tinkle tray” for dog pee. make sure that the dog knows that he can do his business in his area on the mat is is easy if you will take some of hiss pee on to the mat dog knows that this is the place do pee. If the dog will start hitting the mat 100% you can remove the enclosure. Dont worry if you will see that the dog tries to pee somewhere else use another dog mat to cover that place. Over time it depends on the dog you will notice that if the “tinkle tray” is not there dog will not pee on that place this is the queue to the last step. and the last step is when there is no “tinkle tray” dog will not pee but you nee to see that he needs to go outside. Yorke’s have small bladder and they need to go outside frequently so minimum is 2h in the house 10 minutes outside, when they are older its more manageable. Don’t get discouraged as it may take more times if you already allowed your dog to pee everywhere just clean and take him outside every tine he does it. Good luck
Yes what can I do abo u t barking also she will be 2 in June barks if people cone over car drives by vacuum
I am a new mommy to a 7week old yorkie name Mason I must say I am so proud of my baby… he is putting up the potty training on the puppy pad quickly now he goes by his self the key to this is be consisted with your baby, know that at times they are gonna make mistakes but the key is consists and relax and stay calm. Start with crate training once you release your baby from the crate take you baby directly to the pad continue this until your baby pick it up and know where to go a relieve.
Hello Mary! I want to say that this article is awesome, nice written and include good tips about training Yorkies. I have one and she is so cute!
I would like to look extra posts like this.
Don’t despair they are realy smart dogs and will figure it out. Our first one took almost 8 months to potty train but she also learned how to sit, stay, come, what ” no” meant, and what areas were off limits in our yard at about that same time… I think it is maybe more of an age/maturity thing?? Anyway she tourned out to be the smartest most loyal dog i have ever had.. My one word of advice is remember they are small and vonerable, ours was almost snatched right off our patio by an owl! If you live where there could be preditors like coyotes be aware that you can’t let your dog get out of arms reach BELIEVE ME, and don’t think a fenced yard is safe for your new yorkie… The fence is no protection from coyotes,hawks,owls,etc.
i agree with all of that, and try to get your yorkie into agility, they are very smart and fast
So I am a new owner of a 7 week old baby girl named Ruby.
I was wondering I have a large crate if I place
Puppy pads in the crate and with observation
Place her in the crate to associate her pee area however still take her outside during the day every hour for 10 min advise
My two year old started outside. I took her out about every two hours. Stayed with her until did her business. Stayed consistent. Took about 3 months and she would go out by herself. A treat awaited her after she went. I did install doggie door. Like 35 dollars at home depot. Probably after 4-5. months she was on ger own, no problems( until raining season) but sun comes out and she good again.
Hi my yortshire is 5 years old a old lady own him and how I have him I fine he will not eat dog food he wants what wee have and he looks very thin he weights 5 pound 6 oz is this under weight for this age of dog .
Hi I have a Yorkie who’s aboud 7 years old I have no plan to train her awesome tricks but at least one thing i want her to teach in to wee wee in proper places like NOT everywhere in the house, also when I go to the park together with my dog actually the reason why we are there is to jog with her the problem is, she won’t jog with me she kept on peeing for every 10 steps is it because she’s already old to jog? please help..
Hi everyone, I have a Tea cup Yorkie she is a doll. I love her so much. She is a sweety , however she definitely has a mind of her own and she still has accidents every now and again. She does go on piddle pads though. She is definitely a barker too. It’ll take time for hwr to be totally house broken. Especially because i have a very hard time getting mad at her cuz she is so freaking cute!!!! Lol hang in there.
Hi, I have a five year old Yorkie and I trained her in one week. She has not had one accident in five years. I have some real issues with this article beginning with letting them know you are boss (alpha dog) what a crock, my baby decided I was boss on her own. Also, don’t ever use a leash without a harness on a Yorkie – their necks are too small. I trained my Yorkie by doing the following: I took her out every hour for the first few days (during the day) whether she needed to go or not – always thru the same door. At night I took her out right before I crated her – again the same door. Then set my alarm for half way thru the night and woke her before she did on her own and took her out – thru the same door, then immediately back to bed. I did this consistently with lots of positive reinforcement for an entire week and it worked wonderfully. I stayed home with her the entire week. It only takes a week if you are consistent and it was well worth it. I crated her for the next two months if we were going to be away from home but after that she had free rein of our home (and I have some imported carpets…). We never use her crate, except when in a vehicle for her safety. She let’s us know when she needs to go out whether at home or somewhere else. She is a wonderful dog.
Another thing – please don’t use pee pads and then complain if they pee on your rugs – they look the same to a dog. I have never used them but I have a friend that does, and this is an ongoing problem with her dogs. As for barking, turn your back on them and don’t acknowledge them until they stop – this will put a stop to that quick enough. Our’s only barks if someone comes to our door (which I want her to do) or when we are playing rough.
My yorkie is almost two. She is really well behave in areas that I was dead serious about like going to bed in a crate, not barking in a hotel room, being an excellent traveler in the car. Etc. Also does very good at housetraining. However she begs for food and doesn’t come when called. She isnt easy to train new tricks to cuz she barks at me to just get treat without the treat. Guess what you’re seeing is that if you are serious, they are serious.
Wow, my Yorkie is 3 months old and have only missed the pee pads about 5 times since I bought him home on 10/30. He hardly barks at all and I love that he is so playful. I’m thankful at 48 that I have the energy of a 4 year old to keep up with him LOL
Eric is 7 months old..hes good on going to use the bathroom outside he is kettle train to sleep only in it..but he cant b let loose cause hell squat n pee..his barking is so fustrating at times..we love him so much but he just dont get it at times wat is told to him tho we use the same commands..
We have just acquired an eight year old male yorkie. He is so cute and loves his walkies, but sometimes he pees in the house. He then puts his little eyes on and walks very slowly up to you and brings up his little paw. I cannot punish him cos he’s lovely, but how can I get him to stop peeing. I must add, we take him for walkies regular
My teacup is 2 years old, and I love her to death.
There is a wonderful article about Yorkies, and how they are bloody bad….but oh so much fun…they really think that they are Rottweilers.
Marian
We have a 10 month old Molly , I had her going potty on the pee pads in just one day , however she has a temper when someone goes outside she barks and bites at your feet and just goes crazy with any movement , someone can get up to go to the kitchen and she will jump up and down and bark any suggestions