You will soon find out if you have a quick learner by how quickly your Yorkie picks up basic commands. If your Yorkie is a slow learner, don’t fret. They are very trainable dogs, but you need to be patient and expect to repeat the same exercises on numerous occasions. [2] X Research source
When using treats to reward behavior, be careful not to overfeed. Cut back a little on the amount you give during regular meals so that the extra calories from the treats do not make your dog overweight. You can also cut back on treats (while still offering lots of praise) as your dog masters a behavior or command. Reduce to providing a treat every fourth or fifth time your Yorkie obeys instead of each time. This won’t weaken the training as long as you still praise the obedience.
For more information on the specifics of clicker training, check out How to Clicker Train Your Dog.
For example, you might “accidentally” kick your dog’s favorite chew toy and say “Oops" to draw attention to it. When your dog gets up and goes to the toy, pick up both your dog and the toy and set them in a different room away from the inappropriate object. [7] X Research source Don’t Shoot the Dog. Karen Pryor. Ringpress Books Whenever possible, you should also Yorkie-proof areas of your home to which your dog has access, which can take more planning than you’ll initially realize. For a dog that can’t reach very high, Yorkies still manage to get into trouble. Keep dangling cords, houseplants, clothes, and food out of reach, and don’t forget the effectiveness of baby gates for such a small dog. [8] X Research source
Never force your Yorkie into the crate or use it as a timeout spot, though. Crate training only works when the crate is a trusted, enjoyable space for your dog. For more information on the specific steps involved in crate training your Yorkie, read How to Crate Train Your Dog or Puppy.
An example would be when teaching the “stay” command. If your dog stands from sit, a brief disapproving “uh uh” provides the information that standing is incorrect.
Do not forget that every interaction with your dog is also an opportunity for training. For example, before feeding, get your dog to sit and reward the behavior with the meal. Some commands are linked—such as “sit” and “stay”—but your dog should have a solid command of “sit” before you try linking “stay” to it.
For a puppy, this is as often as every twenty minutes when the dog hasn’t gone recently, as well as first thing in the morning, last thing at night, and after every meal. For an adult dog, this can be hourly, after sleep, and after meals.
This includes rubbing your dog’s nose in the mess. This is not an effective deterrent. Your Yorkie won’t understand why you’re doing it.
If you’re running into difficulty with a stubborn pup, you can find more information on the entire house-training process at How to House Train a Puppy.
Slowly introduce the commands in busier areas as your dog begins to understand them. The ultimate goal is to ensure that your Yorkie will still obey the commands even with bustling people and other dogs around. Have patience since the amount of time this takes depends entirely on your specific dog’s personality. You’ll likely want to have your dog on leash as you slowly start to introduce more distractions since the chances of losing focus will be high at first.
Do not continuously repeat the command if your dog doesn’t obey since it will weaken the command. Instead, resume waiting until the dog is already coming toward you to issue it. Wait until later to again try issuing the command when your dog is standing still or moving away. It can be a frustrating process. Remember to stay patient, not to punish, and always to reward your Yorkie when he or she does finally come to you.
Expect to repeat this process often before it fully registers with your Yorkie. As he or she starts to react to the command to sit, you can stop rewarding each individual instance and make the reward a bit less predictable, which will prevent overfeeding while still keeping your pup working toward the reward. Rewarding every fourth or fifth sit is ideal.
Initially, you may want to keep the hand not holding the treat on your Yorkie’s rump to keep the dog from standing up to follow the treat, or you can also teach your pup a “lay down” command before trying to teach the dog to roll over.
Remember to be patient above all else. Your Yorkie wants to learn and to please you, but it still takes time! You can find more information later to some other basic commands at How to Teach Your Dog Basic Commands.
